Pokemon of the Week #16: Latias

[Dark Fallen Angel]

Here's a set that I don't see too often, which is odd considering Reuniclus' ability and stat layout. I wonder why...

Reuniclus @ Choice Specs
Modest
Magic Guard
252 Sp Attack/252 HP/4 Def

Psychic/Psyshock
Focus Blast
Shadow Ball/HP Fire
Trick

Reuniclus can do some damage with this set. The choice between Psyshock and Psychic is up to you, but both are STAB, and even though they do have bad coverage, they hit hard on anything that doesn't resist. The remaining coverage moves provide, well, coverage, while Trick allows for Reuniclus to cripple things that would otherwise take attacks easily.
Reuniclus has no problems switching in and out of a fight, thanks to Magic Guard, and its stats allow it to deal real damage while tanking a hit or two.

What's the point of using Choice Specs, when Reuniclus, thanks to Magic Guard, takes no damage from Life Orb? I know that you habe Trick, but this is very, very hard to justify over simply using Life Orb, as thanks to Reuniclus' Psychic typing, low speed and the fact that it's going to be locked on one attack, it's very easy to defeat. Alas, if it get locked on a Psychic-type move, Tyranitar and Scizor can take even more advantage of this to outspeed and either OHKO him or Pursuit him. Other Reuniclus can at least get around the two with good prediction skills, but this Reuniclus cannot even do that.

Anyway, my favorite set is the CM set, which I've used on the past on sandstorm teams, before Genesect was introduced:

Reuniclus (F) @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock / Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Recover

Life Orb takes advantage of Magic Guard, and is useful when Reuniclus needs to attack right off the bat when you don't have sufficient boosts. Leftovers is also good because it boosts Reuniclus' survivability quite a bit.

Psyshock defeats the pink blobs much more easily and lets Reuniclus win Calm Mind wars against anything not named Jirachi. However, Psychic gets a harder hit on physically based threats such as Hippowdon and Slowbro. Focus Blast is the best coverage move that Reuniclus have. While Psychic-types resist both of Reuniclus' moves, there are some Psychic-types on OU that take neutral damage from Focus Blast, and with some boosts, Reuniclus can defeat them regardless. Other things like Hidden Power Fire and Shadow Ball aren't recommended. The former leaves Reuniclus vulnerable to Tyranitar and any other Dark-type not weak to Fire, not to mention Heatran. The latter leaves Reuniclus walled by any Steel-type not neutral to Shadow Ball or Psychic-type STAB.

I prefer Life Orb or Leftovers as items because their benefits are much more notable than being capable of defeating Breloom. Also, Reuniclus can simply switch on a predicted status move or Toxic Spikes if it wants to become immune to status. I also don't like Hidden Power Fire as a coverage move because of the reasons explained above. It's a shame that CM Reuniclus suffers from 4MSS, because Hidden Power Fire and Shadow Ball would be great coverage moves alongside Focus Blast and a Psychic-type STAB, but with only 2 rooms for coverage, Focus Blast is the best coverage move that can be run and its coverage is too hard to pass up.

As a last note, Hidden Power Fighting can be used if you really dislike missing with Focus Blast, but it doesn't have nearly as much power as Focus Blast, and can't OHKO/2HKO most targets of Focus Blast with either prior damage, hazards or some extra boosts.

 

[blunder]

What's the point of using Choice Specs, when Reuniclus, thanks to Magic Guard, takes no damage from Life Orb? I know that you habe Trick, but this is very, very hard to justify over simply using Life Orb, as thanks to Reuniclus' Psychic typing, low speed and the fact that it's going to be locked on one attack, it's very easy to defeat. Alas, if it get locked on a Psychic-type move, Tyranitar and Scizor can take even more advantage of this to outspeed and either OHKO him or Pursuit him. Other Reuniclus can at least get around the two with good prediction skills, but this Reuniclus cannot even do that.

Anyway, my favorite set is the CM set, which I've used on the past on sandstorm teams, before Genesect was introduced:

Reuniclus (F) @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock / Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Recover

Life Orb takes advantage of Magic Guard, and is useful when Reuniclus needs to attack right off the bat when you don't have sufficient boosts. Leftovers is also good because it boosts Reuniclus' survivability quite a bit.

