Musharna [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2]

DTC · Jul 8, 2012

Musharna

[Overview]

Incredibly bulky
Best bulky Psychic-type in the tier and one of the best in general
Kind of like a much less bulky, quite a bit stronger Cresselia
Fantastic Calm Mind user
Great check to Pokemon such as Gurdurr and Sawk
Lots of support options such as Heal Bell and Thunder Wave
Great bulky pivot for offensive teams
Surprisingly competent at dealing damage with its 107 base Special Attack
Fits really well Psychic-, Dark-, and Fighting-type cores which are fairly common in NU
Extremely slow. Even slower than Amoonguss which is annoying because it can cripple you with Spore.
Good Baton Pass user and can be good in quick-pass chains
Its presence makes Dark-type Pokemon such as Absol, Skuntank, and Scraggy so more much viable

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Heal Bell / Signal Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

Musharna's trademark set
Its fantastic bulk allows it to easily tank many hits while boosting up
Calm Mind boosts Musharna's already good Special Attack while making it even harder to beat
Moonlight heals Musharna when it's weakened and contributes in making Musharna extremely hard to break through
Psychic is Musharna's standard STAB move that does a lot of damage
Signal Beam, while nice for Dark- and other Psychic-types, usually has less utility on this set than Heal Bell, which makes status a completely unviable option of beating Musharna, as well as supports the rest of the team

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP for Leftovers number
Offensive spread can be used
Thunder Wave
Baton Pass
Hidden Power Ground
Psyshock

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Gurdurr and Sawk can easily beat all of the Dark-type checks
A Dark-type of your own can be used such as Absol with a Fighting-type to make a Psychic / Dark / Fighting-type core and can take of Psychic and Ghost-types that Musharna struggles with
Any Pokemon that are really susceptible to status will appreciate Heal Bell
Lickilicky appreciates Musharna's ability to switch into Fighting-type attacks and doesn't have to use Heal Bell if Musharna is using
Toxic Spikes support is useful for opposing Psychic-types and such and especially goes well with Musharna because it can easily get rid of Poison-types

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Trick Room
move 4: Moonlight
item: Life Orb
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest / Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Musharna is a fantastic choice for an offensive tank
Much immediately stronger than the Calm Mind set but easier to break down
Psychic is Musharna's main STAB move
Signal Beam is coverage that hits Dark- and Psychic-types.
Hidden Power Ground hits a huge threat to Musharna in Skuntank hard as well as Steel-types such as Bastiodon and Probopass
Moonlight heals the damage caused by Life Orb
Trick Room can be used over Signal Beam to allow Musharna to outspeed pretty much everything during its duration, however the coverage provided by Hidden Power Ground is usually more useful.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Use Quiet > Modest if you're using Trick Room
Shadow Ball
Psyshock
Leftovers

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Gurdurr and Sawk can easily beat all of the Dark-type checks
A Dark-type of your own can be used such as Absol with a Fighting-type to make a Psychic / Dark / Fighting-type core and can take of Psychic and Ghost-types that Musharna struggles with

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Trick / Sleep Talk
item: Choice Specs
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Choiced Musharna may look odd because it can't use Moonlight well when it's locked into a move, however it abuses Musharna's great Special Attack even further than the other sets.
Specs Psychic hits very hard and will do a ton of damage to the many common offensive switch-ins. Note that you not use it if Absol or Skuntank on the opposing team because it's a free invitation for them to do a ton of damage to you with Pursuit.
Signal Beam hits Psychic- and Dark-types
Hidden Power Ground hits Steel-types such as Probopass and Bastiodon
Trick can cripple walls and Pokemon that hate to be locked in but there are not many scenarios where you want to Trick your item away
Sleep Talk is useful for the many sleep inducers in the tier and allows Musharna to act as a sleep check

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Moonlight > HP Ground for after you Trick
Shadow Ball
Psyshock
Baton Pass

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Gurdurr and Sawk can easily beat all of the Dark-type checks
A Dark-type of your own can be used such as Absol with a Fighting-type to make a Psychic / Dark / Fighting-type core and can take of Psychic and Ghost-types that Musharna struggles with

[SET]
name: Pivot
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Thunder Wave / Baton Pass
move 4: Heal Bell / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

This Musharna acts as a supporter and pivot for offensive teams
The supporting moves that are on here are what are usually most useful. It's very malleable so use whatever options best fit your team.
Coverage is not recommended because this Musharna is focused on supporting its team
Psychic is STAB
Moonlight is healing which is always amazing
Thunder Wave is useful for crippling offensive Pokemon
Heal Bell is useful for curing status
Baton Pass is used to act as a pseudo U-turn and switch to other Pokemon safely. It also evades Pursuit.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP for Leftovers number
Signal Beam
Reflect
Light Screen
Trick Room

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You shouldn't try to support this Musharna with teammates; it should be supporting the teammates.
Pokemon such as Ursaring that can abuse the slowed opponents are good
Any Pokemon that are really susceptible to status will appreciate Heal Bell
Fast, frail Pokemon such as Cinccino appreciate Musharna's ability to switch into stuff like Sawk

[Other Options]

You can put 8 EV's into Speed to outspeed 0 Speed Amoonguss, but it's not recommended because many Amoonguss run Speed
Forewarn is nice for Pokemon such as Emboar, Samurott, and Altaria when you don't know if they're physical or special but Synchronize usually has more utility.
Yawn
RestTalk with Calm Mind
Reflect and Light Screen
Hypnosis
Full on BP set
Toxic
Rain Dance

[Checks and Counters]

Musharna is a very difficult Pokemon to check because of its amazing stats, its typing that gives it few weaknesses, and a versatile movepool.
Knowing the flaws of each set and what the Musharna set the other person is using helps.
Mono-attacking Calm Mind can easily be checked by Dark-types and certain Psychic-type resistors while Signal Beam Calm Mind can easily be shut down by status.
Offensive tank Musharna gets easily worn down from Life Orb recoil and lack of Defense EV's and lack of Special Defense boosts, however it is much harder to switch into.
Choice Specs Musharna has the flaw of being locked into a move and can't recover health with Moonlight well until it Tricks something; after it uses Trick, it basically just becomes a somewhat less efficient offensive tank Musharna.
Pivot Musharna is the easiest to check as it focuses on supporting the team and checking certain offensive threats rather than being a huge threat to the other team.

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As Musharna is a Psychic-type, Dark-types do a very good job at checking it.
Skuntank can easily switch into anything Musharna uses besides Hidden Power Ground and use Pursuit if Musharna tries to switch out. However, Skuntank lacks power, and 2 Hidden Power Ground's from any of the offensive sets will likely kill Skuntank unless it's some weird specially defensive set. The item choice is also critical for checking Musharna: Leftovers gives Skuntank recovery but it's weak, Lum Berry doesn't help at all against Musharna other than the occasional Thunder Wave but is useful for other threats, Life Orb gives Skuntank a lot of power but the recoil is very crippling when trying to check Musharna and Dread Plate is kind of a middle ground between Leftovers and Life Orb.
Absol is much more powerful than Skuntank but it can get hit a lot harder by Musharna's more common coverage move, Signal Beam. Absol is definitely much more threatening to Musharna but it struggles switching in.
Cacturne just has to watch out for Signal Beam which OHKO's it; otherwise, it can Encore Musharna into a move that hardly effects it and can set-up Spikes.
Like Cacturne, Liepard can Encore a move that doesn't effect it and set-up Nasty Plots.
Scraggy is the best check to Musharna as the only thing that Musharna can do to beat it is Trick, but Musharna usually has teammates that can easily take care of Scraggy.
Zweilous is one of the very few Pokemon that can OHKO Musharna unboosted but it has to be wary of switching into LO/Specs Signal Beam and Trick.

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A few other Pokemon can check Musharna well too.
Misdreavus can Taunt Musharna and kill it with a few Shadow Balls. Misdreavus can also set-up a few Calm Minds or Nasty Plots on Musharna.
SubDisable Haunter can Disable Musharna's Psychic and render it useless while attacking it with Shadow Ball. It may need to rely on Shadow Ball's 20% chance of lowering Special Defense and Sludge Bomb's 30% chance of poisoning to take down Calm Mind Musharna, though. It also can't switch into Psychic.
Golurk can survive 2 unboosted Psychics and do a ton of damage with Shadow Punch.
Swoobat can CM faster than Musharna and smash it with an extremely strong Stored Power.
Strong physical Bug-types such as Pinsir and Armaldo can 2HKO Musharna.
Most Pokemon with Megahorn can 2HKO Musharna, such as Swords Dance Samurott.
Heavy hitters such as CB Emboar, CB Braviary, and Ursaring can 2HKO even physically defensive Musharna but will usually go down with it.
Phazers such as Dragon Tail Lickilicky and Roar Bastiodon do well against Calm Mind Musharna.
Having Spikes and Stealth Rock on the field makes Musharna considerably easier to beat with heavy hitters.
Like most Pokemon, Taunt and status does well. Just remember that if Musharna has Heal Bell, it can always cure its own status.
Tricking Musharna with a choiced item prevents it from using non-attacking moves well. Not the most effective strategy against Specs Musharna, though.
Using Sleep Powder / Spore can work in a pinch, but Musharna does really well against the most common sleep inducers.

[Overview]

Musharna is one of the biggest threats in NU thanks to its impressive defensive stats and above-average attacking prowess. It has numerous positive attributes to go along with its fantastic stats, such as a wide movepool that includes the useful Moonlight and Heal Bell and a decent typing. It can perform numerous useful roles well such as physical wall, setup sweeper, and pivot. In addition, Musharna can counter many top threats such as Gurdurr and Sawk. While it is even slower than Amoonguss and there are numerous Dark-types in the tier, Musharna is still such a huge threat that even a well-constructed team can easily be weak to it.

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Heal Bell / Signal Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

This is Musharna's trademark set. Like many other famous boosting sweepers from the past, Musharna can boost really easily and there isn't all that much that can stop it. This Musharna also performs multiple roles: it's a physical wall, cleric, and boosting sweeper all in one. Calm Mind is the move that makes this set, boosting Musharna's already good Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage. Not even Choice Specs Charizard outside of the sun can 2HKO +1 Musharna, which is a testament to how bulky Musharna truly is. Musharna can easily boost up and then heal when weakened with Moonlight, making it a seemingly impossible tank to break through. Psychic is Musharna's STAB move, doing a lot of damage to pretty much everything that doesn't resist it. For the last slot, you get to decide what is the bane of Musharna's existence: status or Dark-types. Because Dark-types are somewhat easy to get rid of and Heal Bell also has the benefit of curing the status of Musharna's teammates, Heal Bell is usually more useful.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs give Musharna enough HP for a Leftovers number. Speaking of EVs, a more offensive spread can be used for this set, but then Musharna won't be as good of a physical wall or cleric and can't boost as easily. Thunder Wave is an interesting option over the moves in the last slot, as it will allow Musharna to spread status before it attempts to sweep; however, using it means that Musharna has nothing to deal with both status and Dark-types. Psyshock or Stored Power can be used over Psychic, but most Pokemon in the tier are hit harder by Psychic and Stored Power is less useful early-game before boosts.

Gurdurr and Sawk do well against the Dark-type counters that plague Musharna. Absol and Skuntank are other good teammates if you decide to use Gurdurr and Sawk, as they create the infamous Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, checking each others threats. Lickilicky appreciates Musharna's ability to switch into Fighting-type attacks and doesn't have to use up a moveslot for Heal Bell if Musharna is using it (or vice-versa). Just about any Pokemon that is really susceptible to status will appreciate the Heal Bell support provided by Musharna. Toxic Spikes support is useful for dealing with opposing Psychic-types and goes especially well with Musharna because Musharna can easily get rid of the Poison-types that soak them up.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Trick Room
move 4: Moonlight
item: Life Orb
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest / Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Musharna is a fantastic choice for an offensive tank thanks to its access to reliable recovery and attacking prowess. This set is immediately stronger than the Calm Mind set, but easier to wear down. Life Orb Psychic backed by a boosting nature will do a lot of damage to even some bulkier Pokemon such as Braviary. Signal Beam gives coverage against Psychic- and Dark-types while Hidden Power Ground hits Steel-types such as Probopass and Klang. Trick Room can be used over Hidden Power Ground to allow Musharna to outspeed pretty much everything; however, the coverage provided by Hidden Power Ground is usually more useful. Moonlight rounds out the set, allowing Musharna to heal off wounds from Life Orb recoil and any attacks that hit it.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

If you're using Trick Room, a Quiet nature should be used. Shadow Ball hits Ghost-types such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder, but provides no additional coverage that Musharna needs. Psyshock can be used over Psychic to hit special walls such as Lickilicky harder, but the metagame is mostly physically inclined. Leftovers can be used instead of Life Orb so that Musharna doesn't get worn down as easily, but Musharna's attacks will be noticeably weaker.

