Overview
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- The only fully evolved Pokemon in NU with Magic Bounce which is a unique and nice ability that is a nice way to keep hazards away.
- Great stallbreaker.
- Wide movepool that threatens most of hazards setters which improves Xatu's capability at keeping hazards away.
- Nice Special Attack and Speed stats.
- Low Bulk which makes it difficult to keep up certain hazard setters like Rhydon.
- Bad defensive typing with a lot of horrible weaknesses to moves like Knock Off, Pursuit and Volt Switch.
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name: Utility
move 1: Thunder Wave / Toxic
move 2: U-Turn
move 3: Night Shade / Psychic
move 4: Roost
ability: Magic Bounce
item: Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
nature: Bold
Moves
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- Thunder Wave can cripple a lot of fast offensive Pokemon and that gives nice team support.
- Toxic is also another option to do some passive damage to the opponent.
- U-Turn can also be used when predicting a switch into a counter to keep up the momentum.
- Night Shade is a reliable move that always does 100 HP of damage as long as the opponent isn't a Normal-type Pokemon, it can also break most of the substitutes.
- Psychic can be used for STAB to hurt Poison- and Fighting-type Pokemon, but Night Shade is an overall better option.
- Giga Drain has nice coverage and can be used to deal with leads like Omastar aswell as getting some of its health recovered.
- Roost is for recovery to keep Xatu healthy to improve its longevity and make it switch in more and activate Magic Bounce.
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- Maximum HP and Defense EVs and a Bold nature make back of Xatu's relatively low bulk and let it be a nice physically defensive Pokemon
- Leftovers provides passive recovery and Rocky Helmet does damage to physical attackers which is nice especially with Xatu's high defensive bulk.
- Since most of the hazards setters are physical attackers this physically defensive set allows it to deal with them well.
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- Send out Xatu when facing a Pokemon that can set up hazards but can't hit hard like Ferrossed which causes the hazards to bounce back and possibly cripple the opponent's plans.
- Xatu can also work really well as a Pokemon that wall Fighting-type Pokemon especially those that lack Knock Off thank to its x4 resistance to it.
- Magic Bounce and U-Turn is really good as it lets it serve as a really nice pivot for wallbreakers like Magmortar and Samurott that have difficulty switching in.
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- Pokemon that love hazards, especially Stealth Rock, away like Vivillon are greats teammates.
- Ground-type Pokemon that take care of Xatu's Rock- and Electric-type weaknesses are great teammates but you should beware of Ice-type attacks.
- Audino is also a great teammate as it can switch into Ice- and Electric-type attacks aimed into Xatu, the latter can also switch into most of Fighting-types that threatens Audino.
- Some wallbreakers like Samurott and Magmortar are great teammates too as they can switch in safely thanks to Xatu's U-Turn.
Offensive
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name: Offensive
move 1: Psychic / Psyshock
move 2: Heat Wave
move 3: Grass Knot / Giga Drain
move 4: Roost
ability: Magic Bounce
item: Life Orb
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
Moves
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- Psychic is Xatu's main STAB choice that does a huge damage to anything that doesn't resist it.
- Psyshock is another STAB option to hit Pokemon with a high Special Defense that can wall Xatu instead like specially defensive Audino.
- Heat Wave to deal with annoying Steel-types like Ferroseed.
- Grass Knot is used to deal with Rock-type Pokemon that may give Xatu a hard time, it also OHKOs most hazards setters like Seismitoad, Kabutops, Omastar and Rhydon.
- Giga Drain is another option as it can also OHKO the Pokemon mentioned before and allows Xatu to heal back.
- Roost is for recovery to keep Xatu healthy to improve its longevity and make it switch in more and activate Magic Bounce.
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- Maximum Special Attack and Speed EVs let Xatu hit hard while being also fast especially with a Timid nature
- A Life Orb boosts the damage dealt by Xatu which allows it to hit really hard.
- Leftovers can be used to avoid the 2HKO from Ferroseed's Gyro Ball, but Life Orb is usually a better option.
- A set with 152 HP / 180 SpA / 176 Spe EVs and a Modest nature can be used too, the spread outspeeds Adamant Sawk, gives enough SpA to OHKO Golurk with Grass Knot, and the rest goes in bulk to hit a Life Orb number.
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- The best chance to switch in Xatu is when predicting a move a non-damaging move that can activate Magic Bounce.
- Unlike the utility set this one is more aggressive so it's less reliable when it comes to keeping hazards away.
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- Fighting-types like Sawk are great teammates as they deal with Dark-types, Ice-types and Rock-types that give Xatu a problem.
- Ground-types are also nice teammates to have as they have an immunity to Electric-types and a are super effective against Rock-types that Xatu is weak too, but you should beware of Ice-types that may be a problem.
- Pokemon that detest hazards and appreciate Xatu's offensive coverage are great partners too, nice examples are Pawniard and Liepard as Xatu deals with Fighting-types that threaten them like Grudurr.
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- A specially defensive Utility set can also be used by moving the Def EVs to SDef and a Calm nature.
- Reflect and Light Screen set with Light Clay.
- Calm Mind can be used to boost Xatu's Special Attack and Special Defense and the combination with Stored Power makes Xatu a great Baton Pass receiver.
- Feather Dance to lower the opponent's Attack.
- Wish but Xatu already has Roost and it can't pass Wishes effectively because of its low HP stat.
- A Trick and Choice Scarf or Choice Specs set can also be used.
- Tailwind.
- Foul Play to punish physical Pokemon that try to set up on it.
Checks and Counters
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**Super effective coverage**: Dark-type Pokemon like Liepard and Pawniard are also great examples but the first fears U-Turn and the latter Heat Wave. Electric-type Pokemon can also deal with Xatu, a great example is Lanturn that doesn't get hurt by Grass Knot because of it low weight, another example is Electivire. Ice-type Pokemon like Jynx give Xatu a hard time but they get hurt by Heat Wave. Rock-types also may threaten Xatu because it switches into most of them that can use Stealth Rock and other entry hazards to bounce them back with the risk of being hit by a super effective STAB Rock-type move.
**Offensive pressure**: Because of Xatu's poor bulk offensive pressure with strong attackers makes it go down easily.
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