Psyshock defeats the pink blobs much more easily and lets Reuniclus win Calm Mind wars against anything not named Jirachi. However, Psychic gets a harder hit on physically based threats such as Hippowdon and Slowbro. Focus Blast is the best coverage move that Reuniclus have. While Psychic-types resist both of Reuniclus' moves, there are some Psychic-types on OU that take neutral damage from Focus Blast, and with some boosts, Reuniclus can defeat them regardless. Other things like Hidden Power Fire and Shadow Ball aren't recommended. The former leaves Reuniclus vulnerable to Tyranitar and any other Dark-type not weak to Fire, not to mention Heatran. The latter leaves Reuniclus walled by any Steel-type not neutral to Shadow Ball or Psychic-type STAB.

I prefer Life Orb or Leftovers as items because their benefits are much more notable than being capable of defeating Breloom. Also, Reuniclus can simply switch on a predicted status move or Toxic Spikes if it wants to become immune to status. I also don't like Hidden Power Fire as a coverage move because of the reasons explained above. It's a shame that CM Reuniclus suffers from 4MSS, because Hidden Power Fire and Shadow Ball would be great coverage moves alongside Focus Blast and a Psychic-type STAB, but with only 2 rooms for coverage, Focus Blast is the best coverage move that can be run and its coverage is too hard to pass up.

As a last note, Hidden Power Fighting can be used if you really dislike missing with Focus Blast, but it doesn't have nearly as much power as Focus Blast, and can't OHKO/2HKO most targets of Focus Blast with either prior damage, hazards or some extra boosts.

I would recommend running 8 Speed EV's in conjunction with Life Orb and Psyshock as at plus 5 you 2HKO opposing Reuniclus with Psyshock

 

[FaceFaceFace]

What role do you guys think Reuniclus has to play in this meta?
IMO the OTR is Reuni's only viable set right now, and it's biggest niche is cleaning up offensive teams late game. Reuni has to be capable of more, though.

 

[justsomedude86]

Credit to Wupar for the above image http://wupar.deviantart.com/

Can't argue with OTR Reuniclus, probably one of my favorite and most used pokes in the game. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he can 2hko the entire OU metagame just with a set of Psychic/Shadow Ball/Focus Blast. People always say Psychic is a horrible attack coverage wise, but it still lands a lot of nuetral hits with it. And blah blah Stealth Rocks brings most of OU into OHKO range too.

I've had some good experience with CM Reuni too, as it still dismantles stall teams like nothing else with its immunity to damaging status and passive damage. I still prefer Psyshock on the set to break through walls on both sides of the spectrum though. When you factor in STAB, you have two equally powerful moves in Psyshock/Focus Blast that can aim for either defensive stat.

I've tried the Flame Orb trick set, but I found it to be very lacking because I would rather use something that can use will-o-wisp on something else. For the record, a +2 Breloom with Bullet Seed is still going to dismantle that Reuniclus hard.

As for other viable sets, there isn't really much. Reuniclus gets a pretty nice movepool with some nice tricks, but tends not to be able to abuse some of these other choices well. It has too much HP for Pain Split (and has Recover), it has better things to do than Sub, Psych Up could be interesting, Explosion could be used to bring something in after Trick Room untouched (but Reuniclus can abuse Trick Room entirely by itself).

The only other option I could consider is using Future Sight on a CM set, letting you set up and spam recover on a would-be counter till they are forced out by the Future Sight. It even has 10 more base power than Psychic and now register's STAB from the user, but waiting for delayed damage is always tricky.

Point in short, go OTR or CM, or go home. It's all this thing really needs and both sets have completely different counters. Kind of reminds me of Salamence in 4th gen in some ways, save for no SR weak ;)

 

[doughboy]

Here's a set that I don't see too often, which is odd considering Reuniclus' ability and stat layout. I wonder why...

Reuniclus @ Choice Specs
Modest
Magic Guard
252 Sp Attack/252 HP/4 Def

Psychic/Psyshock
Focus Blast
Shadow Ball/HP Fire
Trick

Reuniclus can do some damage with this set. The choice between Psyshock and Psychic is up to you, but both are STAB, and even though they do have bad coverage, they hit hard on anything that doesn't resist. The remaining coverage moves provide, well, coverage, while Trick allows for Reuniclus to cripple things that would otherwise take attacks easily.
Reuniclus has no problems switching in and out of a fight, thanks to Magic Guard, and its stats allow it to deal real damage while tanking a hit or two.

