This is one of Umbreon's most useful sets, and the fairly exclusive Mean Look and Baton Pass combination can be deadly when executed correctly. Trap opponents with Mean Look, then Baton Pass to a reliable counter, or send in a sweeper who can freely set up. Wish is the most team oriented healing move, and it allows Umbreon to heal both itself and its teammates. Using Wish in conjunction with Baton Pass and Umbreon's naturally low Speed allows Umbreon to switch out after the opponent's attack on the turn Wish will heal, letting it take the blow and heal something that would normally be unable to switch in due to being too weak to take a hit. The final move slot is open to pretty much anything Umbreon learns, although only the most useful moves are listed here. Taunt and Yawn can be the most effective for getting off a successful Baton Pass. Taunt will absolutely cripple Umbreon if used against it, but at the same time it is a great tool for a Baton Passer, allowing it to stop psuedohazers like Skarmory ruining the whole strategy. Yawn can send a trapped opponent to sleep, making it much easier to send in a team mate. Protect lets Umbreon heal via Wish and Leftovers and can test the waters against enemies with Choice items. Finally, you have Toxic to try and stall out a trapped opponent. Leftovers is the obvious choice, but Chople Berry lets Umbreon survive one Choice Band Close Combat from Heracross (and any other Fighter), so it can pass Mean Look safely.
Umbreon's high Special Defense makes it a natural candidate for Curse. Curse's Speed drop allows Payback to have 100 base power most of the time, and the Attack boost raises Payback's damage. Wish is used for healing and team support. The last slot depends on what Umbreon has to do specifically. If healing itself must be guaranteed, run Protect. If Pokemon like Skarmory or Hippowdon are Whirlwinding / Roaring Umbreon away, run Taunt. Yawn is an option if Umbreon finds itself inviting Pokemon like Lucario, Gyarados, and Tyranitar in to set up. Baton Pass lets Umbreon be more of a team player and pass on the Curse boosts; if it doesn't have any boosts yet, it can still pass Wish. The low Speed usually ensures that Umbreon's Baton Passing target is not hit with an attack on the way in. The HP and Special Defense EVs are designed to make sure that Choice Specs Salamence will never 2HKO Umbreon with Draco Meteor. The rest of the EVs are transferred to Attack, both to maximize damage potential as much as possible and because Curse is increasing Umbreon's Defense anyway. Feel free to shift some Attack to Special Defense if necessary.
This set focuses on taking advantage of Umbreon's support options. Wish support is incredibly valuable and Umbreon is one of the sturdiest users of the move, giving it ample opportunities to pass HP to its team mates. Payback deals with Gengar, Azelf, and other defensively weak Ghosts and Psychics. Taunt and Toxic is a great combination to wear down various walls. Inflict them with poison, and then prevent them from using Rest, Aromatherapy, or Heal Bell and slowly wear them down, while stalling with Wish. Protect and Yawn also work well together and Yawn is the only way to shut down Lucario, who can switch into everything else with ease. Yawn also helps deal with Pokemon like Gyarados on the switch-in. Other OptionsUmbreon doesn't have much of a movepool, besides a few other support options. Moonlight is available for self healing, but the prevalence of Sandstorm in OU battles, makes it rather unreliable. Better to stick with Wish, which is more in keeping with Umbreon's supportive nature. Tickle, Screech and Fake Tears can be used to soften up enemies before the Baton Pass to whatever is set to kill them. Confuse Ray can be annoying, and Choice Banders like Heracross won't appreciate it. However, it is not quite as reliable as some other moves, especially on something as strapped for move slots as Umbreon is. Snatch can be used to steal beneficial moves, although it requires some pretty good prediction for optimal use. Psych Up can allow Umbreon to copy stat boosts from your enemy, although letting them get enough to be worth stealing is very risky. Dark Pulse and Pursuit are options for an attack move, but Payback is generally better. Pursuit has good utility though and can wear down a fleeing Psychic. EVsUmbreon is a tank, and should be EVed that way, so you will always want to start with 252 EVs in HP. For sets that carry Taunt, you'll want some investment in Speed. 178 is the minimum so you can Taunt Skarmory, but bumping that up to 207/208 to beat Suicune and Cresselia is also beneficial. Around 245/246 Speed will let Umbreon Taunt the likes of Dragon Dance Tyranitar and some Gyarados, preventing their set up before Umbreon flees to their respective counters. Any remaining EVs should be allocated to Special Defense, to cushion the blow from Gengar, Azelf and other special attackers. If you're not using Taunt, then making Umbreon as slow as possible (-Speed nature, 0 Speed IV) helps to ensure Payback will power up to 100 BP against more opponents. OpinionUmbreon has its uses, as outlined above, but the reason it isn't seen much nowadays is that D/P(and to a lesser extent Advance) are too offensively oriented for Umbreon to manage. With the tons of Choice Band and Choice Specs users running around, attacks are hitting harder than ever. While other Pokémon are getting stronger and hitting harder than before, Umbreon is still stuck with the same defensive stats it has had since G/S/C. Umbreon can be an asset to your team if managed correctly, but it isn't as beefy as Blissey, Skarmory and the other more established walls, so don't try to use it as if it is. CountersUmbreon is absolutely massacred by Fighting and Bug attacks, so Heracross is ones the best counters you can get. Umbreon also risks activating Guts if it hits an incoming Heracross with Toxic. Most other Fighting-types do well, especially Lucario and Toxicroak who are immune to Toxic, and Machamp who often has Rest to absorb it. Steels also present a problem as they are immune to Toxic, especially Metagross who is also immune to Charm and Tickle and will simply plow through Umbreon with Meteor Mash. Scizor is a massive problem with its STAB Bug attacks. Skarmory and Forretress will happily come in a commence setting up if Umbreon can't Taunt them. Anything faster with Substitute or Taunt can present problems, as it will block most of the moves Umbreon uses. Gyarados, Tyranitar and Crobat are common Taunt users, and can all beat Umbreon quite easily. |
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