[Overview]
<p>Gardevoir is the embodiment of class; just look at that dress and hairstyle! With Mesprit saying its farewells from NU, Gardevoir has a chance to be in the spotlight as a Psychic-type supporter, filling in the hole that Mesprit left in our hearts. Don't let that pretty face fool you; Gardevoir is not a Pokemon to be messed with. Equipped with an incredibly high base 125 Special Attack stat, the ever so useful Trace ability, a splendid base 115 Special Defense stat, and versatility that extends even farther than the length of her gown, Gardevoir will keep you guessing what she will do next. Even in a tier where the most dangerous threats include Dark-type Pokemon and weather abusers such as Absol, Charizard, Exeggutor, Gorebyss, and Ludicolo, Gardevoir can find a way in her purse of tricks to deal with them. Sadly not everything is sunshine and rainbows for our dainty little dancer. Her HP, Defense, and Speed stats are a little disappointing, and allow faster physical attackers to prey on her. However, her positive traits are so great that they usually overshadow her negatives and if played right, she will provide irreplaceable support to her trainer. Overall, Gardevoir is a solid choice for any team, who many will consider for her unique qualities that no other Pokemon in NU can claim to possess.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Trick / Thunderbolt
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
ability: Trace
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With an incredible base 125 Special Attack stat, a decent base 80 Speed, and the amazing Trace ability, Gardevoir has everything she needs to succeed with a Choice set. Trace allows Gardevoir to copy a foe's Tangela's Regenerator, a Flareon or Rapidash's Flash Fire, a Raichu's Lightningrod, or even a weather abuser's Swift Swim or Chlorophyll, and use it against them. Alongside Trace, Gardevoir also has a base 115 Special Defense and can use them both to get many free switchins and wreak havoc on an enemy team. What's more fun than switching in your bulky Gardevoir into a weak Tangela's attack, forcing it out and get a free hit on something, then switching out and healing 33% of her health? Did your Gardevoir happen to accidentally switch into a Thunder Wave? Trace an Altaria's Natural Cure and getting rid of it, fearing nothing but the uncommon Specs Draco Meteor. As you can see, Trace has many uses, but the most prominent one would be using it to check the horde of weather teams that Ludicolo, Charizard, and Sawsbuck have popularized. By having Trace copy their weather-based ability Gardevoir can outspeed and take out dangerous opponents such as Victreebel, Sawsbuck, Charizard, Ludicolo, Shiftry, Gorebyss, and Exeggutor.</p>
<p>Gardevoir has a massive movepool, many different moves to choose from, and many ways for her to achieve desirable coverage. Psychic and Focus Blast provide excellent coverage together, are only walled by Psychic-type Pokemon, and hit many weather sweepers very hard. The only weather sweeper not hit super effectively by Psychic and Focus Blast is Exeggutor, which can easily be taken down regardless of investment with Signal Beam, something Shadow Ball cannot do against even an Exeggutor with no investment in HP or defenses. Signal Beam also provides good coverage against both Psychic- and Dark-type foes should you need a more reliable move to hit Absol on the switch than Focus Blast. With such fantastic coverage, Gardevoir is given a free choice for her last move: Trick or Thunderbolt. Trick allows Gardevoir to dump her Choice item on troublesome special walls such as Lickilicky or Flareon who can status and take advantage of our poor maiden. Thunderbolt on the other hand gives Choice Scarf Gardevoir a weapon against Gorebyss and Huntail. While Choice Scarf is the recommended item, Choice Specs is also viable and can check the slower weather sweepers such as Victreebel, Shiftry, Seismitoad, Armaldo, Carracosta, Gorebyss, and Exeggutor. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>As with any offensive Pokemon, Gardevoir highly appreciates entry hazard support as the extra damage can allow a Choice Scarf set to OHKO Gorebyss, Ludicolo, or Huntail without using Thunderbolt. The Choice Specs set appreciates Stealth Rock and Spikes, which give it the ability to 2HKO even defensive behemoths such as Hypno, Altaria, and Flareon. Psychic-, Bug-, and Fighting-type attacks achieve perfect coverage in NU—barring the uncommon Shedinja—but if you feel that Shedinja is a huge threat to your team, or if you are using Choice Specs, Shadow Ball is a perfect alternative to Signal Beam, as Gardevoir retains the awesome coverage while hitting Shedinja and OHKOing Exeggutor. Thunderbolt should only be considered on sets using Choice Scarf because it is only used to take down Gorebyss and Huntail in one hit without any prior damage. Choice Specs sets on the other hand have the ability to OHKO those threats cleanly with just Psychic. Most Pokemon under base 80