Reuniclus makes a pretty bad Specs user for a number of reasons, First and foremost; Psychic is not an ideal STAB to be locked into. It can easily be taken advantage by Scizor and Tyranitar to gain momentum or to trap you. The most important thing about a Choice user is having a great STAB and Psychic is not that great (low base power move+resisted by many steels and more). Let's compare it to the STAB's of the best choice users Dragon, Water, Fighting, and Rock. Dragon-types have access to 120 base power Outrage and 140 base power Draco Meteor; Water-types have access to 120 base power Hydro Pumps that get boosted further by rain; Fighting types have access to 120 base Close Combats; and Rock-types have access to 100 base power Stone Edge (well TTar and Terrak have other perks). All of them have much better coverage than Psychic (super effective and neutral) than Psychic. These high base power moves are also found in the rain dependent 120-base power Hurricane and Thunder from Tornadus-T and Jolteon respectfully.

Second there is a bit of oppurtunity cost with Reuniclus. Magic Guard's benefit of preventing hazard damage is also brings out the question "Why not use Life Orb?". Reuniclus' bulk is still preserved with Magic Guard, so the only benefit of running Specs is if it gained a certain KO that otherwise would not be achieved with Life Orb. I can't find any, but looking at the mass calculators these are the potential OHKO gained by running Specs over Life Orb with Psychic and they do not seem to be worth it. IMO 2hko's are less important than the OHKO's since one can switch out to an appropriate resist on the choice user.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-T: 85.61 - 101.33%
252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Landorus: 88.4 - 104.38%
252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 88.71 - 104.7%
252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Jolteon: 90.77 - 106.64%
252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Jolteon: 90.77 - 107.38%
252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-W: 91.73 - 108.26%
252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Donphan: 92.96 - 109.37%
252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Thundurus-T: 94.33 - 111.33%
252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Salamence: 95.16 - 112.38%
252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Tornadus-T: 95.65 - 112.7%
252+ SpA Choice Specs Reuniclus Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mamoswine: 98.61 - 116.02%

Edit: @Dark Fallen Angel when you say psychic types neutral to focus blast you mean are referring to the steel/psychic types of the tier: Bronzong, Metagross, and Jirachi. Unforunately, "you can defeat them with a few boost regardless" is not true other than Bronzong's case. You won't be able to effectively boost vs Metagross since it will spam Meteor Mash awaiting a critical hit or attack boost while you recover. in Jirachi's case it can either prevent you from boosting with flinch had and paralysis if it is the specially defensive variant (scarf's iron head hurts) or it can engage in a CM war with and ultimately come out on top due due bad with Thunder/Water Pulse or a flash canon special defense drop (it also 4x resists Psyshock)

 

[HackerKing]

What role do you guys think Reuniclus has to play in this meta?
IMO the OTR is Reuni's only viable set right now, and it's biggest niche is cleaning up offensive teams late game. Reuni has to be capable of more, though.

Well, I've tried a supporting movepool, but other than Trick Room and Dual Screens, he doesn't bring much to the table. He was actually pretty useful as a lead that could set-up dual screens. The opponent would bring in their T-Tar or Scizor and kill it (most of the time with Pursuit), which provided my SD Breloom with a set-up opportunity. It was gimicky, and I don't recommend Reuniclus as a lead.

 

[ganj4lF]

Reuniclus was a big favourite of mine in BW1 era and before the introduction of Genesect. While I can see the point of OTR, and I guess it's a very good set, the CM set is my favourite by far: it pairs perfectly with Tyranitar and a Steel / Fighting type (or something to absorb U-Turns) and can dismantle unprepared team single handedly. Without Genesect around, you just need to remove Scizor and Tyranitar, and both of those can be quite weakened by Reuniclus itself, if you play smartly. After that, and 1-2 CM boosts, almost everything will barely scratch you, and crits aside you can easily dismantle whatever the opponent throws at you. Okay, this may be an exaggeration, but only to a point. I'm probably going to test it again in this Gege-free meta and see if it still works as it used to be.

 

[dice]

I've been testing CM Reuniclus in the new Meta, and it's actually viable. Scizor and Tyranitar typically are on the same team, while against other teams Reuniclus has ample time to set-up, especially on things like Ferrothorn.

 

[Wizarus]

Plus Slowking does the whole "Slow Specs" set better because of STAB Surf and alot more resistances. Reuniclus is better with Life Orb.

 

[Dark Fallen Angel]

What I am curious to know if you guys use TR Reuniclus only on dedicated TR teams. I've actually been on the situation where I battled against people using this set on non-dedicated TR teams, and they were using fast Pokémon. After I defeated their Reuniclus, I could actually "outspeed" and defeat the rest of their team. This is obviously not the way to go.