This set doesn't require as much support as the Calm Mind set does, as status and Dark-types aren't as big of threats. Gurdurr and Sawk can easily beat all of the tier's Dark-types and work as the Fighting-type part of the Psychic / Dark / Fighting core. Absol and Skuntank are good candidates to fit the Dark-type role, as they can easily get rid of annoying Ghost-types such as Misdreavus.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Trick / Sleep Talk
item: Choice Specs
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Choice Specs Musharna may look odd because it can't use Moonlight effectively when it's locked into a move. However, in practice, this set abuses Musharna's great Special Attack stat. Choice Specs Psychic is very strong, but also somewhat unreliable if the other team has Dark-types, so use it conservatively while they're still alive. Signal Beam and Hidden Power Ground are coverage moves, hitting Psychic- and Dark-types and Steel-types, respectively, but both moves have the same flaw: they're bad moves to get locked in to because of how weak they are. Trick goes well with Choice Specs, as it allows Musharna to cripple special walls and Pokemon such as Skuntank, but there aren't many situations where Musharna wants to Trick away its Choice Specs. As Musharna does well against all of the common sleep inducers, Sleep Talk is a good option to allow Musharna to act as a very solid check to Pokemon such as Amoonguss.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Moonlight can be used over Hidden Power Ground to turn Musharna into an offensive tank after it Trick's away its item, but there will rarely be any situations where Moonlight is useful when Musharna is choice-locked, so it is usually forced to Trick away its item before it can reliably recover. Shadow Ball can be used over Trick or Sleep Talk to hit Pokemon such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder, but Trick and Sleep Talk usually have more utility. Like Shadow Ball, Baton Pass usually has less utility than Trick and Sleep Talk, but it acts as a pseudo-U-turn/Volt Switch. Psyshock hits special walls harder than Psychic, but it will do less damage to the rest of the tier.

Again, Gurdurr and Sawk are fantastic partners, especially considering that Dark-types can easily set up on this set if they switch in on Choice Specs Psychic. This isn't exactly the best Musharna set for a Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, but it's never a bad idea to pair Musharna with Fighting- and Dark-type partners.

[SET]
name: Pivot
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Thunder Wave / Baton Pass
move 4: Heal Bell / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

As most fast Pokemon are frail and weak to priority, a pivot that can switch into many attacks and support the team is vital for certain offensive teams. This Musharna acts as such a pivot, and indeed is one of the best in the tier. Musharna can switch into many attacks from the likes of Gurdurr, Carracosta, and Piloswine and hit them hard with Psychic. Moonlight is a move that should be on any non-Choice Specs Musharna, as it gives Musharna survivability. Thunder Wave is a great move for supporting offensive teams, which appreciate slowing down fast Pokemon, while Heal Bell cures Musharna's team of crippling status. Baton Pass can be used over either Thunder Wave or Heal Bell so that Musharna's teammates can switch in safely.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs are used because they allow Musharna to reach a Leftovers number without sacrificing much bulk. This set is very malleable; Musharna should be using whatever moves support your team best. The moves listed on the set are just the ones that are most common on Pivot Musharna. Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, and Rain Dance are all good options if your team would benefit more from them than the ones listed earlier.

You shouldn't try to support this Musharna with teammates; it should be the one supporting the team. Some teammates that appreciate the support that Musharna provides include Ursaring, Emboar, and Cinccino. Emboar and Ursaring are extremely powerful but slow, so when the majority of the opposing team is slowed down with Thunder Wave, they can easily smash through it. Fast, frail Pokemon such as Cinccino appreciate Musharna's ability to switch into threats such as Sawk. Guts users such as Swellow and Ursaring need a free turn to activate their status Orb, which Musharna can provide with its slow Baton Pass. Finally, any Pokemon that is really susceptible to status will appreciate Heal Bell support.

[Other Options]

You can put 12 EVs into Speed on any Musharna set to outspeed 0 Speed Amoonguss, but it's not recommended because many Amoonguss run Speed to outspeed opposing Amoonguss and Musharna with some Speed EVs. Forewarn is nice for Pokemon such as Emboar, Samurott, and Altaria that run both physical and special sets, but Synchronize usually has more utility. A RestTalk set with Calm Mind and Stored Power is decent and can easily set up and destroy, but it's mostly inferior to Moonlight + Heal Bell. A full-on Baton Pass set that aims to Baton Pass boosts such as Barrier and Calm Mind to teammates is pretty good, but Musharna has better things to do and a full Baton Pass set suffers from a major case of four-moveslot syndrome.

In regards to move options, Musharna has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Sleep is always a powerful status, and Musharna has access to two methods of inflicting it: Yawn and Hypnosis. Unfortunately, there isn't much room for either move, and they both have major flaws: the opponent can just switch out of Yawn, and Hypnosis has an unreliable 60% accuracy. Toxic can be used over Thunder Wave, but Musharna would much rather spread paralysis, and there isn't much room for Toxic. Rain Dance, in theory, sounds like a pretty good move with Baton Pass, but again, Musharna has a bit of four-moveslot syndrome already and running Rain Dance only exacerbates it. Also, Rain Dance makes Moonlight ineffective.

[Checks and Counters]

Musharna is a very difficult Pokemon to check because of its amazing stats, typing that gives it few weaknesses, and versatile movepool. Knowing the flaws of each set and what Musharna set your opponent is using helps. Mono-attacking Calm Mind Musharna can easily be countered by Dark-types and certain Pokemon that resist Psychic-type moves. If Musharna has Signal Beam, it can easily be shut down by Toxic. Offensive Musharna quickly gets worn down from Life Orb recoil and the increased damage taken due to its lack of Defense EVs and Special Defense boosts; however, it is much harder to switch in to. Choice Specs Musharna has the flaw of being locked into a move and can't recover health with Moonlight effectively unless it Tricks something; after it uses Trick, it basically just becomes a somewhat less efficient Offensive Musharna. Pivot Musharna is the easiest to check, as it focuses on supporting the team and checking certain offensive threats rather than being a huge threat to the opposing team.

Being a Psychic-type, Dark-types do a very good job at checking Musharna. Skuntank can easily switch into anything Musharna uses besides Hidden Power Ground and use Pursuit if Musharna tries to switch out. However, Skuntank lacks power, and two Hidden Power Grounds from any of the offensive sets will likely kill it unless it's running an unusual specially defensive set. Absol is much more powerful than Skuntank, but it is hit a lot harder by Musharna's most common coverage move: Signal Beam. Absol is definitely much more threatening to Musharna, but it has trouble switching in. Cacturne also has to watch out for Signal Beam, which OHKOes it; otherwise, Cacturne can Encore Musharna into a move that doesn't threaten it and set up Spikes. Like Cacturne, Liepard can Encore a move that doesn't affect it and set up Nasty Plot. Scraggy is the best check to Musharna, as the only thing that Musharna can do to beat it is Trick, but Musharna usually has teammates that can easily take care of Scraggy. Zweilous is one of the very few Pokemon that can OHKO Musharna without boosts, but it has to be wary of switching into Life Orb or Choice Specs-boosted Signal Beam or Trick.

A few other Pokemon can check Musharna well. Misdreavus can Taunt Musharna and kill it with a few Shadow Balls. Misdreavus can also set up a few Calm Minds or Nasty Plots on Musharna. SubDisable Haunter can Disable Musharna's Psychic and render it useless while attacking it with Shadow Ball, but it has to be wary of switching in on Psychic. Golurk can survive two unboosted Psychics and do a ton of damage with Shadow Punch. Swoobat can boost faster than Musharna and smash it with an extremely strong Stored Power; it also has an excellent typing for tanking Musharna's most common attacking moves. Strong physical Bug-types such as Pinsir and Armaldo can 2HKO even physically defensive Musharna. Heavy hitters such as Choice Band Emboar, Braviary, and Ursaring can do the same, but will usually go down with Musharna. Most Pokemon with Megahorn, such as Swords Dance Samurott, can 2HKO Musharna. Phazers such as Dragon Tail Lickilicky and Roar Bastiodon do well against Calm Mind Musharna, but Musharna can always come back and boost later in the game. Having Spikes and Stealth Rock on the field makes Musharna considerably easier to beat with heavy hitters. Like most defensive Pokemon, Taunt and status shut Musharna down. Just remember that if Musharna has Heal Bell, it can always cure its own status. Tricking Musharna a Choice item prevents it from using non-attacking moves well; this isn't the most effective strategy against Choice Specs Musharna, though. Using Sleep Powder or Spore can work in a pinch, but Musharna does really well against the most common sleep inducers.

Musharna is a challenging Pokemon to defeat, especially if it has the right support backing it up. You will often have to resort to doing something risky just to beat Musharna. It's not incredibly overpowering to the point where it's nearly impossible to beat, but be very careful when fighting it.

DTC · Jul 15, 2012

This is now ready for QC checks. I realize I was a bit lazy in the set comments and AC, but those will be much more detailed in the write-up.

col49 · Jul 15, 2012

Shouldn't Quiet be slashed on the offensive in conjunction with the Offensive set? Also I'd imagine it would be worth mentioning that Baton Pass also evades Pursuit.

TLCJR4LIFE · Jul 15, 2012

Don't particularly get the whole Heal Bell thing.

You basically kill your ability to sweep if you run one attack Musharna. So it's incredibly pointless to begin boosting in the first place.

I prefer Psychic/Moonlight/CM/HP Fighting or Ground

With this really nothing can wall you in the tier and getting to +3 actually means something.

MMF · Jul 15, 2012

No Toxic kills its ability to sweep. Heal Bell stops this from happening and while yes it is true that Skuntank and Absol stop this set cold, you really shouldn't be setting up while they are alive anyways. And even then your set doesn't need HP Fight or Ground as Signal Beam basically does everything they do hence why its slashed and the HP moves aren't.

Rakan · Jul 15, 2012

RestTalk really really needs to be a set. I've swept with it so many times it's not even funny. Musharna has the bulk to take many hits, and Sychronize really helps by crippling the opponent that used Toxic, as Musharna can simply Rest it off. Obviously, RestTalk isn't the most reliable strategy, but Musharna is one of the few that can successfully pull it off with the right team support. As long as Phazers and Dark-types are outta the way, Musharna can easily pull off a CM sweep. Not to mention RestTalk doesn't give a shit about Amoonguss's Spore.

Also, remove that bit about Baton Pass avoiding Pursuit; it will only avoid it if Musharna is faster, and most Pursuit users are faster, so Pursuit will still hit Musharna, albeit with a weaker Base Power.

DTC · Jul 15, 2012

Omicron said:
RestTalk really really needs to be a set. I've swept with it so many times it's not even funny. Musharna has the bulk to take many hits, and Sychronize really helps by crippling the opponent that used Toxic, as Musharna can simply Rest it off. Obviously, RestTalk isn't the most reliable strategy, but Musharna is one of the few that can successfully pull it off with the right team support. As long as Phazers and Dark-types are outta the way, Musharna can easily pull off a CM sweep. Not to mention RestTalk doesn't give a shit about Amoonguss's Spore.

Why would you use RestTalk on a Pokemon with reliable recovery and a way to remove status? It's much less efficient than using Moonlight + Heal Bell.