Speed that use Choice Scarf do not run Speed boosting natures, so Modest is the way to go, but Timid can be used to ensure that Gardevoir always outpaces these foes, and is the preferred nature for Choice Specs sets. Like any other Psychic-type Pokemon in NU, Gardevoir absolutely hates Dark-type Pokemon and nothing sucks more than to have Skuntank switch into your Psychic and trap Gardevoir with Pursuit. Fighting-type Pokemon such as Sawk, Throh, and Gurdurr make quick work of both Absol and Skuntank and have good offensive synergy with Gardevoir, as they can remove each other's counters.</p>
[SET]
name: Dual Screens
move 1: Reflect
move 2: Light Screen
move 3: Memento / Psychic
move 4: Taunt / Psychic
item: Light Clay
ability: Trace
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>By utilizing Gardevoir's superb defenses, good Speed, and awesome movepool consisting of rare moves such as Memento, you get the best offensive supporter NU has to offer. With this set's EV spread Gardevoir can use her great base 80 Speed to quickly set up Reflect and Light Screen, further augmenting her already sturdy defenses and support her teammates by giving them a much easier time setting up. As the best Pokemon with access to Reflect, Light Screen, and Memento in NU, only facing competition from Jumpluff—which would have more potential running other sets—Gardevoir doesn't have to 'Wish' to get chosen for a team slot. This is because of this set's ability to support teams of any kind, giving offensive teams a cushion against attacks allowing for a swiftly executed Swords Dance from the likes of Samurott to finish off a game, or even giving balanced teams the extra bulk needed to counter threats and still retain the power to hit back hard. Memento doesn't only act as a bulletproof vest that beefs up the effects of Dual Screens; as it sharply decreases an enemy's Attack and Special Attack, it essentially acts as a one turn Reflect and Light Screen, potentially giving a teammate the chance to set up. Taunt allows Gardevoir to prevent Pokemon such as Regirock, Probopass, and Musharna from setting up, all of which could otherwise use moves such as Thunder Wave, Stealth Rock, or Calm Mind, respectively. Gardevoir's Trace ability comes into play when using this set as well, giving her Regenerator from Tangela or Flash Fire from Flareon, which can aid her in setting up Reflect and Light Screen multiple times in a match.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>As with any Dual Screen user, Gardevoir seeks only to help her teammates, and without a proper offensive partner, she fails as a support Pokemon. Pairing Gardevoir up with Pokemon such as Samurott, Absol, Drifblim, Altaria, Linoone, Charizard, Gorebyss, Carracosta, Huntail, Zangoose, Sawsbuck, or Raichu that can boost their own stats but otherwise would find it difficult to set up will make the most out of Gardevoir's screens. While the last two moveslots on this set seem redundant with Psychic being slashed twice, this set can run a myriad of move combinations effectively. Memento should be used with either Taunt or Psychic, but can also be replaced to use both Psychic and Taunt on the same set. Gardevoir appreciates help from Alomomola to take on physical hits and provide Wish support to Gardevoir and her partners to allow her to rally a dual screens offense for much longer. This set can also run Thunder Wave or Focus Blast for additional support, as Thunder Wave can cripple any powerful attackers attempting to freely switch in while Gardevoir sets up a Reflect or Light Screen, and Focus Blast cleanly OHKOes Absol on the switch.</p>
[SET]
name: Weather Support
move 1: Sunny Day / Rain Dance
move 2: Healing Wish
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Taunt
item: Heat Rock / Damp Rock
ability: Trace
nature: Calm
evs: 240 HP / 184 SpD / 84 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Gardevoir is the best weather supporter in NU; while Volbeat ha access to priority weather, Gardevoir has many more options to support weather teams beyond just setting up 8 turns of blistering sun or drenching rain, such as the coveted Healing Wish, the amazing Trace ability, a great Psychic typing that allows her to set up on many Pokemon, and Taunt to prevent slower Pokemon from stopping Gardevoir from doing her job. Psychic—Gardevoir's main STAB move—allows her to deal heavy damage to Fighting-type Pokemon such as Sawk and Gurdurr and generally hits many things very hard. Taunt allows Gardevoir to prevent other Pokemon from setting up and from even Taunting her. Her excellent ability, Trace, lets her set up weather against Pokemon such as Raichu, Flareon, or Tangela with ease by copying their abilities and shutting them down. Healing Wish is the icing on the cake, capable of completely healing one of your weather sweepers, such as Charizard or Gorebyss, preventing them from falling into the gory abyss of death for another chance to bring forth opposition's inevitable demise. Healing Wish takes place before the damage from entry hazards so even Pokemon that would normally die as soon as they come in are given another chance thanks to Gardevoir's sacrifice. As strong as the power of friendship is, having Gardevoir use Healing Wish will not allow for the revival of an already fallen comrade.