 

[RabidChipmunk]

What I am curious to know if you guys use TR Reuniclus only on dedicated TR teams. I've actually been on the situation where I battled against people using this set on non-dedicated TR teams, and they were using fast Pokémon. After I defeated their Reuniclus, I could actually "outspeed" and defeat the rest of their team. This is obviously not the way to go.

During the time when I used TR Reuniclus, I generally kept at least one other Pokemon in the back of my pocket that could abuse TR should Reuniclus go down. With that said, Reuniclus does not need to be on a dedicated TR team to be effective; he just needs a safe switch in and a sufficiently weakened team. Dedicated TR teams are kind of silly, anyway.

 

[dice]

Jirachi
Type: Steel / Psychic
Base Stats: 100 HP / 100 Atk / 100 Def / 100 SpA / 100 SpD / 100 Spe
Abilities: Serene Grace

Notable Moves:
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Wish
- Water Pulse
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Fire Punch
- Flash Cannon
- Psyshock
- Trick
- U-turn
- Ice Punch
- ThunderPunch
- Grass Knot

The biggest haxer in OU is now the Pokemon of the Week! Jirachi is one of the most versatile Pokemon in the tier, and it performs all of its sets wonderfully. Its infamous Body Slam and Iron Head ParaFlinch combination coupled with Serene Grace makes it a formidable Special Wall, whilst it's a fantastic sweeper as well, especially in rain, utilizing moves like Thunder(bolt) and Water Pulse. Jirachi can even perform a Scarf set well. Instead of revenge killing its enemies.. well.. it haxes them.

Discuss!

 

[AccidentalGreed]

Oh, cool, Jirachi. Never gets boring, doesn't it?

This is a more offensive twist on the support set that I use from time to time:

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Atk / 96 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Body Slam / Thunder Wave
- Iron Head
- Fire Punch

Yep, the classic Substitute + Paralysis set. Granted, it's walled by a few threats, but I'l just pull out the teammates.png on you guys, and Jirachi is meant to be a support Pokemon in itself. Basically, come in on something you can threaten, paralyze it, and find opportunities to keep yourself behind a Substitute.

The EVs allow Jirachi to live a Seismic Toss or Night Shade from defensive threats, and keeps it still fairly able to wall some attacks. 96 Spe are enough to outrun all Mamoswine, in addition to Jolly Breloom and Adamant Lucario, which is pretty nice. Overall, this thing's use pretty darned useful.

 

[Arcticblast]

My favorite Jirachi set:

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SDef / 32 Spd
Calm Nature
- Body Slam / Thunder Wave / Thunder
- Iron Head
- U-Turn
- Wish / Fire Punch

Specially defensive Jirachi is a pretty awesome Pokemon. The classic paraflinch combo is a given on this set. U-Turn is great to grab momentum, especially on a Rain team when your opponent suspects you might be SubCM. Wish is a good team support option while Fire Punch whacks Ferro, Forry and Scizor. (Also Escavalier but does anyone even use that?)

 

[dice]

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Thunder
- Psyshock / Flash Cannon
- Calm Mind
​

Ojama's and my rain stall uses this, and I really enjoy using this set. Despite the popular belief, you can beat Ferrothorn without Substitute or a Fire-type move if you're lucky with your own paralysis (assuming the opponent's Ferrothorn carries Thunder Wave). The set is quite simple: switch in on a Dragon, Wish/CM and have some fun. The best part about Psyshock and Thunder is the great coverage they have together: its biggest cockblock is bulky ground-types like Donphan and Hippowdon. This set actually beats Gastrodon, however, so mark that off the list! Between its unrivaled ability to both be a great team supporter and offensive menace at the same time, this Jirachi is a great set.

 

[Dark Fallen Angel]

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Thunder
- Psyshock / Flash Cannon
- Calm Mind
​

Ojama's and my rain stall uses this, and I really enjoy using this set. Despite the popular belief, you can beat Ferrothorn without Substitute or a Fire-type move if you're lucky with your own paralysis (assuming the opponent's Ferrothorn carries Thunder Wave). The set is quite simple: switch in on a Dragon, Wish/CM and have some fun. The best part about Psyshock and Thunder is the great coverage they have together: its biggest cockblock is bulky ground-types like Donphan and Hippowdon. This set actually beats Gastrodon, however, so mark that off the list! Between its unrivaled ability to both be a great team supporter and offensive menace at the same time, this Jirachi is a great set.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock

I was actually using this version on a non-Rain team. Psychic/Electric coverage has ample neutral coverage, and despite being resisted by a common sight, Ferrothorn, it can't do much to Jirachi and is used as a setup bait most of time. Plus, +6 Psyshock can 2HKO most Ferrothorn.