Omicron said:
Also, remove that bit about Baton Pass avoiding Pursuit; it will only avoid it if Musharna is faster, and most Pursuit users are faster, so Pursuit will still hit Musharna, albeit with a weaker Base Power.

That's why I added that.

Rakan · Jul 15, 2012

Have you ever used RestTalk? Moonlight has very limited PP, and Heal Bell + Moonlight takes two turns whereas Rest takes one. RestTalk plays differently than Moonlight + Heal Bell, enough to warrant a set.

DTC · Jul 15, 2012

Omicron said:
Have you ever used RestTalk? Moonlight has very limited PP, and Heal Bell + Moonlight takes two turns whereas Rest takes one. RestTalk plays differently than Moonlight + Heal Bell, enough to warrant a set.

I have used RestTalk Musharna numerous times and each time I've found that the other sets were more efficient at pretty much everything. QC and I have discussed this many times for the past Musharna analysis and each time we come to the same unanimous consensus: that RestTalk Musharna is very mediocre and that it's outclassed by the other Musharna sets.

marilli · Jul 15, 2012

Yeah RestTalk is really unreliable & a bad way to lose momentum etc. The moment you rest is also a dead givaway that you are a mono-attacker, unlike the standard set where you're never sure whether you can switch in Absol 100% safely until you see that Heal Bell. Also, unless you have another heal beller, you're probably not going to wake up. OO perhaps but nothing more than that.

Stored Power isn't all that good as it sounds, but it's at least OO worthy.

With that, QC Approved 1/3. I like the detailed C&C section. I swore that this had a QC stamp already..

jake · Jul 16, 2012

I know Musharna is a versatile Pokemon that doesn't need much as far as support, but I'd like to see at least a -little- bit of expansion with the teammates, particularly defensive ones for the CM set. Stuff like Lickilicky can tank the boosted special attacks that Musharna can't, and using them together allows either to forego Heal Bell for another move. I know they're uncommon/less useful atm because of Amoonguss, but Toxic Spikes are particularly useful for handling opposing CMers or other Musharna that lack Heal Bell, which will be hard for your own Mushy to handle. Plus, Musharna scares nearly every Poison-type in the tier sans Skuntank. Your own Poison-type also helps in that regard and also ensures that bulkier teams won't have to conserve a mere 8 PP of Heal Bell to constantly get rid of Toxic. Everything looks snazzy otherwise.

QC APPROVED (2/3)

erisia · Jul 16, 2012

Why don't offensive sets run 12 Spe to outspeed uninvested Amoonguss? It's not speed creep if Amoonguss isn't running any EVs whatsoever... and hitting it with LO Psychic is going to deal significant damage if it tries to Spore you.

Other than that, QC APPROVED 3/3

DTC · Jul 16, 2012

erisia said:
Why don't offensive sets run 12 Spe to outspeed uninvested Amoonguss? It's not speed creep if Amoonguss isn't running any EVs whatsoever... and hitting it with LO Psychic is going to deal significant damage if it tries to Spore you.

Because no one uses 0 speed Amoonguss. Most good players Speed creep a ton with Amoonguss just so they can Spore other Amoonguss and Musharna.

@Zebraiken, sure. I'll add those.

erisia · Jul 16, 2012

The majority of people will use 0 speed amoonguss because of the current analysis, even if it isn't as good, so unless all amoonguss sets have speed evs in the update for a purpose other than speed creeping musharna, you should at least make reference to it. It's 8 EVs, man. :p

DTC · Jul 16, 2012

erisia said:
The majority of people will use 0 speed amoonguss because of the current analysis, even if it isn't as good, so unless all amoonguss sets have speed evs in the update for a purpose other than speed creeping musharna, you should at least make reference to it. It's 8 EVs, man. :p

Then I'm not giving accurate information. I suppose I'll put it in OO, though, since you seem so adamant about it.

TLCJR4LIFE · Jul 16, 2012

MMF said:
No Toxic kills its ability to sweep. Heal Bell stops this from happening and while yes it is true that Skuntank and Absol stop this set cold, you really shouldn't be setting up while they are alive anyways. And even then your set doesn't need HP Fight or Ground as Signal Beam basically does everything they do hence why its slashed and the HP moves aren't.

No.

HP Fight/Ground actually kills the Steels that also wall Musharna's one attack set.

DTC · Jul 16, 2012

TLCJR4LIFE said:
No.

HP Fight/Ground actually kills the Steels that also wall Musharna's one attack set.

We've gone over this many times, and you just don't seem to understand: Steel-types are rare in NU. Klang is used rarely, Bastiodon is used occasionally, Probopass is used often. Probopass is free set-up bait, Bastiodon can only Roar you and Musharna doesn't mind coming back later and setting up Calm Mind, and Klang is rare and easy to deal with the teammates you should be pairing up with Musharna.

Heal Bell and Signal Beam both have more utility in general on Musharna than HP Fighting and HP Ground. Both are ok options if you want to use them, but Signal Beam and Heal Bell are again, usually better options. Please don't question my judgement regarding this. I've used Musharna a lot.

Also, as this is in the Copyediting stage, posts regarding content on the analysis should not be posted: the QC have already decided that the content on this analysis is good and they stamped it.

Thank you for listening.

watashi · Jul 16, 2012

TLCJR4LIFE said:
No.

HP Fight/Ground actually kills the Steels that also wall Musharna's one attack set.

There are two viable Steel-types in the tier. Probopass is complete setup bait while Bastiodon can only hope to Roar Musharna out.

Edit: Forgot Klang and ninja'ed by DTC :(

DTC · Aug 9, 2012

This is written and ready for GP checks.

Also my original long Overview was definitely better =(

Mafeking · Aug 9, 2012

people in #grammar are mean to DTC how rude of them

[Overview]

Musharna is one of the biggest threats in NU with (thanks to) its impressive defensive stats and above-average attacking prowess. It has numerous positive attributes to go along with the (its) fantastic stats(comma) such as a wide movepool with useful moves such as (that includes the useful) Moonlight and Heal Bell and a decent typing. It can perform numerous useful roles well such as physical wall, set-up sweeper, and pivot. In addition, Musharna can counter many top threats such as Gurdurr and Sawk. While it is even slower than Amoonguss and there are numerous Dark-types in the tier, Musharna is still a huge threat that a poorly constructed team—or even a well-constructed team—can easily be weak to.

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Heal Bell / Signal Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

This is Musharna's trademark set. Like many other famous boosting sweepers in (from) the past, it can boost really easily and there isn't all that much that is stopping (can stop) it. It (This Musharna) also performs multiple roles: it's a physical wall, cleric, and boosting sweeper all in one. Calm Mind is the move that makes this set, boosting Musharna's already good Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage. Not even Choice Specs Charizard outside of the sun can 2HKO +1 Musharna, which is a testeament to how bulky Musharna truly is. Musharna can easily boost up and then heal when weakened with Moonlight, making it a seemingly impossible tank to break through. Psychic is Musharna's STAB move that does (comma doing) a lot of damage to pretty much everything that doesn't resist it. For the last slot, you get to decide what is the bane of Musharna: status or Dark-types. The Dark-types are somewhat easy to get rid of and Heal Bell also has the benefit of curing any status Musharna's teammates have, so Heal Bell is usually more useful.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs give Musharna enough HP for a Leftovers number. Speaking of EVs, a more offensive spread can be used for this set, but then Musharna isn't as good of a physical wall or a cleric and can't boost as easily. Thunder Wave is an interesting option over the moves in the last slot, allowing it to spread status before it attempts to sweep, but then Musharna is weak to both status and Dark-types. Psyshock or Stored Power can be used over Psychic, but most Pokemon in the tier are hit harder by Psychic and Stored Power is less useful early-game before you boosts.

Gurdurr and Sawk do well against the Dark-type checks that plague Musharna. Absol and Skuntank are other good teammates if you decide to use Gurdurr and Sawk as they create the infamous Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, checking each others threats. Lickilicky appreciates Musharna's ability to switch into Fighting-type attacks and doesn't have to use (a moveslot for) Heal Bell if Musharna is using it (or vice-versa). Just about any Pokemon that are really susceptible to status will appreciate the Heal Bell support provided by Musharna. Toxic Spikes support is useful for opposing Psychic-types and especially goes (especially) well with Musharna because it can easily get rid of the Poison-types that soak up them.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Trick Room
move 4: Moonlight
item: Life Orb
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest / Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Musharna is a fantastic choice for an offensive tank with its ability (thanks) to (its access to reliable) recovery and its attacking prowess. This set is much immediately stronger than the Calm Mind set but easier to ware (wear) down. Life Orb Psychic backed by a positive Special Attack (boosting) nature will do a lot of damage to even some bulkiery Pokemon. Signal Beam is coverage for hitting Psychic- and Dark-types while Hidden Power Ground hits Steel-types such as Probopass and Klang. Trick Room can be used over Hidden Power Ground to allow Musharna to outspeed pretty much everything during its duration, however the coverage provided by Hidden Power Ground is usually more useful. Moonlight rounds up (out) the set, allowing Musharna to heal off wounds from Life Orb recoil and any attacks that hit it.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

If you're using Trick Room, a Quiet nature should be used over Modest. Shadow Ball hits Ghost-types such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder but provides no (additional) coverage that Musharna needs. Psyshock can be used over Psychic to hit special walls such as Lickilicky harder, but the metagame is mostly physically inclined(comma making) so physical walls are more common. Leftovers can be used over Life Orb so (that) Musharna doesn't get worn down as easily, but Musharna's attacks will be noticeably weaker.

This set doesn't require as much support as the Calm Mind set as status and Dark-types aren't as big of threats, although really both don't need support. (iffy on this, maybe "though Musharna tends to work well without support anyway." would work better?) Gurdurr and Sawk can easily beat all of the Dark-types and is (work as) the Fighting-type part of the Psychic / Dark / Fighting core. Absol and Skuntank are good candidates to fit the Dark-type role as they can easily get rid of annoying Ghost-types such as Misdreavus for Gurdurr/ (or) Sawk.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Trick / Sleep Talk
item: Choice Specs
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Choiced (Specs) Musharna may look odd because it can't use Moonlight well when it's locked into a move, however it abuses its great Special Attack well. Choice Specs Psychic is very strong, but also somewhat abusable (unreliable) if the other team has Dark-types, so use it liberally (conservatively) (assuming this is what you meant since Darks are immune to Psychic) while they're still alive. Signal Beam and Hidden Power Ground are coverage moves hitting Psychic- and Dark-types and Steel-types, respectively, but both moves have the same flaws: they're bad moves to spam (get locked in to) because of how weak they are. Trick goes well with Choice Specs, allowing Musharna to cripple special walls and Pokemon such as Skuntank, but there aren't many situations where Musharna wants to Trick away its Choice Specs. As Musharna does well against all of the common sleep inducers, Sleep Talk is a good option to allow Musharna to act as a very solid check to Pokemon such as Amoonguss.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Moonlight can be used over Hidden Power Ground to turn Musharna into an offensive tank after it Trick's away its item, but there will rarely be any situations where Moonlight is useful when Musharna is choice-locked and it is forced to Trick away its item to be able to reliably recover. Shadow Ball can be used over Trick or Sleep Talk to hit Pokemon such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder, but Trick and Sleep Talk usually have more utility on Musharna. Like Shadow Ball, Baton Pass usually has less utility than Trick and Sleep Talk, but it acts as a pseudo-U-turn/Volt Switch. Psyshock hits special walls harder than Psychic, but will do less damage to rest of the tier.

Again, Gurdurr and Sawk are fantastic partners, especially considering the fact that Dark-types can set-up on this set if they switch in on Choice Specs Psychic. This isn't exactly the best Musharna set for a Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, but it's never a bad idea to pair Musharna with Fighting- and Dark-type partners.