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>84 Speed EVs allow Gardevoir to outspeed uninvested base 90 Speed Pokemon, such as Vigoroth or Golbat, which are commonly used to Taunt and stallbreak. 240 HP EVs and 184 Special Defense EVs give Gardevoir higher specially defensive bulk than 252 HP and 172 Special Defense EVs and allows her to survive an extra turn of Toxic or burn damage thanks to hitting 337 HP. As this set aims to support a team with weather, Pokemon who can capitalize on said weather such as Charizard, Sawsbuck, Shiftry, Victreebel, Gorebyss, Ludicolo, Seismitoad, Huntail, or Armaldo are recommended. Since Gardevoir and her gorgeous figure attract creepy Dark-type Pokemon, such as Skuntank and Absol, that like to stalk and Pursuit her to the depths of hell, an overprotective Fighting-type Pokemon such as Sawk or Gurdurr are recommended to teach those creeps a lesson. Gardevoir can even do some rejection of her own by luring in Absol and OHKOing it with Focus Blast, though this doesn't work the same way against Skuntank, who isn't weak to Focus Blast and is bulky enough to take the hit.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Shadow Ball
item: Life Orb
ability: Trace
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With Jynx being banned from NU, nobody 'shed a manly tear'; instead, they looked for the most suitable replacement regardless, and this is what they found. Gardevoir is a powerful Pokemon with her base 125 Special Attack stat, good base 80 Speed, great coverage, bulk perfectly fitting for Calm Mind, and the right ability to abuse these traits in Trace. With an excellent base 115 Special Defense stat and the Trace ability, Gardevoir can find many opportunities to set up a Calm Mind on weaker special attackers or attackers whose own abilities can be used against them, such as Amoonguss, Vileplume, Raichu, Altaria, or Flareon. From there Gardevoir can use her amazing coverage to sweep the opponent's team. To illustrate the power behind this set, +1 Gardevoir is capable of OHKOing both specially defensive Lickilicky and Cryogonal with Focus Blast. (Stealth Rock is needed to guarantee the KO on Cryogonal). Another extremely specially defensive Pokemon, Hypno, is forced to choose between either geting a Wish or status off on Gardevoir before being 2HKOed.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set appreciates entry hazard support to help take down Flareon, Cryogonal, and Hypno much more easily and provide much more trouble and devastation than all of Team Rocket combined. Unfortunately, Gardevoir has enormous trouble dealing with Dark-type Pokemon such as Absol and Skuntank which can force her into a checkmate position, so good teammates include Fighting-type Pokemon such as Sawk, Emboar, or Gurdurr to dispose of them and provide Gardevoir a free window to set up and sweep. Unlike the Choice Scarf set, this Gardevoir runs Timid because Pokemon with base 80 Speed and lower tend to run positive a Speed nature when not using Choice Scarf. Pairing Gardevoir with special attackers such as Gorebyss, Altaria, or Serperior that generally get walled by Gardevoir's traditional counters appreciate her ability to lure in traditional counters and take them down. Although the moves listed are the best for the job, Gardevoir can still mix and match some of them. Signal Beam is usable on this set, but because Gardevoir is boosting her damage output, a Shadow Ball will take down Exeggutor regardless. Psyshock is also an option over Psychic to take down specially defensive Altaria with Stealth Rock on the field.</p>
[SET]
name: Defensive Calm Mind
move 1: Substitute / Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Calm Mind
move 3: Stored Power / Psychic
move 4: Signal Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Trace
