[Overview]
<p>As a general rule, Pokemon that look badass are powerful, and Pokemon that look cute are weak. Cinccino turns this unwritten law upside down, and shows people just how wrong they can be. Thanks to an extensive physical movepool, incredible Speed, and great Attack (not to mention a great ability), this adorable little bunny can sweep entire teams with ease. Unfortunately, no Pokemon is without its flaws, even Cinccino. It has rather miserable defenses, meaning that Pokemon it can't OHKO will probably be able to take it out. Even though Cinccino is very fast, there are plenty of Scarfed Pokemon that can outspeed and OHKO it; and its Speed also becomes irrelevant when confronted by priority moves. However, if Cinccino is saved until late in the game, when everything on your opponent's team is battered and bruised, and enemy Choice Scarfers have been eliminated, Cinccino can clean up the remains with very little effort.</p>
[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: Tail Slap / Return
move 2: Rock Blast
move 3: Bullet Seed
move 4: Wake-Up Slap
item: Life Orb
ability: Technician
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Cinccino is one of the most lethal late-game cleaners that reside in the NU metagame. This set brings together all of its best attributes, Speed, coverage and power, into a lethal little bundle of fluffy fun. A dilemma for Cinccino users is the choice of STAB move. Tail Slap is Cinccino's signature move, and it benefits greatly from Technician. Its ability to outdamage Return and break Substitutes makes it invaluable, but it comes at the cost of 85% accuracy, which is a major drawback since Cinccino really can't afford to miss. Three consecutive hits of Tail Slap offer around the same damage output as Return; after three hits it becomes the more powerful move. Return is the more reliable (remember, Tail Slap may only hit twice), but generally weaker option. Rock Blast and Bullet Seed are two other multi-hit moves that also benefit from Technician. The former is an excellent option for striking down Substitute users, such as Ninjask and Haunter, and provides good coverage, whereas the latter is Cinccino's most reliable choice for taking down bulky Rock-types, such as Golem. Wake-Up Slap reaches 90 base power after the Technician boost, and is the only way Cinccino can beat bulky Steel-types, such as Probopass and Bastiodon.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>A Jolly nature allows Cinccino to outspeed the vast majority of the metagame, only being trumped by speed demons, such as Swellow and Electrode. Adamant is another option for more power, but Cinccino's blazing Speed is what makes it so attractive in the first place, and one should attempt to capitalize on it. Life Orb is the preferred item, as it lets Cinccino make the most of its brilliant coverage by enabling it to switch moves, and the HP loss is practically irrelevant for something so frail. Choice Band is an option as well, but forces Cinccino to sacrifice its ability to sweep in exchange for slightly more power. If using Choice Band, U-Turn is an option over Rock Blast in order to let Cinccino act as an efficient scout.</p>
<p>Cinccino appreciates teammates that can soften up the opponent's team before it makes its appearance. For this reason, powerful wallbreakers, such as Magmortar, are excellent teammates. Cinccino also appreciates powerful physical walls, such as Regirock, gone, because it is unable to make even a dent in the mighty golem (no, not Golem). Consequently, Pokemon that can lure it out and bring it down are good teammates. Absol is happy to provide this service, as it can also eliminate bulky Ghost-types, such as Eviolite Misdreavus, with a well-timed Night Slash or Pursuit.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Aqua Tail is another powerful physical move that Cinccino can utilize. It offers excellent coverage in tandem with Cinccino's Normal-type moves alone, but has trouble finding a place over one of Cinccino's other moves. Our fluffy friend can also set up weather with its amazing Speed, but has no way to abuse it itself. Other support options include Knock Off, a great move in NU due to the vast amount of Pokemon that hold Eviolite, and Encore, which is another fantastic support move that Cinccino can make good use of thanks to its blistering Speed. The ability to lock slower Pokemon into non-threatening moves is very valuable, and can grant momentum to your team in conjunction with U-turn. Cinccino also has a stat-boosting move in Work Up, but this generally isn't a good option, as not only is Cinccino too frail to set up, but it would have to sacrifice a coverage move to make room for it. Cinccino also has a good special movepool, but its miserable Special Attack stat is too low to let Cinccino any sort of respectable damage. Finally, Cinccino could use a Choice Scarf in order to outspeed everything under the stars, but the loss in power generally isn't worth it, not to mention Cinccino is fast enough as is.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The best counters to Cinccino are Regirock and physically defensive variants of Misdreavus. The former takes pitiful damage from all of Cinccino's attacks, and can either cripple it with paralysis or simply OHKO it with Drain Punch or Hammer Arm. Misdreavus, on the other hand, can't be hit super effectively by Cinccino, and can halve Cinccino's Attack with Will-O-Wisp. It can then proceed to stall Cinccino out with Pain Split.</p>
<p>The easiest way to deal with Cinccino is by using Choice Scarf users or priority moves. If a Pokemon can outspeed Cinccino and has any decently powered STAB or Fighting-type move, it will probably be able to knock Cinccino out. Cinccino will also be unable to survive most priority moves, especially the more powerful ones in ExtremeSpeed and Sucker Punch, nor the Fighting-type ones in Mach Punch and Vacuum Wave. Therefore, Pokemon such as Absol and Gurdurr will always be able to revenge kill Cinccino.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Cinccino's Dream World ability, Skill Link, is a godsend for it. Skill Link makes all multi-hit moves always hit five times in a row, effectively giving Tail Slap, Rock Blast, and Bullet Seed 125 base power. The only move that doesn't benefit from it is Wake-Up Slap, which will have a measly 60 base power. Therefore, it is recommended to run U-Turn as the fourth move to let Cinccino act as a scout, and pack teammates that can deal with the Steel-types present in NU.</p>