[SET]
name: Pivot
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Thunder Wave / Baton Pass
move 4: Heal Bell / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

As most fast Pokemon are frail and weak to priority, a pivot that can switch into many attacks and support the team is vital. This Musharna acts as (such) a pivot, and it's in fact one of the best pivots in the tier. Musharna can switch into many attacks from the likes of Gurdurr, Carracosta, (and) Piloswine, etc. and hit them hard with Psychic. Moonlight is a move that should be on any non-Choice Specs Musharna. Thunder Wave is a great move to help support offensive teams to slow really fast Pokemon down while Heal Bell cures Pokemon of crippling status. Baton Pass can be used over (either) Thunder Wave or Heal Bell so (that) Musharna can safely switch-in teammates.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs are used over 252 EVs because it (they) allows Musharna to reach a Leftovers number without sacrificing much bulk. This set is very malleable (oh how fancy-do :3); Musharna should be using whatever moves support your team best. The moves listed on the set are just the ones that are most common on pivot Musharna. Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, Rain Dance, etc. are all good moves that support the (a) team.

You shouldn't try to support this Musharna with teammates; it should be (the one) supporting the teammates. Some teammates that appreciate the support Musharna provides include Ursaring, Emboar, and Cinccino. Emboar and Ursaring are extremely powerful but slow, so when the majority of the opposing team is slowed down with Thunder Wave, they can easily wreck through the team. Fast, frail Pokemon such as Cinccino appreciate Musharna's ability to switch into stuff like Sawk. Guts abusers such as Swellow and Ursaring need a free turn to activate their status orb, which Musharna can provide by using Baton Pass to switch into them. Finally, any Pokemon that are really susceptible to status will enjoy the Heal Bell support.

[Other Options]

You can put 12 EVs into Speed on any Musharna set to outspeed 0 Speed Amoonguss, but it's not recommended because many Amoonguss run Speed to outspeed other Amoonguss and speed-creeping Musharna. Forewarn is nice for Pokemon such as Emboar, Samurott, and Altaria when you don't know if they're physical or special(comma) but Synchronize usually has more utility. A RestTalk set with Calm Mind and Stored Power is okay because it can easily set-up and destroy with Stored Power, but it's mostly inferior to Moonlight + Heal Bell. A full-on Baton Pass set that aims to Baton Pass boosts such as Barrier and Calm Mind to teammates is pretty good, but Musharna has better things to do and a full Baton Pass set has quite a major case of 4 (four) moveslot syndrome.

In regards to move options, Musharna has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Sleep is always a powerful status and Musharna has two sleeping moves itself: Yawn and Hypnosis. Unfortunately, there isn't much room for either moves and they both have big flaws: you (the opponent) can just switch out of Yawn and Hypnosis has an unreliable 60% accuracy. Toxic can be used over Thunder Wave, but Musharna would much rather spread paralysis and there isn't much room for Toxic. Rain Dance(comma) in theory(comma) sounds like a pretty good move with Baton Pass, but again, Musharna has a bit of 4 (four) moveslot syndrome already and this isn't helping. Also, Rain Dance makes Moonlight ineffective. Sunny Day sounds like a perfect option in tangdem with Moonlight, but then you realize Musharna doesn't even have Sunny Day.

[Checks and Counters]

Musharna is a very difficult Pokemon to check because of its amazing stats, its typing that gives it few weaknesses, and a versatile movepool. Knowing the flaws of each set and what Musharna set the other person is using helps. Mono-attacking Calm Mind can easily be countered by Dark-types and certain Psychic-type resistors. If it has Signal Beam, it can easily be shut down by Toxic. Offensive tank Musharna gets easily worn down from Life Orb recoil and (a) lack of Defense EVs and lack of Special Defense boosts, however it is much harder to switch into. Choice Specs Musharna has the flaw of being locked into a move and can't recover health with Moonlight well until it Tricks something; after it uses Trick, it basically just becomes a somewhat less efficient offensive tank Musharna. Pivot Musharna is the easiest to check as it focuses on supporting the team and checking certain offensive threats rather than being a huge threat to the other team.

As Musharna is a Psychic-type, Dark-types do a very good job at checking it. Skuntank can easily switch into anything Musharna uses besides Hidden Power Ground and use Pursuit if Musharna tries to switch out. However, Skuntank lacks power, and 2 (two) Hidden Power Ground's from any of the offensive sets will likely kill Skuntank unless it's some weird (running an unusual) specially defensive set. Absol is much more powerful than Skuntank but it can get hit a lot harder by Musharna's more common coverage move, Signal Beam. Absol is definitely much more threatening to Musharna but it struggles switching in. Cacturne just has to watch out for Signal Beam which OHKO'es it; otherwise, it can Encore Musharna into a move that hardly eaffects it and set-up Spikes. Like Cacturne, Liepard can Encore a move that doesn't eaffect it and set-up Nasty Plot. Scraggy is the best check to Musharna as the only thing that Musharna can do to beat it is Trick, but Musharna usually has teammates that can easily take care of Scraggy. Zweilous is one of the very few Pokemon that can OHKO Musharna unboosted but it has to be wary of switching into LO/Specs Signal Beam and Trick.

A few other Pokemon can check Musharna well too. Misdreavus can Taunt Musharna and kill it with a few Shadow Balls. Misdreavus can also set-up a few Calm Minds or Nasty Plots on Musharna. SubDisable Haunter can Disable Musharna's Psychic and render it useless while attacking it with Shadow Ball, but it has to be careful of switching into Psychic. Golurk can survive 2 (two) unboosted Psychics and do a ton of damage with Shadow Punch. Swoobat can CM (boost) faster than Musharna and smash it with an extremely strong Stored Power. It also has an excellent typing for tanking Musharna's most common attacking moves. Strong physical Bug-types such as Pinsir and Armaldo can 2HKO Musharna. Heavy hitters such as CB (Choice Band) Emboar, CB Braviary, and Ursaring can 2HKO even physically defensive Musharna but will usually go down with it. Most Pokemon with Megahorn can 2HKO Musharna, such as Swords Dance Samurott. Phazers such as Dragon Tail Lickilicky and Roar Bastiodon do well against Calm Mind Musharna, but Musharna can always come back later. Having Spikes and Stealth Rock on the field makes Musharna considerably easier to beat with heavy hitters. Like most Pokemon, Taunt and status does well. Just remember that if Musharna has Heal Bell, it can always cure its own status. Tricking Musharna with a cChoiced item prevents it from using non-attacking moves well. Not the most effective strategy against Specs Musharna, though. Using Sleep Powder / (or) Spore can work in a pinch, but Musharna does really well against the most common sleep inducers.

Musharna is a challenging Pokemon to defeat, especially if it has the right support backing it up. Often you will have to resort to doing something risky just to beat Musharna. It's not incredibly over-powering to the point where it's nearly impossible to beat, but be very careful when fighting it.

[Overview]

Musharna is one of the biggest threats in NU thanks to its impressive defensive stats and above-average attacking prowess. It has numerous positive attributes to go along with its fantastic stats, such as a wide movepool that includes the useful Moonlight and Heal Bell and a decent typing. It can perform numerous useful roles well such as physical wall, set-up sweeper, and pivot. In addition, Musharna can counter many top threats such as Gurdurr and Sawk. While it is even slower than Amoonguss and there are numerous Dark-types in the tier, Musharna is still a huge threat that a poorly constructed team—or even a well-constructed team—can easily be weak to.

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Heal Bell / Signal Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

This is Musharna's trademark set. Like many other famous boosting sweepers from the past, it can boost really easily and there isn't all that much that can stop it. This Musharna also performs multiple roles: it's a physical wall, cleric, and boosting sweeper all in one. Calm Mind is the move that makes this set, boosting Musharna's already good Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage. Not even Choice Specs Charizard outside of the sun can 2HKO +1 Musharna, which is a testament to how bulky Musharna truly is. Musharna can easily boost up and then heal when weakened with Moonlight, making it a seemingly impossible tank to break through. Psychic is Musharna's STAB move, doing a lot of damage to pretty much everything that doesn't resist it. For the last slot, you get to decide what is the bane of Musharna: status or Dark-types. The Dark-types are somewhat easy to get rid of and Heal Bell also has the benefit of curing any status Musharna's teammates have, so Heal Bell is usually more useful.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs give Musharna enough HP for a Leftovers number. Speaking of EVs, a more offensive spread can be used for this set, but then Musharna isn't as good of a physical wall or a cleric and can't boost as easily. Thunder Wave is an interesting option over the moves in the last slot, allowing it to spread status before it attempts to sweep, but then Musharna is weak to both status and Dark-types. Psyshock or Stored Power can be used over Psychic, but most Pokemon in the tier are hit harder by Psychic and Stored Power is less useful early-game before boosts.

Gurdurr and Sawk do well against the Dark-type checks that plague Musharna. Absol and Skuntank are other good teammates if you decide to use Gurdurr and Sawk as they create the infamous Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, checking each others threats. Lickilicky appreciates Musharna's ability to switch into Fighting-type attacks and doesn't have to use a moveslot for Heal Bell if Musharna is using it (or vice-versa). Just about any Pokemon that are really susceptible to status will appreciate the Heal Bell support provided by Musharna. Toxic Spikes support is useful for opposing Psychic-types and goes especially well with Musharna because it can easily get rid of the Poison-types that soak up them.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Trick Room
move 4: Moonlight
item: Life Orb
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest / Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Musharna is a fantastic choice for an offensive tank thanks to (its access to reliable recovery and attacking prowess. This set is immediately stronger than the Calm Mind set but easier to wear down. Life Orb Psychic backed by a boosting nature will do a lot of damage to even some bulky Pokemon. Signal Beam is coverage for hitting Psychic- and Dark-types while Hidden Power Ground hits Steel-types such as Probopass and Klang. Trick Room can be used over Hidden Power Ground to allow Musharna to outspeed pretty much everything, however the coverage provided by Hidden Power Ground is usually more useful. Moonlight rounds out the set, allowing Musharna to heal off wounds from Life Orb recoil and any attacks that hit it.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

If you're using Trick Room, a Quiet nature should be used over Modest. Shadow Ball hits Ghost-types such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder but provides no additional coverage that Musharna needs. Psyshock can be used over Psychic to hit special walls such as Lickilicky harder, but the metagame is mostly physically inclined, making physical walls more common. Leftovers can be used over Life Orb so that Musharna doesn't get worn down as easily, but Musharna's attacks will be noticeably weaker.

This set doesn't require as much support as the Calm Mind set as status and Dark-types aren't as big of threats, although really both don't need support. (iffy on this, maybe "though Musharna tends to work well without support anyway." would work better?) Gurdurr and Sawk can easily beat all of the Dark-types and work as the Fighting-type part of the Psychic / Dark / Fighting core. Absol and Skuntank are good candidates to fit the Dark-type role as they can easily get rid of annoying Ghost-types such as Misdreavus for Gurdurr or Sawk.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Trick / Sleep Talk
item: Choice Specs
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Choice Specs Musharna may look odd because it can't use Moonlight when it's locked into a move, however it abuses its great Special Attack well. Choice Specs Psychic is very strong, but also somewhat unreliable if the other team has Dark-types, so use it conservatively while they're still alive. Signal Beam and Hidden Power Ground are coverage moves hitting Psychic- and Dark-types and Steel-types, respectively, but both moves have the same flaws: they're bad moves to get locked in to because of how weak they are. Trick goes well with Choice Specs, allowing Musharna to cripple special walls and Pokemon such as Skuntank, but there aren't many situations where Musharna wants to Trick away its Choice Specs. As Musharna does well against all of the common sleep inducers, Sleep Talk is a good option to allow Musharna to act as a very solid check to Pokemon such as Amoonguss.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Moonlight can be used over Hidden Power Ground to turn Musharna into an offensive tank after it Trick's away its item, but there will rarely be any situations where Moonlight is useful when Musharna is choice-locked and it is forced to Trick away its item to be able to reliably recover. Shadow Ball can be used over Trick or Sleep Talk to hit Pokemon such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder, but Trick and Sleep Talk usually have more utility on Musharna. Like Shadow Ball, Baton Pass usually has less utility than Trick and Sleep Talk, but it acts as a pseudo-U-turn/Volt Switch. Psyshock hits special walls harder than Psychic, but will do less damage to rest of the tier.

