Jirachi
status: done with skeleton?
jirachi hasn't changed much, but it's still mega solid and an excellent choice on any OU team! note that i've tested dual screens and substitute + thunder wave jirachi and they've been DECENT, but i plan on testing them a bit more before making my final verdict on them. for now, they have an OC mention.
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[Overview]
- excellent movepool and typing, with good defensive stats
- very versitile; you never know exactly what set jirachi is going to be running
- base 100 stats across the board means that it can both attack and defend with ease
- though its defenses are good, they certainly aren't unbreakable, so powerful hits will be able to take down jirachi
- jirachi's versatility means it is easy to fit it onto your team
name: Calm Mind + Wish
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Wish
move 3: Psychic / Flash Cannon
move 4: Thunderbolt
item: Leftovers
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
Set Comments:
- wish and calm mind on the same set allows jirachi to act as both a supporter and a sweeper
- after a few calm mind boosts, special attackers can't touch jirachi
- calm mind lets jirachi boost both its special attack and special defense in one turn, making it into a potent threat
- wish allows jirachi to heal both itself and its teammates; this makes it a wonderful support pokemon for teams that require/could use wish support
- psychic is a more powerful and reliable STAB move, while flash cannon is an alternate STAB move that allows jirachi to deal damage to pokemon like tyranitar and celebi who otherwise wall this set
- thunderbolt lets jirachi hit bulky waters like gyarados hard
- doom desire can be used in the third slot, but it isn't very reliable, so it may not be the best choice. psycho shock can also be used to beat blissey, but psychic is more valuable for hitting pokemon with higher defense stats
- 252 HP evs upgrade jirachi's overall bulk; 224 defense evs and a bold nature let jirachi take physical hits better; 32 speed evs let jirachi outpace 252 speed jolly tyranitar
- alternate ev spread of 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Spe with a bold nature allows jirachi to outspeed all base 90 (and lower) pokemon, such as lucario
- leftovers lets jirachi regenerate HP steadily
- trick users can easily cripple this jirachi variant, so having a pokemon to absorb trick, like choice band/scarf tyranitar, can be useful
- burungeru is an excellent teammate for jirachi as this variant tends to bring in fire-type pokemon, like heatran and infernape, who are checked with ease by burungeru
- depending on the moves jirachi carries, certain pokemon counter it; if jirachi lacks flash cannon, tyranitar will easily deal with it. if it lacks psychic / psycho shock, electric-types can deal with jirachi well
- teammates who appreciate wish support, such as bronzong, make good teammates for this jirachi
- dual screens support make jirachi almost impossible to KO, and make setting up a sweep much easier
name: Choice Scarf Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Trick
move 4: Ice Punch / Fire Punch / ThunderPunch
item: Choice Scarf
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Set Comments:
- common set-up leads like nattorei can't stand being tricked a choice scarf; for that reason, choice scarf jirachi makes a great lead
- frailer leads like azelf are easily flinched to death by jirachi
- stealth rock is an extremely important support move
- iron head is a good STAB move and lets jirachi flinch many common leads to death
- trick lets jirachi cripple opposing leads like erufuun and forretress who will otherwise attempt to set up
- ice punch can be used for hitting dragon-types like salamence and garchomp, as well as borutorosu leads; fire punch lets jirachi hit steel-types like scizor; thunderpunch is for hitting bulky water-types like vaporeon and burungeru
- u-turn can be used in place of trick, but one of jirachi's main selling points as a lead is being able to trick its scarf, so not having that option somewhat takes away from its niche of a choice scarf lead
- the ev spread allows jirachi to be as fast as possible while hitting with a good amount of power
- note that you shouldn't blindly trick your scarf away, as your opponent may simply bring in a pokemon to absorb trick
- as a lead, jirachi doesn't need much team support to function; however, having pokemon to take on leads it cannot is helpful
- leads like heatran and metagross will beat jirachi with relative ease, so burungeru is a good teammate for dealing with them
- pokemon who can set up on a choice-locked (due to trick) lead, like dragon dance ononokusu, make good teammates as they can help open up holes in the opponent's team early in the game
- a choice user can absorb jirachi's trick and disrupt its strategy from the get-go
- borutorosu leads can stop jirachi's trick and stealth rock with mischievous heart taunt, but ice punch will deal a good amount of damage to it, so be wary of that
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Ice Punch
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: ThunderPunch / Trick / U-turn
item: Choice Scarf
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Set Comments:
- while similar to the above set, this set is more of a revenge killer than support pokemon
- base 100 speed with a choice scarf lets jirachi outpace and revenge kill tons of potent threats
- in the final moveslot, there are many options. thunderpunch is for hitting water-types, trick is for crippling opposing walls, and u-turn is for scouting purposes
- if you want to hit skarmory harder, then you can utilize thunderbolt in place of thunderpunch and a naive nature. however, thunderpunch allows jirachi to hit vaporeon harder and allows it to run jolly, keeping its defenses intact
- much like on the above set, the ev spread allows jirachi to be as fast as possible while hitting with a good amount of power
- if you're using trick, try to wait until you've seen a significant portion of the opponent's team before losing jirachi's scarf, as there may otherwise be a threat who jirachi must revenge kill but will be unable to
