|
-
Synchronize
- When statused, the enemy is also statused. Can pass nature to wild Pokémon.
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Early Bird
- Reduces sleep time by 50%.
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Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
65
|
- |
271 |
334 |
- |
| Atk |
75
|
167 |
186 |
249 |
273 |
| Def |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
| SpA |
95
|
203 |
226 |
289 |
317 |
| SpD |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
| Spe |
95
|
203 |
226 |
289 |
317 |
Xatu sets up Tailwind, Reflect, or Light Screen, Wishes, and uses U-turn to pass the Wish. While it has an inferior defensive typing and stats to the Pokémon is attempting to imitate, the inferior power of the Pokémon it will face in UU combined with the defensive help it’ll get from the support move it chooses allow it to potentially survive long enough to pass a Wish. Unlike with Jirachi, Xatu doesn’t want to absorb a hit the turn it Wishes in most cases, and is relying a bit more on a smart U-turn to help the incoming Pokémon take less damage from the incoming attack than Wish heals.
Xatu’s two least terrible stats, Speed and Special Attack, are both base 95, so this tries to take advantage of them a bit. Xatu's movepool is a bit more focused on support than attacking moves so its options are limited here, but with the help of Hidden Power it gets fairly good coverage. Use Timid with Choice Specs and Modest with Choice Scarf. Psychic works as Xatu’s primary power move, Shadow Ball hits other Psychics, and Hidden Power Fighting deals with Steel and Dark types. The last moveslot is a bit a toss-up: one of the primary reasons to use Xatu to begin with is Wish so that is always an option, Grass Knot can be used as a general coverage move to hit a few Pokémon harder than Psychic but are mostly filler, or Haze(particularly when combined with Choice Scarf) can be used to try to use Xatu’s above average Speed to outrun a target with some stat boosts and remove them before they sweep your team. In general, the first three moves are all that are really to be used—the last move is filler. If one really wants to, go ahead and use Reflect or Light Screen for team support, or Giga Drain to regain some health; there isn't much else Xatu can do.
Switch Xatu in on something using Thunder Wave or Will-o-Wisp, infect them with Synchronize, then steal their item. This is probably Xatu’s most effective set if you want to try to use it in OU, as much of what it does is not reliant on the amount of actual damage it does. Psychic allows you to do some damage and Wish gives you some nice team support. The fourth move offers your team some additional support, either by statusing the enemy Pokémon, by directly supporting your team with Reflect or Light Screen, or improving Xatu’s Wish passing ability as well as giving you a minor prediction advantage with U-turn.
Other Options
Xatu has Night Shade for a consistent 100 HP damage if you don’t think you’ll be able to do much damage otherwise. Thunder Wave's paralysis is always helpful. Quick Attack and Sucker Punch are available to allow Xatu to counter Reversal and Flail users to some extent. Featherdance is available as a nice support move learned by few Pokémon. Drill Peck is usable, and can be used in conjunction with Choice Scarf to be a funny way to counter Choice Scarf Heracross and Medicham, but probably isn’t the best use of Xatu. Roost is available for an alternative method of healing, but in general Xatu helps its team a lot more by giving something more powerful the 50% recovery provided by Wish. Xatu is also able to Baton Pass Calm Minds, but is generally an inferior choice to other Pokémon for Baton Passing, even in UU. Psycho Shift is also an option, to clean Xatu's status and hopefully status a second Pokémon after Synchronize inflicts status on a first. Tail Wind is useful for boosting the team's Speed, but unfortunately only lasts for three turns.
EVs
If you’re using Xatu in OU, 176 EVs in Speed beats Heracross when both have the same personality, as does 136 EVs in Speed and Medicham, which is mostly a factor on the Choice sets (particularly Choice Scarf).
Opinion
Xatu is a cool Pokémon. By cool, I actually mean that it LOOKS cool, because that and the scarcity of Pokémon able to learn Wish is about all Xatu has going for it. It has a fairly respectable movepool, but is greatly hampered by a below average stat total. It is outclassed by a number of Pokémon in OU play, but is at least somewhat useful due to being one of very few Pokémon able to use Wish, as well as a variety of other useful support moves.
Counters
Xatu gets countered by many Pokémon in the OU metagame, particularly Blissey, Snorlax, Metagross, Bronzong, Tyranitar, and Lucario. In the UU game it mostly needs to worry about other Psychics, such as Grumpig and Hypno. In both OU and UU it needs to be wary of Pokémon that are normally slower than it outrunning it with Choice Scarf, due to Xatu’s vulnerable base 70 Defense and Special Defense combined with its base 65 HP, as well as its unfortunate weakness to Stealth Rock.