Again, Gurdurr and Sawk are fantastic partners, especially considering the fact that Dark-types can set-up on this set if they switch in on Choice Specs Psychic. This isn't exactly the best Musharna set for a Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, but it's never a bad idea to pair Musharna with Fighting- and Dark-type partners.

[SET]
name: Pivot
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Thunder Wave / Baton Pass
move 4: Heal Bell / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

As most fast Pokemon are frail and weak to priority, a pivot that can switch into many attacks and support the team is vital. This Musharna acts as such a pivot, and it's in fact one of the best pivots in the tier. Musharna can switch into many attacks from the likes of Gurdurr, Carracosta, and Piloswine, and hit them hard with Psychic. Moonlight is a move that should be on any non-Choice Specs Musharna. Thunder Wave is a great move to help support offensive teams to slow really fast Pokemon down while Heal Bell cures Pokemon of crippling status. Baton Pass can be used over either Thunder Wave or Heal Bell so that Musharna can safely switch-in teammates.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs are used over 252 EVs because they allow Musharna to reach a Leftovers number without sacrificing much bulk. This set is very malleable; Musharna should be using whatever moves support your team best. The moves listed on the set are just the ones that are most common on pivot Musharna. Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, Rain Dance, etc. are all good moves that support a team.

You shouldn't try to support this Musharna with teammates; it should be the one supporting the team. Some teammates that appreciate the support Musharna provides include Ursaring, Emboar, and Cinccino. Emboar and Ursaring are extremely powerful but slow, so when the majority of the opposing team is slowed down with Thunder Wave, they can easily wreck through the team. Fast, frail Pokemon such as Cinccino appreciate Musharna's ability to switch into stuff like Sawk. Guts abusers such as Swellow and Ursaring need a free turn to activate their status orb, which Musharna can provide by using Baton Pass to switch into them. Finally, any Pokemon that are really susceptible to status will enjoy the Heal Bell support.

[Other Options]

You can put 12 EVs into Speed on any Musharna set to outspeed 0 Speed Amoonguss, but it's not recommended because many Amoonguss run Speed to outspeed other Amoonguss and speed-creeping Musharna. Forewarn is nice for Pokemon such as Emboar, Samurott, and Altaria when you don't know if they're physical or special, but Synchronize usually has more utility. A RestTalk set with Calm Mind and Stored Power is okay because it can easily set up and destroy with Stored Power, but it's mostly inferior to Moonlight + Heal Bell. A full-on Baton Pass set that aims to Baton Pass boosts such as Barrier and Calm Mind to teammates is pretty good, but Musharna has better things to do and a full Baton Pass set has quite a major case of four moveslot syndrome.

In regards to move options, Musharna has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Sleep is always a powerful status and Musharna has two sleeping moves itself: Yawn and Hypnosis. Unfortunately, there isn't much room for either move and they both have big flaws: the opponent can just switch out of Yawn and Hypnosis has an unreliable 60% accuracy. Toxic can be used over Thunder Wave, but Musharna would much rather spread paralysis and there isn't much room for Toxic. Rain Dance, in theory, sounds like a pretty good move with Baton Pass, but again, Musharna has a bit of four moveslot syndrome already and this isn't helping. Also, Rain Dance makes Moonlight ineffective. Sunny Day sounds like a perfect option in tandem with Moonlight, but then you realize Musharna doesn't even have Sunny Day.

[Checks and Counters]

Musharna is a very difficult Pokemon to check because of its amazing stats, its typing that gives it few weaknesses, and a versatile movepool. Knowing the flaws of each set and what Musharna set the other person is using helps. Mono-attacking Calm Mind can easily be countered by Dark-types and certain Psychic-type resistors. If it has Signal Beam, it can easily be shut down by Toxic. Offensive tank Musharna gets easily worn down from Life Orb recoil and a lack of Defense EVs and Special Defense boosts, however it is much harder to switch into. Choice Specs Musharna has the flaw of being locked into a move and can't recover health with Moonlight until it Tricks something; after it uses Trick, it basically just becomes a somewhat less efficient offensive tank Musharna. Pivot Musharna is the easiest to check as it focuses on supporting the team and checking certain offensive threats rather than being a huge threat to the other team.

As Musharna is a Psychic-type, Dark-types do a very good job at checking it. Skuntank can easily switch into anything Musharna uses besides Hidden Power Ground and use Pursuit if Musharna tries to switch out. However, Skuntank lacks power, and two Hidden Power Grounds from any of the offensive sets will likely kill Skuntank unless it's running an unusual specially defensive set. Absol is much more powerful than Skuntank but it can get hit a lot harder by Musharna's more common coverage move, Signal Beam. Absol is definitely much more threatening to Musharna but it struggles switching in. Cacturne just has to watch out for Signal Beam which OHKOes it; otherwise, it can Encore Musharna into a move that hardly affects it and set up Spikes. Like Cacturne, Liepard can Encore a move that doesn't affect it and set up Nasty Plot. Scraggy is the best check to Musharna as the only thing that Musharna can do to beat it is Trick, but Musharna usually has teammates that can easily take care of Scraggy. Zweilous is one of the very few Pokemon that can OHKO Musharna unboosted but it has to be wary of switching into LO/Specs Signal Beam and Trick.

A few other Pokemon can check Musharna well too. Misdreavus can Taunt Musharna and kill it with a few Shadow Balls. Misdreavus can also set up a few Calm Minds or Nasty Plots on Musharna. SubDisable Haunter can Disable Musharna's Psychic and render it useless while attacking it with Shadow Ball, but it has to be careful of switching into Psychic. Golurk can survive two unboosted Psychics and do a ton of damage with Shadow Punch. Swoobat can boost faster than Musharna and smash it with an extremely strong Stored Power. It also has an excellent typing for tanking Musharna's most common attacking moves. Strong physical Bug-types such as Pinsir and Armaldo can 2HKO Musharna. Heavy hitters such as Choice Band Emboar, Braviary, and Ursaring can 2HKO even physically defensive Musharna but will usually go down with it. Most Pokemon with Megahorn can 2HKO Musharna, such as Swords Dance Samurott. Phazers such as Dragon Tail Lickilicky and Roar Bastiodon do well against Calm Mind Musharna, but Musharna can always come back later. Having Spikes and Stealth Rock on the field makes Musharna considerably easier to beat with heavy hitters. Like most Pokemon, Taunt and status does well. Just remember that if Musharna has Heal Bell, it can always cure its own status. Tricking Musharna a Choice item prevents it from using non-attacking moves well. Not the most effective strategy against Specs Musharna, though. Using Sleep Powder or Spore can work in a pinch, but Musharna does really well against the most common sleep inducers.

Musharna is a challenging Pokemon to defeat, especially if it has the right support backing it up. Often you will have to resort to doing something risky just to beat Musharna. It's not incredibly over-powering to the point where it's nearly impossible to beat, but be very careful when fighting it.

[gp]1/2[/gp]

Cool stuff, but always write the numbers out instead of using 2 / 4 :)

DTC · Aug 9, 2012

Thanks for the GP check Mafe.

I'm ready for another one.

melvni · Aug 9, 2012

Amateur GP Check. Take whatever you want from it.
Additions in Blue
Subtractions in Red
Comments in DarkGreen

Musharna

[Overview]

Musharna is one of the biggest threats in NU thanks to its impressive defensive stats and above-average attacking prowess. It has numerous positive attributes to go along with its fantastic stats, such as a wide movepool that includes the useful Moonlight and Heal Bell and a decent typing. It can perform numerous useful roles well such as physical wall, set-up sweeper, and pivot. In addition, Musharna can counter many top threats such as Gurdurr and Sawk. While it is even slower than Amoonguss and there are numerous Dark-types in the tier, Musharna is still a huge threat that a poorly constructed team—or even a well-constructed team—can easily be weak to.

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Heal Bell / Signal Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

This is Musharna's trademark set. Like many other famous boosting sweepers from the past, it can boost really easily and there isn't all that much that can stop it. This Musharna also performs multiple roles: it's a physical wall, cleric, and boosting sweeper all in one. Calm Mind is the move that makes this set, boosting Musharna's already good Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage. Not even Choice Specs Charizard outside of the sun can 2HKO +1 Musharna, which is a testament to how bulky Musharna truly is. Musharna can easily boost up and then heal when weakened with Moonlight, making it a seemingly impossible tank to break through. Psychic is Musharna's STAB move, doing a lot of damage to pretty much everything that doesn't resist it. For the last slot, you get to decide what is the bane of Musharna's existence (for some reason I feel like you don't say the bane of a living creature; I could be wrong, but that doesn't seem right): status or Dark-types. The Since Dark-types are somewhat easy to get rid of and Heal Bell also has the benefit of curing any status Musharna's teammates have, so Heal Bell is usually more useful.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs give Musharna enough HP for a Leftovers number. Speaking of EVs, a more offensive spread can be used for this set, but then Musharna isn't as effective good of a physical wall or a cleric and can't boost as easily. Thunder Wave is an interesting option over the moves in the last slot, allowing it Musharna to spread status before it attempts to sweep, but then using it means Musharna is weak to both status and Dark-types. Psyshock or Stored Power can be used over Psychic, but most Pokemon in the tier are hit harder by Psychic and Stored Power is less useful early-game before boosts.

Gurdurr and Sawk do well against the Musharna's Dark-type checks (if you're running Heal Bell, aren't they counters?) that plague Musharna. Absol and Skuntank are other good teammates if you decide to use Gurdurr and Sawk as they create the infamous Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, checking each others threats. Lickilicky appreciates Musharna's ability to switch into Fighting-type attacks and doesn't have to use a moveslot for Heal Bell if Musharna is using it (or vice-versa). Just about any Pokemon that are really susceptible to status will appreciate the Heal Bell support provided by Musharna. Toxic Spikes support is useful for opposing Psychic-types and goes especially well with Musharna because it can easily get rid of the Poison-types that soak up them (maybe "soak them up" would be better; I'm not 100% sure though).

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Trick Room
move 4: Moonlight
item: Life Orb
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest / Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Musharna is a fantastic choice for an offensive tank thanks to (its access to reliable recovery and attacking prowess. This set is immediately stronger than the Calm Mind set, (you should use a comma between phrases that express contrast) but easier to wear down. Life Orb Psychic backed by a boosting nature will do a lot of damage to even some bulky Pokemon. Signal Beam gives is coverage against for hitting Psychic- and Dark-types while Hidden Power Ground hits Steel-types such as Probopass and Klang. Trick Room can be used over Hidden Power Ground to allow Musharna to outspeed pretty much everything, however (this should either be "much everything, but" or "much everything. However,") the coverage provided by Hidden Power Ground is usually more useful. Moonlight rounds out the set, allowing Musharna to heal off wounds from Life Orb recoil and any attacks that hit it.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

If you're using Trick Room, a Quiet nature should be used over Modest. Shadow Ball hits Ghost-types such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder but provides no additional coverage that Musharna needs. Psyshock can be used over Psychic to hit special walls such as Lickilicky harder, but the metagame is mostly physically inclined, making physical walls more common. Leftovers can be used over Life Orb so that Musharna doesn't get worn down as easily, but Musharna's attacks will be noticeably weaker.