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>When one first looks at Gardevoir's stats, the ones that stand out are her outstanding Special Attack and Special Defense. With the help of Calm Mind and Trace, Gardevoir can use these stats to become very hard to stop. This set takes a more defensive approach towards Calm Mind and uses its Psychic typing, Trace, and good bulk to set up on Pokemon such as Alomomola and Sawk. Substitute allows Gardevoir to block status while setting up and provides a safeguard against physical attackers that might try to switch into Gardevoir and attempt to take her down before she becomes too troublesome. On the other hand, Will-O-Wisp forgoes the ability to block status for the option of crippling physical attackers to give Gardevoir a much easier time setting up. The combination of Psychic- and Bug-type attacks is the best 2-move coverage Gardevoir can get, because picking Thunderbolt as the coverage move leaves Gardevoir walled by Exeggutor. Considering that this set utilizes a bulkier EV spread, being able to set up two Calm Minds is easy. Stored Power gets the nod over Psychic for this reason, as the Base Power of Stored Power exceeds that of Psychic after two Calm Mind boosts.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Although Psychic and Signal Beam are both resisted by the omnipresent Probopass, it poses absolutely no threat to Gardevoir. Gardevoir can utilize the beauty of the Substitute and Calm Mind strategy to set up safely, eventually winning the fight against Probopass one on one. Gardevoir is even capable to taking down Unaware Quagsire, as Unaware does not ignore the increased Base Power of Stored Power. However, Stored Power is extremely weak without any boosts so Psychic is the more reliable option to deal solid damage without the need to set up. Shadow Ball can be used over Signal Beam to hit most Psychic- or Ghost-type Pokemon harder, but loses coverage against Dark-type Pokemon. The EVs give Gardevoir good physical bulk and the ability to outspeed standard Misdreavus, which Gardevoir can set up on at +1 and cleanly OHKO at +3 with Stored Power. This set requires the support of teammates that can handle extremely powerful physical attackers. Tangela, Vileplume, and Amoonguss make excellent partners because they can easily wall physical attackers in NU and slowly weaken them with Leech Seed and Sleep Powder, strong STAB attacks, or Spore, respectively. Physical attackers that cannot be handled by the above teammates, such as Emboar and Rapidash, can be taken care of by Alomomola, which can provide Wish support for your team.</p>
[SET]
name: SubWisp
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Focus Blast / Signal Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Trace
nature: Modest
evs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Who said that Gardevoir was restricted to either offense or support? This set combines both of her great attributes to create a dangerous Pokemon that supports her team along the way. This set aims to not only support Gardevoir's team with Will-O-Wisp but also have her take advantage of the burns by using Substitute and striking opposing Pokemon down with her powerful attacks. Psychic and Focus Blast provide excellent coverage, hitting Dark- and Steel-type Pokemon that are likely to switch into Gardevoir to force her out. However, the combination of Psychic- and Fighting-type moves is walled by the multitude of Psychic-type Pokemon in NU such as Exeggutor, Musharna, and opposing Gardevoir. For this reason Signal Beam is a very viable replacement for hitting both Dark- and Psychic-type Pokemon in exchange for losing coverage against Steel-type Pokemon such as Probopass and Bastiodon. As with any Gardevoir set, Trace is her gift from Arceus and allows her to function as well as she does. She can come in and set up on Pokemon such as Tangela and copy its Regenerator and other neat abilities, giving her a better chance of keeping her Substitute and causing as much damage to an enemy team as possible.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This EV spread maximizes Gardevoir's Special Attack and provides her with enough Speed to outpace Adamant Absol so she can burn it before it can get in a Night Slash. Gardevoir can come in on Tangela or other Pokemon that have good abilities to take advantage of and freely set up Substitute to take down Pokemon commonly used in defensive cores, such as Tangela, Amoonguss, Probopass, and Quagsire. Shadow Ball can hit Psychic-type Pokemon, excluding Exeggutor, harder than Signal Beam and can hit Ghost-type Pokemon such as Drifblim, Haunter, or Misdreavus super effectively. Not being able to hit Absol super effectively is somewhat remedied by Will-O-Wisp. Extremely bulky Psychic-type Pokemon, such as Musharna, can take Signal Beam or even wall Gardevoir completely if she is using Focus Blast, and set up as many Calm Minds as they please. To prevent this from happening, Skuntank can be used and is an excellent partner that can get rid of the Psychic- or Ghost-type foes that stand in Gardevoir's way. This set cripples physical attacking walls and can take advantage of this by using Substitute and wearing them down with Gardevoir's powerful attacks. Pokemon such as Swellow, Braviary, or Gorebyss appreciate Gardevoir's ability to cripple Regirock, Golem, Probopass, or Lickilicky, giving them less to worry about when attempting to sweep.</p>