Psyshock means that Jirachi is somewhat of a mixed sweeper, that slowy boosts and can sweep when all things that could defeat it are gone, or if it is behind a substitute. It also receives STAB and means that Jirachi can easily break through the pink blobs.

This time, an bulky and fast EV spread is used, but with a physically defensive EV spread, Ferrothorn's attacks can never break Jirachi's substitutes, although I don't really recommend this with Substitute. If you plan using such EV spread, you are better off using Wish, because it can let you potentially defeat Dugtrio.

Jirachi is a great "mixed" sweeper with SubCM, but there are one type of Pokémon that counter this set: physically bulky Ground-types. Actually, most Ground-types will give problems to Jirachi. Gliscor and Hippowdon laughs at Jirachi's moves, Dugtrio can trap Jirachi, and worst yet, Quagsire counters Jirachi by being immune to Thunderbolt, taking laughable damage from Psyshock, and ignoring all boosts from CM. All those can defeat Jirachi with Earthquake.

For this reason, specially defensive Celebi makes for a great partner. It can take attacks from most Ground-types, and defeat them with Giga Drain or Hidden Power Ice. Celebi can also use Perish Song to scare away dangerous sweepers, or support Jirachi with Thunder Wave or Stealth Rock. Offensive Celebi is another great partner for Jirachi. It can do all the above, but it can't support Jirachi that much otherwise. Even Nasty Plot Celebi can be a good partner. Unfortunately, they share a weakness to Fire-type attacks. For this reason, another good partner is Heatran. They both share an weakness to Ground-type attacks, though, but Heatran can support Jirachi with Stealth Rock, burning Ground-types, or even defeating them with a surprise Hidden Power Grass. Any Water-type will also work well with Jirachi, as they resist Fire and scare most Ground-types. Keldeo can, in special, either wallbreak for Jirachi, using Choice Specs, or revenge kill using a Scarf, most Ground-types that would give trouble for Jirachi.

Actually, one premier partner for Jirachi is Latias. Latias can defeat most Pokémon that would give trouble for Jirachi, such as Landorus and Keldeo. It also resists Fire and is immune to Ground, while Jirachi resists Dragon, Ice, and takes little from most Dark-, Ghost-, and Bug-type attacks.

 

[dice]

Is it just me, or do you find SpDef Celebi and a Jirachi redundant? Both cover similar threats.. I don't know. I just don't think Celebi is as great of a partner as you say.

 

[Dark Fallen Angel]

Is it just me, or do you find SpDef Celebi and a Jirachi redundant? Both cover similar threats.. I don't know. I just don't think Celebi is as great of a partner as you say.

Well, SpDef Jirachi and offensive/NP Celebi aren't actually redundant, as the former provide support for the latter. However, I must admit that I have yet to test if the reverse (offensive Jirachi and defensive Celebi) is true. However, Jirachi can't actually handle Landorus and Keldeo as well as Celebi (Ground-type attacks, and rain-boosted Water-type attacks, respectively), while Celebi cannot handle Dragon-types.

 

[BlankZero]

RainRachi.

I'm gonna go throw up now. I hate that thing so damn much.

 

[TaBuu]

F*ck with me ;)​

There are days I want to just take this little fairy pixie, smash its head against speeding train, boil it in hot oil, then stomp it until it shatters. All because it Iron Head flinched my entire team to death. With a Scarf.
But there are other days, when I want to just kiss that cute face and honestly just f*ck with it. Those days are when I flinch people to death with Rachi. :)
I'm sure everyone has mixed feelings about this Pokemon. To all the babies that complain about haxs and crits, Jirachi is the god to be blamed. While us battlers do not control the hax and try to embrace it, Jirachi delivers swift haxs and tears of frustration.
LOL. Being serious now...

My favorite set would have to be...Choice Scarf or the Offensive CM Varient. Jirachi doesn't need excessive coverage when it has haxs on its side. Too tired to write much, but Jirach is definitely a Pokemon worth playin' with.