This set doesn't require as much support as the Calm Mind set, (comma) as status and Dark-types aren't as big of threats, though Musharna tends to work well without support anyway (the last part of this sentence from "...though Musharna tends..." kind of seems to just be tacked on at the end; It might make sense to remove it, or at least rework it to fit in the sentence better; maybe something like "This set requires even less support than the Calm Mind set, as status and Dark-types aren't as big threats.") . Gurdurr and Sawk can easily beat all of the tier's Dark-types and work as the Fighting-type part of the Psychic / Dark / Fighting core. Absol and Skuntank are good candidates to fit the Dark-type role as they can easily get rid of annoying Ghost-types such as Misdreavus for Gurdurr or Sawk.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Trick / Sleep Talk
item: Choice Specs
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Choice Specs Musharna may look odd because it can't use Moonlight effectively when it's locked into a move, however, (same as my comment above about but vs. however; this should be the start of a new sentence) in practice, this set it abuses Musharna's its great Special Attack well. Choice Specs Psychic is very strong, but also somewhat unreliable if the other team has Dark-types, so use it conservatively while they're still alive. Signal Beam and Hidden Power Ground are coverage moves hitting Psychic- and Dark-types and Steel-types, respectively, but both moves have the same flaws: they're bad moves to get locked in to because of how weak they are. Trick goes well with Choice Specs, allowing Musharna to cripple special walls and Pokemon such as Skuntank, but there aren't many situations where Musharna wants to Trick away its Choice Specs. As Musharna does well against all of the common sleep inducers, Sleep Talk is a good option to allow Musharna to act as a very solid check to Pokemon such as Amoonguss.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Moonlight can be used over Hidden Power Ground to turn Musharna into an offensive tank after it Trick's away its item, but there will rarely be any situations where Moonlight is useful when Musharna is choice-locked, so and it is usually forced to Trick away its item to be able to before it can reliably recover. Shadow Ball can be used over Trick or Sleep Talk to hit Pokemon such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder, but Trick and Sleep Talk usually have more utility on Musharna. Like Shadow Ball, Baton Pass usually has less utility than Trick and Sleep Talk, but it can acts as a pseudo-U-turn/Volt Switch. Psyshock hits special walls harder than Psychic, (unneeded comma) but will do less damage to the rest of the tier.

Again, Gurdurr and Sawk are fantastic partners, especially considering the fact that Dark-types can set-up on this set if they switch in on Choice Specs Psychic. This isn't exactly the best Musharna set for a Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, but it's never a bad idea to pair Musharna with Fighting- and Dark-type partners.

[SET]
name: Pivot
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Thunder Wave / Baton Pass
move 4: Heal Bell / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

As most fast Pokemon are frail and weak to priority, a pivot that can switch into many attacks and support the team is vital. (I think you might want to add a little bit to the end of this sentence to specify if there are certain teams to which a pivot is essential vs. ones where it can't hurt (stall wouldn't seem to need one in my mind for instance); maybe something like "...and support the team is vital to any offensive play style/play-style/playstyle" (not sure on the spelling) or something to that effect) This Musharna acts as such a pivot, and indeed is it's in fact one of the best pivots in the tier. Musharna can switch into many attacks from the likes of Gurdurr, Carracosta, and Piloswine, (comma shouldn't be here) and hit them hard with Psychic. Moonlight is a move that should be on any non-Choice Specs Musharna. Thunder Wave is a great move to help for supporting offensive teams, which appreciate slowing down to slow really fast Pokemon, down while Heal Bell cures Pokemon Musharna's team of crippling status. Baton Pass can be used over either Thunder Wave or Heal Bell so that Musharna can safely switch-in teammates.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs are used over 252 EVs because they allow Musharna to reach a Leftovers number without sacrificing much bulk. This set is very malleable; Musharna should be using whatever moves support your team best. The moves listed on the set are just the ones that are most common on pivot Musharna. Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, Rain Dance, etc. are all good options moves that support a if your team would benefit more from them than the ones listed earlier.

You shouldn't try to support this Musharna with teammates; it should be the one supporting the team. Some teammates that appreciate the support Musharna provides include Ursaring, Emboar, and Cinccino. Emboar and Ursaring are extremely powerful but slow, so, (comma) when the majority of the opposing team is slowed down with Thunder Wave, they can easily wreck smash (you either smash through things, smash things, or wreck things; you don't wreck through things) through it the team. Fast, frail Pokemon such as Cinccino appreciate Musharna's ability to switch into stuff like Sawk. Guts abusers such as Swellow and Ursaring need a free turn to activate their status orb, which Musharna can provide by using with its slow Baton Pass to switch into them. Finally, any Pokemon that are really susceptible to status will enjoy the appreciate Heal Bell support.

[Other Options]

You can put 12 EVs into Speed on any Musharna set to outspeed 0 Speed Amoonguss, but it's not recommended because many Amoonguss run Speed to outspeed other Amoonguss and speed-creeping Musharna. Forewarn is nice for Pokemon such as Emboar, Samurott, and Altaria when you don't know if they're that run both physical or and special sets, but Synchronize usually has more utility. A RestTalk set with Calm Mind and Stored Power is okay because it and can easily set up and destroy with Stored Power (removed to prevent redundancy), but it's mostly inferior to Moonlight + Heal Bell. A full-on Baton Pass set that aims to Baton Pass boosts such as Barrier and Calm Mind to teammates is pretty good, but Musharna has better things to do, (comma) and a full Baton Pass set has quite suffers from a major case of four moveslot syndrome.

In regards to move options, Musharna has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Sleep is always a powerful status and Musharna has access to two methods of inflicting it in sleeping moves itself: Yawn and Hypnosis. Unfortunately, there isn't much room for either move on any of Musharna's sets, and they both have big major flaws: the opponent can just switch out of Yawn, (comma) and Hypnosis has an unreliable 60% accuracy. Toxic can be used over Thunder Wave, but Musharna would much rather spread paralysis, (comma) and there isn't much room for Toxic otherwise (maybe; I might be misinterpreting what you're saying in this sentence). Rain Dance, in theory, sounds like a pretty good move with Baton Pass in theory, but, (comma) again, Musharna has a bit of four moveslot syndrome already and this isn't helping running Rain Dance only exacerbates it. Also, Rain Dance makes Moonlight ineffective. Sunny Day sounds like a perfect option in tandem with Moonlight, but then you realize Musharna doesn't even have Sunny Day. (does a sentence about a move it doesn't learn belong here? I can see the value of pointing it out to make sure people are aware it doesn't get, but I'm not sure if that value is high enough to justify it)

[Checks and Counters]

Musharna is a very difficult Pokemon to check because of its amazing stats, its typing that gives it few weaknesses, and a versatile movepool. Knowing the flaws of each set and what Musharna set the other person your opponent is using helps. Mono-attacking Calm Mind can easily be countered by Dark-types and certain Psychic-type resistors. If it Musharna has Signal Beam, it can easily be shut down by Toxic. Offensive tank Musharna quickly gets easily worn down from Life Orb recoil and the increased damage taken due to its a lack of Defense EVs and Special Defense boosts, however (same thing I said about however vs. but the other two times above) it is much harder to switch into. Choice Specs Musharna is forced to has the flaw of being locked itself into a move and can't recover health with Moonlight effectively unless until it Tricks something; after it uses Trick, it basically just becomes a somewhat less efficient capable offensive tank Musharna. Pivot Musharna is the easiest to check as it focuses on supporting the team and checking certain offensive threats rather than being a huge threat to the other team.

As Musharna is a Psychic-type, Dark-types do a very good job at checking it. Skuntank can easily switch into anything Musharna uses besides Hidden Power Ground and use Pursuit if Musharna tries to switch out. However, Skuntank lacks power, and two Hidden Power Grounds from any of the offensive sets will likely kill Skuntank it unless it's running an unusual specially defensive set. Absol is much more powerful than Skuntank but it can get is hit a lot harder by Musharna's more most common coverage move, Signal Beam. Absol is definitely much more threatening to Musharna, (comma) but it struggles has difficulty switching in. Cacturne just also has to watch out for Signal Beam, which OHKOes it,; but, otherwise, it can Encore Musharna into a move that hardly affects doesn't threaten it and set up Spikes. Like Cacturne, Liepard can Encore a move that doesn't affect it and set up Nasty Plot. Scraggy is the best check to Musharna as the only thing that Musharna can do to beat it is Trick, but Musharna usually has teammates that can easily take care of Scraggy. Zweilous is one of the very few Pokemon that can OHKO Musharna unboosted, (comma) but it has to be wary of switching into LO/Specs Signal Beam and Trick.

A few other Pokemon can check Musharna well too. Misdreavus can Taunt Musharna and kill it with a few repeated Shadow Balls. Misdreavus can also set up a few Calm Minds or Nasty Plots on Musharna. SubDisable Haunter can Disable Musharna's Psychic and render it useless while attacking it with Shadow Ball, but it has to be careful wary of switching into on Psychic. Golurk can survive two unboosted Psychics and do a ton of damage with Shadow Punch. Swoobat can boost faster than Musharna and smash it with an extremely strong Stored Power. It also has an excellent typing for tanking Musharna's most common attacking moves (might want to mention something about how its terribad 67/55/55 defenses unboosted mean it struggles to come in regardless, though I admittedly haven't run the calcs to confirm this) . Strong physical Bug-types such as Pinsir and Armaldo can 2HKO even physically defensive (ran the calc, it's possible) Musharna. Heavy hitters such as Choice Band Emboar, Braviary, and Ursaring can 2HKO even physically defensive Musharna do the same, but will usually go down with it Musharna. Most Pokemon with Megahorn can 2HKO Musharna, such as Swords Dance Samurott. Phazers such as Dragon Tail Lickilicky and Roar Bastiodon do well against Calm Mind Musharna, but Musharna can always come back later. Having Spikes and Stealth Rock on the field makes Musharna considerably easier to beat with heavy hitters. Like most many Pokemon, Taunt and status does well largely shut Musharna down. Just remember that, (comma) if Musharna has Heal Bell, it can always cure its own status. Tricking Musharna a Choice item prevents it from using non-attacking moves well. Not This isn't the most effective strategy against Specs Musharna, though. Using Sleep Powder or Spore can work in a pinch, but Musharna does really usually fares well against the most common sleep inducers.

Musharna is a challenging Pokemon to defeat, especially if it has the right support backing it up. Often you will have to resort to doing something risky just to beat Musharna. It's not incredibly over-powering to the point where it's nearly impossible to beat, but be very careful when fighting it.

DTC · Aug 9, 2012

A few of your changes were unnecessary, but otherwise that was a pretty good check. Thanks melvni; good luck getting on the GP team if you're aiming for that.

DittoCrow · Aug 11, 2012

[Overview]

Musharna is one of the biggest threats in NU thanks to its impressive defensive stats and above-average attacking prowess. It has numerous positive attributes to go along with its fantastic stats, such as a wide movepool that includes the useful Moonlight and Heal Bell and a decent typing. It can perform numerous useful roles well such as physical wall, set-up sweeper, and pivot. In addition, Musharna can counter many top threats such as Gurdurr and Sawk. While it is even slower than Amoonguss and there are numerous Dark-types in the tier, Musharna is still ~~a huge threat that a poorly constructed team—or~~such a huge threat that even a well-constructed team— can easily be weak to it.

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Heal Bell / Signal Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

This is Musharna's trademark set. Like many other famous boosting sweepers from the past, itMusharna can boost really easily and there isn't all that much that can stop it. This Musharna also performs multiple roles: it's a physical wall, cleric, and boosting sweeper all in one. Calm Mind is the move that makes this set, boosting Musharna's already good Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage. Not even Choice Specs Charizard outside of the sun can 2HKO +1 Musharna, which is a testament to how bulky Musharna truly is. Musharna can easily boost up and then heal when weakened with Moonlight, making it a seemingly impossible tank to break through. Psychic is Musharna's STAB move, doing a lot of damage to pretty much everything that doesn't resist it. For the last slot, you get to decide what is the bane of Musharna's existence: status or Dark-types. ~~Sinc~~Because Dark-types are somewhat easy to get rid of and Heal Bell also has the benefit of curing ~~any~~the status of Musharna's teammates ~~have, so~~, Heal Bell is usually more useful.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs give Musharna enough HP for a Leftovers number. Speaking of EVs, a more offensive spread can be used for this set, but then Musharna iswon't be as good of a physical wall or cleric and can't boost as easily. Thunder Wave is an interesting option over the moves in the last slot, as it will allow~~ing~~ Musharna to spread status before it attempts to sweep~~, but~~; however, using it means that Musharna ~~is weak to~~has nothing to deal with both status and Dark-types. Psyshock or Stored Power can be used over Psychic, but most Pokemon in the tier are hit harder by Psychic and Stored Power is less useful early-game before boosts.