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Wish
move 2: Protect / Heal Bell
move 3: Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
move 4: Psychic
item: Leftovers
ability: Trace
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>In a world where Mesprit has left the NU tier, one Pokemon now holds the key to tier supremacy. Gardevoir stars in "Rise to the Top" and plays the important role of the protagonist capable of taking a multitude of special attacks from the likes of Cryogonal, Samurott, Rotom-S, and Altaria and passing on her 'Wishful' sentiments to her friends in need. While the NU tier is not the stage for a Hollywood movie, all of Gardevoir's mentioned qualities are absolute fact. With an amazing base 115 Special Defense stat backed by a decent base 68 HP stat, Gardevoir is more than capable of taking hits from some of NU's scariest special attackers while being capable of healing herself and her teammates with Wish. However, there are two main things that differentiate Gardevoir from her only remaining competitor, Hypno: Gardevoir sports a much higher Special Attack stat and can deal significant damage to anything that doesn't resist Psychic, and holds access to Will-O-Wisp, a move Hypno could not get even in its dreams. Even while backed up by Will-O-Wisp, Gardevoir's Defense is not the greatest and physically defensive partners such as Tangela who can take on the physical attackers in NU and provide Sleep Power and Leech Seed support are recommended, while Gardevoir can return the favor with Heal Bell.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With her excellent Special Attack stat, Gardevoir can take advantage of moves such as Psyshock to hit special walls such as Cryogonal, Altaria, or Flareon much harder than with Psychic.Thunder Wave is useful, as with good bulk and Wish, Gardevoir will last a long time and can spread paralysis throughout your opponent's team, allowing for slow, powerful Pokemon such as Marowak or Golem to have an easier time breaking down teams. Providing a secondary Heal Bell user is recommended, as Gardevoir appreciates being able to run Protect for scouting enemy movesets and guaranteeing Gardevoir heals herself with Wish. For this reason, partners such as Lickilicky, Flareon, or Audino are recommended as they have generally good type synergy with Gardevoir and provide enormous support with Wish and Heal Bell. While far from being set up fodder, defensive Gardevoir tends to attract offensive Ghost- and Dark-types, so partners such as Skuntank and Sawk, respectively can do a number on those Pokemon, and any injuries Gardevoir's partners suffer as a result can be healed by Gardevoir's Wish. Alternatively, this set can use a mixed spread such as 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD with a Bold nature to handle Fighting-type Pokemon much better while still keeping good special defense.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Gardevoir can utilize a neat Synchronize with Heal Bell set, but as long as you don't bring your Gardevoir in on a Regigigas or Slaking, Trace a much better ability as it is leagues more useful; Gardevoir should be avoiding status anyway. As Gardevoir has access to Encore and Destiny Bond, it would seem as though they could be used on some of her set. However, Gardevoir needs all the moveslots she has to attain sufficient coverage and to accomplish her goals. She can use Substitute with either Pain Split or Disable to disrupt the opponent. While both are viable (SubSplit focusing on beating special walls and SubDisable preventing the opponent from using a move to break Gardevoir's Substitute) the listed sets are are for a reason; they get the job done better than either SubSplit or SubDisable. Defensive and Offensive Calm Mind outclasses SubSplit in beating special walls and SubWisp disrupts the opponent better by not only helping Gardevoir keep her Substitute, but also burning the opponent.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>While Gardevoir can be very hard to counter outright since you never know what set she could be using, Skuntank is the key exception and can take anything any Gardevoir set has, bar Will-O-Wisp, and Pursuit trap her. Scraggy can come in on Support or Defensive Calm Mind sets and set up Bulk Up freely, not minding Will-O-Wisp thanks to its access to Rest and Shed Skin. Absol severely threatens Gardevoir with Sucker Punch, although sets with Substitute can attempt to play around it. Potent special walls such as Lickilicky, Flareon, and Cryogonal fear nothing from Choice sets except Trick and can cripple Gardevoir with Toxic. Cryogonal, especially, can beat Support and Defensive Calm Mind sets with its access to Haze and Toxic. Musharna can come in on Gardevoir and take advantage of her Support, Choice, or SubWisp sets and freely set up on her, but has to watch out for Trick, Taunt, and boosted Signal Beams.</p>