=======================================

 

[BlankZero]

F*ck with me ;)​

There are days I want to just take this little fairy pixie, smash its head against speeding train, boil it in hot oil, then stomp it until it shatters. All because it Iron Head flinched my entire team to death. With a Scarf.
But there are other days, when I want to just kiss that cute face and honestly just f*ck with it. Those days are when I flinch people to death with Rachi. :)
I'm sure everyone has mixed feelings about this Pokemon. To all the babies that complain about haxs and crits, Jirachi is the god to be blamed. While us battlers do not control the hax and try to embrace it, Jirachi delivers swift haxs and tears of frustration.
LOL. Being serious now...

My favorite set would have to be...Choice Scarf or the Offensive CM Varient. Jirachi doesn't need excessive coverage when it has haxs on its side. Too tired to write much, but Jirach is definitely a Pokemon worth playin' with.

=======================================

Pretty much this. Jirachi is either hated or loved depending on what side you're on. Scarf Jirachi is just the devil though. I hate that little Pixie.

 

[Duck Chris]

I think Jirachi's biggest advantage in this meta is being one of the only pokemon to reliably switch in on Tornadus-T. This is pretty much the sole reason I use him when I do, as iron head flinching does take quite a while. Spreading paralysis is a really nice benefit as well, I just feel like his defensive capabilities are more valuable.

 

[alexwolf]

Is it just me, or do you find SpDef Celebi and a Jirachi redundant? Both cover similar threats.. I don't know. I just don't think Celebi is as great of a partner as you say.

Actually SpD Celebi and physically defensive Jirachi make a very good defensive combo, especially in rain teams where their Fire weakness is mitigated and Celebi can wall any Water type even with the Drizzle boost. Celebi handles any Electric, Ground, and Water type Pokemon that can get past Jirachi, such as Landorus, Jolteon, Rotom-W, Starmie, and Keldeo, while Jirachi handles Dragon-types that can set-up on Celebi. What's more is that any of the two can learn SR, giving you some freedom to their moveslots, and Jirachi has the ability to take the sweeping route too with CM, while finally Celebi provides the defensive core with the awesome Perish Song, meaning that between Perish Song, and Jirachi's paraflinch shenanigans it will be hard for the opponent to find a set-up chance. Not the perfect partnership but it surely has its merits.

 

[PK Gaming]

We've gotten to a point in BW OU where there's really no reason NOT to run Jirachi. It just checks so many of the threats (the Dragons and most notably Tornadus-T, who is extremely difficult to stop) and its CM sets can dismantle standard teams. No really, CM will 6-0 your stock HO team when given the chance to set up (its got plenty of chances).

Jirachi is the ultimate glue Pokemon, if you ever like your team is missing something, that something is probably Jirachi.

 

[Shurtugal]

Jirachi is amazing. I persoanally love hitting 290 speed for Mamoswine and Adamant max speed Gliscor. I mean, Jirachi gets SR, steel typing, and it makes a GREAT piviot. It dents much of the metagame, and like PK said, there really isn't a reason NOT to run it. It just covers so many threats (rachi promises a decent check to every Dragon, paralysis on faster threats, SR, it promises to dent 4/6 of just about every sand team, rotom-w is a joke you BS for like 38% and Iron Head does like 16% and it's really hard for Rotom-W to do anything back outside of rain (unless it carries the imiss-o-wisp), and steel typing). You could literally BS the Rotom-W switch in (para) and Iron Head twice and knock it into BS KO range, and two paraflinches isn't asking a lot when it comes to Jirachi lol. I don't know most teams rely on Rotom-W to counter piviot rachi when it can't really...

SubCM Rachi is also awesome. While you don't get rocks you do get the ability to counter every special sweeper in the game (well, maybe not... oh wait nvm rachi sets up on every special sweeper). I assume rain btw.

I wouldn't say anything is a good partner for Jirachi, its that Jirachi is a good partner for you. I have one word that sums up Jirachi's amazing existence: glue. Lack SR? Jirachi. Dragon weak? Jirachi. Fear Magnezone? LOL Fire punch bitch, and 290 speed outpaces most of them anyway. A bit sand weak? lol Jirachi dents most sand js. Hurricane weak from Torn-T? Jirachi easily tanks and threatens with TWave lol.

Jirachi is awesome.



This is the piviot set I refer to:

Jirachi @ Leftovers (or Occa is a decent slash on PO for Gene)
Trait: Serene Grace
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 38 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 SDef (put in HP if PS, since only for Gene) / 216 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Fire Punch or Filler Move (Healing Wish / Wish / Ice Punch / U-turn / Thunder Wave / Zen Headbutt / etc.)