Gurdurr and Sawk do well against the Dark-type counters that plague Musharna. Absol and Skuntank are other good teammates if you decide to use Gurdurr and Sawk, as they create the infamous Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, checking each others threats. Lickilicky appreciates Musharna's ability to switch into Fighting-type attacks and doesn't have to use up a moveslot for Heal Bell if Musharna is using it (or vice-versa). Just about any Pokemon that is really susceptible to status will appreciate the Heal Bell support provided by Musharna. Toxic Spikes support is useful for dealing with opposing Psychic-types and goes especially well with Musharna because itMusharna can easily get rid of the Poison-types that soak them up.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Trick Room
move 4: Moonlight
item: Life Orb
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest / Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Musharna is a fantastic choice for an offensive tank thanks to its access to reliable recovery and attacking prowess. This set is immediately stronger than the Calm Mind set, but easier to wear down. Life Orb Psychic backed by a boosting nature will do a lot of damage to even some bulky Pokemon (such as?). Signal Beam gives coverage against Psychic- and Dark-types while Hidden Power Ground hits Steel-types such as Probopass and Klang. Trick Room can be used over Hidden Power Ground to allow Musharna to outspeed pretty much everything,; however, the coverage provided by Hidden Power Ground is usually more useful. Moonlight rounds out the set, allowing Musharna to heal off wounds from Life Orb recoil and any attacks that hit it.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

If you're using Trick Room, a Quiet nature should be used ~~over Modest~~. Shadow Ball hits Ghost-types such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder, but provides no additional coverage that Musharna needs. Psyshock can be used over Psychic to hit special walls such as Lickilicky harder, but the metagame is mostly physically inclined~~, making physical walls more common~~. Leftovers can be used ~~over~~instead of Life Orb so that Musharna doesn't get worn down as easily, but Musharna's attacks will be noticeably weaker.

This set doesn't require as much support, as the Calm Mind set does, as status and Dark-types aren't as big of threats. Gurdurr and Sawk can easily beat all of the tier's Dark-types and work as the Fighting-type part of the Psychic / Dark / Fighting core. Absol and Skuntank are good candidates to fit the Dark-type role, as they can easily get rid of annoying Ghost-types such as Misdreavus ~~for Gurdurr or Sawk~~.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Trick / Sleep Talk
item: Choice Specs
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Choice Specs Musharna may look odd because it can't use Moonlight effectively when it's locked into a move. However, in practice, this set abuses Musharna's great Special Attack ~~well~~stat. Choice Specs Psychic is very strong, but also somewhat unreliable if the other team has Dark-types, so use it conservatively while they're still alive. Signal Beam and Hidden Power Ground are coverage moves, hitting Psychic- and Dark-types and Steel-types, respectively, but both moves have the same flaws: they're bad moves to get locked in to because of how weak they are. Trick goes well with Choice Specs, as it allow~~ing~~s Musharna to cripple special walls and Pokemon such as Skuntank, but there aren't many situations where Musharna wants to Trick away its Choice Specs. As Musharna does well against all of the common sleep inducers, Sleep Talk is a good option to allow Musharna to act as a very solid check to Pokemon such as Amoonguss.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Moonlight can be used over Hidden Power Ground to turn Musharna into an offensive tank after it Trick's away its item, but there will rarely be any situations where Moonlight is useful when Musharna is choice-locked, so it is usually forced to Trick away its item before it can reliably recover. Shadow Ball can be used over Trick or Sleep Talk to hit Pokemon such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder, but Trick and Sleep Talk usually have more utility. Like Shadow Ball, Baton Pass usually has less utility than Trick and Sleep Talk, but it acts as a pseudo-U-turn/Volt Switch. Psyshock hits special walls harder than Psychic, but it will do less damage to the rest of the tier.

Again, Gurdurr and Sawk are fantastic partners, especially considering that Dark-types can easily set- up on this set if they switch in on Choice Specs Psychic. This isn't exactly the best Musharna set for a Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, but it's never a bad idea to pair Musharna with Fighting- and Dark-type partners.

[SET]
name: Pivot
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Thunder Wave / Baton Pass
move 4: Heal Bell / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

As most fast Pokemon are frail and weak to priority, a pivot that can switch into many attacks and support the team is vital for certain offensive teams. This Musharna acts as such a pivot, and indeed is one of the best in the tier. Musharna can switch into many attacks from the likes of Gurdurr, Carracosta, and Piloswine and hit them hard with Psychic. Moonlight is a move that should be on any non-Choice Specs Musharna, as it gives Musharna survivability. Thunder Wave is a great move for supporting offensive teams, which appreciate slowing down fast Pokemon, while Heal Bell cures Musharna's team of crippling status. Baton Pass can be used over either Thunder Wave or Heal Bell so that Musharna ~~can safely~~'s teammates can switch- in ~~teammates~~safely.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs are used ~~over 252 EVs~~ because they allow Musharna to reach a Leftovers number without sacrificing much bulk. This set is very malleable; Musharna should be using whatever moves support your team best. The moves listed on the set are just the ones that are most common on pPivot Musharna. Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, and Rain Dance~~, etc.~~ are all good options if your team would benefit more from them than the ones listed earlier.

You shouldn't try to support this Musharna with teammates; it should be the one supporting the team. Some teammates that appreciate the support that Musharna provides include Ursaring, Emboar, and Cinccino. Emboar and Ursaring are extremely powerful but slow, so when the majority of the opposing team is slowed down with Thunder Wave, they can easily smash through it. Fast, frail Pokemon such as Cinccino appreciate Musharna's ability to switch into ~~stuff like~~threats such as Sawk. Guts abusers such as Swellow and Ursaring need a free turn to activate their status oOrb, which Musharna can provide with its slow Baton Pass. Finally, any Pokemon that is really susceptible to status will appreciate ~~the~~ Heal Bell support.

[Other Options]

You can put 12 EVs into Speed on any Musharna set to outspeed 0 Speed Amoonguss, but it's not recommended because many Amoonguss run Speed to outspeed o~~ther~~pposing Amoonguss and ~~speed-creeping Musharna~~Musharna with some Speed EVs. Forewarn is nice for Pokemon such as Emboar, Samurott, and Altaria that run both physical and special sets, but Synchronize usually has more utility. A RestTalk set with Calm Mind and Stored Power is ~~okay~~decent and it can easily set up and destroy, but it's mostly inferior to Moonlight + Heal Bell. A full-on Baton Pass set that aims to Baton Pass boosts such as Barrier and Calm Mind to teammates is pretty good, but Musharna has better things to do and a full Baton Pass set suffers from a major case of four -moveslot syndrome.

In regards to move options, Musharna has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Sleep is always a powerful status, and Musharna has access to two methods of inflicting it: Yawn and Hypnosis. Unfortunately, there isn't much room for either move, and they both have major flaws: the opponent can just switch out of Yawn, and Hypnosis has an unreliable 60% accuracy. Toxic can be used over Thunder Wave, but Musharna would much rather spread paralysis, and there isn't much room for Toxic. Rain Dance, in theory, sounds like a pretty good move with Baton Pass, but again, Musharna has a bit of four -moveslot syndrome already and running Rain Dance only exacerbates it. Also, Rain Dance makes Moonlight ineffective.

[Checks and Counters]

Musharna is a very difficult Pokemon to check because of its amazing stats, typing that gives it few weaknesses, and versatile movepool. Knowing the flaws of each set and what Musharna set your opponent is using helps. Mono-attacking Calm Mind Musharna can easily be countered by Dark-types and certain P~~sychic-type resistor~~okemon that resist Psychic-type moves. If Musharna has Signal Beam, it can easily be shut down by Toxic. Offensive ~~tank~~ Musharna quickly gets worn down from Life Orb recoil and the increased damage taken due to its lack of Defense EVs and Special Defense boosts~~. H~~; however, it is much harder to switch in to. Choice Specs Musharna has the flaw of being locked into a move and can't recover health with Moonlight effectively unless it Tricks something; after it uses Trick, it basically just becomes a somewhat less efficient oOffensive ~~tank~~ Musharna. Pivot Musharna is the easiest to check, as it focuses on supporting the team and checking certain offensive threats rather than being a huge (finish the sentence xD).

~~As Musharna is~~Being a Psychic-type, Dark-types do a very good job at checking itMusharna. Skuntank can easily switch into anything Musharna uses besides Hidden Power Ground and use Pursuit if Musharna tries to switch out. However, Skuntank lacks power, and two Hidden Power Grounds from any of the offensive sets will likely kill it unless it's running an unusual specially defensive set. Absol is much more powerful than Skuntank, but it is hit a lot harder by Musharna's most common coverage move,: Signal Beam. Absol is definitely much more threatening to Musharna, but it has trouble switching in. Cacturne also has to watch out for Signal Beam, which OHKOes it; otherwise, itCacturne can Encore Musharna into a move that doesn't threaten it and set up Spikes. Like Cacturne, Liepard can Encore a move that doesn't affect it and set up Nasty Plot. Scraggy is the best check to Musharna, as the only thing that Musharna can do to beat it is Trick, but Musharna usually has teammates that can easily take care of Scraggy. Zweilous is one of the very few Pokemon that can OHKO Musharna unwithout boosteds, but it has to be wary of switching into L~~O/Specs~~ife Orb or Choice Specs-boosted Signal Beam ~~and~~or Trick.

A few other Pokemon can check Musharna well ~~too~~. Misdreavus can Taunt Musharna and kill it with a few Shadow Balls. Misdreavus can also set up a few Calm Minds or Nasty Plots on Musharna. SubDisable Haunter can Disable Musharna's Psychic and render it useless while attacking it with Shadow Ball, but it has to be wary of switching in on Psychic. Golurk can survive two unboosted Psychics and do a ton of damage with Shadow Punch. Swoobat can boost faster than Musharna and smash it with an extremely strong Stored Power~~. I~~; it also has an excellent typing for tanking Musharna's most common attacking moves. Strong physical Bug-types such as Pinsir and Armaldo can 2HKO even physically defensive Musharna. Heavy hitters such as Choice Band Emboar, Braviary, and Ursaring can do the same, but will usually go down with Musharna. Most Pokemon with Megahorn ~~can 2HKO Musharna~~, such as Swords Dance Samurott, can 2HKO Musharna. Phazers such as Dragon Tail Lickilicky and Roar Bastiodon do well against Calm Mind Musharna, but Musharna can always come back ~~later~~and boost later in the game. Having Spikes and Stealth Rock on the field makes Musharna considerably easier to beat with heavy hitters. Like most defensive Pokemon, Taunt and status ~~largely~~ shut Musharna down. Just remember that if Musharna has Heal Bell, it can always cure its own status. Tricking Musharna a Choice item prevents it from using non-attacking moves well~~. T~~; this isn't the most effective strategy against Choice Specs Musharna, though. Using Sleep Powder or Spore can work in a pinch, but Musharna does really well against the most common sleep inducers.

Musharna is a challenging Pokemon to defeat, especially if it has the right support backing it up. ~~Often y~~You will often have to resort to doing something risky just to beat Musharna. It's not incredibly over-powering to the point where it's nearly impossible to beat, but be very careful when fighting it.

[Overview]

Musharna is one of the biggest threats in NU thanks to its impressive defensive stats and above-average attacking prowess. It has numerous positive attributes to go along with its fantastic stats, such as a wide movepool that includes the useful Moonlight and Heal Bell and a decent typing. It can perform numerous useful roles well such as physical wall, setup sweeper, and pivot. In addition, Musharna can counter many top threats such as Gurdurr and Sawk. While it is even slower than Amoonguss and there are numerous Dark-types in the tier, Musharna is still such a huge threat that even a well-constructed team can easily be weak to it.