- there are several potent threats who can set up on jirachi locked into an unfavorable move, such as dragon dance ononokusu and salamence, and swords dance lucario
- having a good defensive core is invaluable when using this set, as you will have to switch jirachi out of many attacks
- since you will be switching around so often, rapid spin support is hugely appreciated
- in general, it may be wise to employ a "dual-revenge killer" strategy with this jirachi, having a second revenge killer like doryuuzu (in sandstorm) or choice scarf garchomp waiting in the wings to take down the threats who set up on jirachi
- as long as you switch in on a resisted hit from jirachi, you should be safe to start setting up/attacking, as jirachi won't be able to harm you
name: Calm Mind + Substitute
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Psychic / Psycho Shock / Flash Cannon
move 4: Thunderbolt
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Set Comments:
- while similar in build to the calm mind + wish set, this jirachi is more offensive and takes a more direct route to sweeping
- 101 HP substitutes + calm mind allows this jirachi to beat blissey one-on-one even when not using psycho shock, a big accomplishment for any special attacker
- substitute protects jirachi from critical hits and status, serves as a safety net in general
- psychic is the main STAB move of choice, but you can use psycho shock to guarentee jirachi will come out on top against blissey, or flash cannon as an alternate STAB move for hitting pokemon like tyranitar, celebi, and latios
- thunderbolt is an excellent secondary coverage move
- the ev spread allows jirachi to have as much overall bulk as possible; 252 speed evs and a timid nature allow jirachi to outspeed many key threats, including jolly lucario, warubiaru, and ononokusu
- keep in mind that since psycho shock deals physical damage, if using it jirachi will be unable to damage some pokemon, like roobushin and hippowdon, as much as it could if it was using psychic
- alternate ev spreads can be used depending on what you want jirachi to do. if you want it more physically bulky, then feel free to take evs out of speed and chuck them into defense. just try to hit some speed benchmark when you do this so that you can still outspeed a few threats (dependent on how many evs you use)
- pokemon who resist jirachi's ground- and fire-type weaknesses make great teammates. for this reason, bulky gyarados and salamence make good teammates, as they can sponge these attacks
- jirachi works well in a "dual-calm mind" strategy with a pokemon like calm mind suicune, as jirachi weakens suicune's counters while suicune weakens jirachi's
- toxic spikes support can be useful in helping jirachi stall out opposing walls while setting up
- wish support benefits this jirachi as it allows it to come in and start stacking calm mind boosts much more easily
- any pokemon with a physical fire- or ground-type move, most notably the extremely common earthquake, will be very problematic for this jirachi to take on
- different pokemon will counter this jirachi based on what STAB move you choose
- sweeper jirachi sets appreciate entry hazard support in the form of stealth rock and spikes as it allows jirachi to obtain key OHKOs and 2HKOs that would otherwise not be possible, as well as just making it easier to sweep
- pack teammates who can take on ground- and fire-type attacks aimed at jirachi. gyarados, salamence, and latias can take these attacks with ease and set up
- jirachi has problems with fire-types, so utilize a bulky water-type teammate, like burungeru
- jirachi who lack wish appreciate wish support of their own, as it makes it easier to switch jirachi in and maintain its health throughout the match; vaporeon is a nice choice to supply this as she can also take on fire-types who check jirachi
- toxic spikes support benefits the calm mind sets as it makes wearing down walls easier
- while not at all neccessary, dual screens support can be a tremendous help to jirachi, as it makes it almost impossible to KO. calm mind sets in particular like dual screens as it makes it easier to set up and sweep
- jirachi has a titanic movepool so there are lots of other viable choices
- you can run a substitute + thunder wave set to take advantage of jirachi's serene grace ability, but it doesn't fare as well against bulky ground-types (such as garchomp, hippowdon, and doryuuzu)
- a calm mind + 3 attacks set is viable, but any fast physical attacker can dispose of it rather easily, and it doesn't posses the utility that the above calm mind sets do
- a choice specs set with doom desire can help surprise pokemon expecting a physical jirachi, but there are many threats who can simply switch in on jirachi and set up on it right away, like dragon dance ononokosu
- a wish support set may work, but jirachi is usually better off running the calm mind + wish set as it can both support and sweep
- mixed attacker jirachi can be used, but it isn't nearly as powerful as some of the monstrous threats this generation, and so it may fall short of expectations should you chose to use it
- jirachi can run a successful dual screens set, as well, with wish and u-turn for team support
- depending on its STAB move, different pokemon counter calm mind jirachi. tyranitar and celebi can take on psychic variants, while swampert and genosect can take on flash cannon variants more easily
- to beat choice sets, bring in a pokemon who resists the move jirachi is locked into and then simply set up or attack; the list of these pokemon is endless and depends on the move jirachi is using at the time
- bulky ground-types can take on most jirachi quite well
- heatran can switch in on jirachi relatively risk-free and try to net a nitro charge boost
- skarmory can set up on jirachi who lack thunderbolt
- though calm mind sets are dangerous when used with proper team support, physical revenge killers like choice scarf garchomp can easily come in and KO jirachi
- jirachi does not receive a dream world ability