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Psychic
move 4: Heal Bell / Signal Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

This is Musharna's trademark set. Like many other famous boosting sweepers from the past, Musharna can boost really easily and there isn't all that much that can stop it. This Musharna also performs multiple roles: it's a physical wall, cleric, and boosting sweeper all in one. Calm Mind is the move that makes this set, boosting Musharna's already good Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage. Not even Choice Specs Charizard outside of the sun can 2HKO +1 Musharna, which is a testament to how bulky Musharna truly is. Musharna can easily boost up and then heal when weakened with Moonlight, making it a seemingly impossible tank to break through. Psychic is Musharna's STAB move, doing a lot of damage to pretty much everything that doesn't resist it. For the last slot, you get to decide what is the bane of Musharna's existence: status or Dark-types. Because Dark-types are somewhat easy to get rid of and Heal Bell also has the benefit of curing the status of Musharna's teammates, Heal Bell is usually more useful.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs give Musharna enough HP for a Leftovers number. Speaking of EVs, a more offensive spread can be used for this set, but then Musharna won't be as good of a physical wall or cleric and can't boost as easily. Thunder Wave is an interesting option over the moves in the last slot, as it will allow Musharna to spread status before it attempts to sweep; however, using it means that Musharna has nothing to deal with both status and Dark-types. Psyshock or Stored Power can be used over Psychic, but most Pokemon in the tier are hit harder by Psychic and Stored Power is less useful early-game before boosts.

Gurdurr and Sawk do well against the Dark-type counters that plague Musharna. Absol and Skuntank are other good teammates if you decide to use Gurdurr and Sawk, as they create the infamous Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, checking each others threats. Lickilicky appreciates Musharna's ability to switch into Fighting-type attacks and doesn't have to use up a moveslot for Heal Bell if Musharna is using it (or vice-versa). Just about any Pokemon that is really susceptible to status will appreciate the Heal Bell support provided by Musharna. Toxic Spikes support is useful for dealing with opposing Psychic-types and goes especially well with Musharna because Musharna can easily get rid of the Poison-types that soak them up.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Trick Room
move 4: Moonlight
item: Life Orb
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest / Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Musharna is a fantastic choice for an offensive tank thanks to its access to reliable recovery and attacking prowess. This set is immediately stronger than the Calm Mind set, but easier to wear down. Life Orb Psychic backed by a boosting nature will do a lot of damage to even some bulky Pokemon (such as?). Signal Beam gives coverage against Psychic- and Dark-types while Hidden Power Ground hits Steel-types such as Probopass and Klang. Trick Room can be used over Hidden Power Ground to allow Musharna to outspeed pretty much everything; however, the coverage provided by Hidden Power Ground is usually more useful. Moonlight rounds out the set, allowing Musharna to heal off wounds from Life Orb recoil and any attacks that hit it.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

If you're using Trick Room, a Quiet nature should be used. Shadow Ball hits Ghost-types such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder, but provides no additional coverage that Musharna needs. Psyshock can be used over Psychic to hit special walls such as Lickilicky harder, but the metagame is mostly physically inclined. Leftovers can be used instead of Life Orb so that Musharna doesn't get worn down as easily, but Musharna's attacks will be noticeably weaker.

This set doesn't require as much support as the Calm Mind set does, as status and Dark-types aren't as big of threats. Gurdurr and Sawk can easily beat all of the tier's Dark-types and work as the Fighting-type part of the Psychic / Dark / Fighting core. Absol and Skuntank are good candidates to fit the Dark-type role, as they can easily get rid of annoying Ghost-types such as Misdreavus.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Signal Beam
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Trick / Sleep Talk
item: Choice Specs
ability: Synchronize
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Choice Specs Musharna may look odd because it can't use Moonlight effectively when it's locked into a move. However, in practice, this set abuses Musharna's great Special Attack stat. Choice Specs Psychic is very strong, but also somewhat unreliable if the other team has Dark-types, so use it conservatively while they're still alive. Signal Beam and Hidden Power Ground are coverage moves, hitting Psychic- and Dark-types and Steel-types, respectively, but both moves have the same flaw: they're bad moves to get locked in to because of how weak they are. Trick goes well with Choice Specs, as it allows Musharna to cripple special walls and Pokemon such as Skuntank, but there aren't many situations where Musharna wants to Trick away its Choice Specs. As Musharna does well against all of the common sleep inducers, Sleep Talk is a good option to allow Musharna to act as a very solid check to Pokemon such as Amoonguss.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Moonlight can be used over Hidden Power Ground to turn Musharna into an offensive tank after it Trick's away its item, but there will rarely be any situations where Moonlight is useful when Musharna is choice-locked, so it is usually forced to Trick away its item before it can reliably recover. Shadow Ball can be used over Trick or Sleep Talk to hit Pokemon such as Golurk and Misdreavus harder, but Trick and Sleep Talk usually have more utility. Like Shadow Ball, Baton Pass usually has less utility than Trick and Sleep Talk, but it acts as a pseudo-U-turn/Volt Switch. Psyshock hits special walls harder than Psychic, but it will do less damage to the rest of the tier.

Again, Gurdurr and Sawk are fantastic partners, especially considering that Dark-types can easily set up on this set if they switch in on Choice Specs Psychic. This isn't exactly the best Musharna set for a Psychic / Dark / Fighting core, but it's never a bad idea to pair Musharna with Fighting- and Dark-type partners.

[SET]
name: Pivot
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Thunder Wave / Baton Pass
move 4: Heal Bell / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers
ability: Synchronize
nature: Bold
evs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

As most fast Pokemon are frail and weak to priority, a pivot that can switch into many attacks and support the team is vital for certain offensive teams. This Musharna acts as such a pivot, and indeed is one of the best in the tier. Musharna can switch into many attacks from the likes of Gurdurr, Carracosta, and Piloswine and hit them hard with Psychic. Moonlight is a move that should be on any non-Choice Specs Musharna, as it gives Musharna survivability. Thunder Wave is a great move for supporting offensive teams, which appreciate slowing down fast Pokemon, while Heal Bell cures Musharna's team of crippling status. Baton Pass can be used over either Thunder Wave or Heal Bell so that Musharna's teammates can switch in safely.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

240 HP EVs are used because they allow Musharna to reach a Leftovers number without sacrificing much bulk. This set is very malleable; Musharna should be using whatever moves support your team best. The moves listed on the set are just the ones that are most common on Pivot Musharna. Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, and Rain Dance are all good options if your team would benefit more from them than the ones listed earlier.

You shouldn't try to support this Musharna with teammates; it should be the one supporting the team. Some teammates that appreciate the support that Musharna provides include Ursaring, Emboar, and Cinccino. Emboar and Ursaring are extremely powerful but slow, so when the majority of the opposing team is slowed down with Thunder Wave, they can easily smash through it. Fast, frail Pokemon such as Cinccino appreciate Musharna's ability to switch into threats such as Sawk. Guts users such as Swellow and Ursaring need a free turn to activate their status Orb, which Musharna can provide with its slow Baton Pass. Finally, any Pokemon that is really susceptible to status will appreciate Heal Bell support.

[Other Options]

You can put 12 EVs into Speed on any Musharna set to outspeed 0 Speed Amoonguss, but it's not recommended because many Amoonguss run Speed to outspeed opposing Amoonguss and Musharna with some Speed EVs. Forewarn is nice for Pokemon such as Emboar, Samurott, and Altaria that run both physical and special sets, but Synchronize usually has more utility. A RestTalk set with Calm Mind and Stored Power is decent and can easily set up and destroy, but it's mostly inferior to Moonlight + Heal Bell. A full-on Baton Pass set that aims to Baton Pass boosts such as Barrier and Calm Mind to teammates is pretty good, but Musharna has better things to do and a full Baton Pass set suffers from a major case of four-moveslot syndrome.

In regards to move options, Musharna has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Sleep is always a powerful status, and Musharna has access to two methods of inflicting it: Yawn and Hypnosis. Unfortunately, there isn't much room for either move, and they both have major flaws: the opponent can just switch out of Yawn, and Hypnosis has an unreliable 60% accuracy. Toxic can be used over Thunder Wave, but Musharna would much rather spread paralysis, and there isn't much room for Toxic. Rain Dance, in theory, sounds like a pretty good move with Baton Pass, but again, Musharna has a bit of four-moveslot syndrome already and running Rain Dance only exacerbates it. Also, Rain Dance makes Moonlight ineffective.

[Checks and Counters]

Musharna is a very difficult Pokemon to check because of its amazing stats, typing that gives it few weaknesses, and versatile movepool. Knowing the flaws of each set and what Musharna set your opponent is using helps. Mono-attacking Calm Mind Musharna can easily be countered by Dark-types and certain Pokemon that resist Psychic-type moves. If Musharna has Signal Beam, it can easily be shut down by Toxic. Offensive Musharna quickly gets worn down from Life Orb recoil and the increased damage taken due to its lack of Defense EVs and Special Defense boosts; however, it is much harder to switch in to. Choice Specs Musharna has the flaw of being locked into a move and can't recover health with Moonlight effectively unless it Tricks something; after it uses Trick, it basically just becomes a somewhat less efficient Offensive Musharna. Pivot Musharna is the easiest to check, as it focuses on supporting the team and checking certain offensive threats rather than being a huge (finish the sentence xD).

Being a Psychic-type, Dark-types do a very good job at checking Musharna. Skuntank can easily switch into anything Musharna uses besides Hidden Power Ground and use Pursuit if Musharna tries to switch out. However, Skuntank lacks power, and two Hidden Power Grounds from any of the offensive sets will likely kill it unless it's running an unusual specially defensive set. Absol is much more powerful than Skuntank, but it is hit a lot harder by Musharna's most common coverage move: Signal Beam. Absol is definitely much more threatening to Musharna, but it has trouble switching in. Cacturne also has to watch out for Signal Beam, which OHKOes it; otherwise, Cacturne can Encore Musharna into a move that doesn't threaten it and set up Spikes. Like Cacturne, Liepard can Encore a move that doesn't affect it and set up Nasty Plot. Scraggy is the best check to Musharna, as the only thing that Musharna can do to beat it is Trick, but Musharna usually has teammates that can easily take care of Scraggy. Zweilous is one of the very few Pokemon that can OHKO Musharna without boosts, but it has to be wary of switching into Life Orb or Choice Specs-boosted Signal Beam or Trick.

A few other Pokemon can check Musharna well. Misdreavus can Taunt Musharna and kill it with a few Shadow Balls. Misdreavus can also set up a few Calm Minds or Nasty Plots on Musharna. SubDisable Haunter can Disable Musharna's Psychic and render it useless while attacking it with Shadow Ball, but it has to be wary of switching in on Psychic. Golurk can survive two unboosted Psychics and do a ton of damage with Shadow Punch. Swoobat can boost faster than Musharna and smash it with an extremely strong Stored Power; it also has an excellent typing for tanking Musharna's most common attacking moves. Strong physical Bug-types such as Pinsir and Armaldo can 2HKO even physically defensive Musharna. Heavy hitters such as Choice Band Emboar, Braviary, and Ursaring can do the same, but will usually go down with Musharna. Most Pokemon with Megahorn, such as Swords Dance Samurott, can 2HKO Musharna. Phazers such as Dragon Tail Lickilicky and Roar Bastiodon do well against Calm Mind Musharna, but Musharna can always come back and boost later in the game. Having Spikes and Stealth Rock on the field makes Musharna considerably easier to beat with heavy hitters. Like most defensive Pokemon, Taunt and status shut Musharna down. Just remember that if Musharna has Heal Bell, it can always cure its own status. Tricking Musharna a Choice item prevents it from using non-attacking moves well; this isn't the most effective strategy against Choice Specs Musharna, though. Using Sleep Powder or Spore can work in a pinch, but Musharna does really well against the most common sleep inducers.

Musharna is a challenging Pokemon to defeat, especially if it has the right support backing it up. You will often have to resort to doing something risky just to beat Musharna. It's not incredibly overpowering to the point where it's nearly impossible to beat, but be very careful when fighting it.

[gp]2/2[/gp]

DTC · Aug 11, 2012

Thanks DittoCrow. This is ready for uploading.

Musharna [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2]

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Give me the strength to part this sea

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Innovative new design!

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Innovative new design!

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