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always start with a bang
Overview
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The old "looks can be deceiving" cliché applies fully to this cottony trickster, new and improved for the sixth generation of Pokemon. Its blistering 116 Speed, outspeeding even Thundurus-I -- a similarly popular Prankster -- in addition to its ability allow it to once again wreak havoc on the opponent's team while boosting its own with a much-needed Tailwind or some other gain. Furthermore, its new Fairy typing gives it a new and much-appreciated immunity and resistance to Dragon and Fighting, respectively, in addition to key resists it already has against Ground and Water.
But it's not all sunshine and rainbows for Whimsicott: it's still plagued by its frailty and lack of offensive presence. A misplay, two unresisted hits, or both, can make Taunt bait or mincemeat out of Whimsicott, and don't expect it to win anything one-on-one. That said, one has to understand that Whimsicott is more a team player than anything -- and in Doubles, where teamwork is a premium, look no further than this Pokemon to get that job done.
Team Support
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set name: Team Support
move 1: Tailwind
move 2: Encore / Taunt
move 3: Helping Hand / Moonblast / Giga Drain
move 4: Protect
item: Sitrus Berry / Focus Sash
nature: Timid
ability: Prankster
evs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Moves
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One of the most important facets of Doubles is speed control, which Whimsicott easily counteracts with
Set Details
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Other Options
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The old "looks can be deceiving" cliché applies fully to this cottony trickster, new and improved for the sixth generation of Pokemon. Its blistering 116 Speed, outspeeding even Thundurus-I -- a similarly popular Prankster -- in addition to its ability allow it to once again wreak havoc on the opponent's team while boosting its own with a much-needed Tailwind or some other gain. Furthermore, its new Fairy typing gives it a new and much-appreciated immunity and resistance to Dragon and Fighting, respectively, in addition to key resists it already has against Ground and Water.
But it's not all sunshine and rainbows for Whimsicott: it's still plagued by its frailty and lack of offensive presence. A misplay, two unresisted hits, or both, can make Taunt bait or mincemeat out of Whimsicott, and don't expect it to win anything one-on-one. That said, one has to understand that Whimsicott is more a team player than anything -- and in Doubles, where teamwork is a premium, look no further than this Pokemon to get that job done.
Team Support
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set name: Team Support
move 1: Tailwind
move 2: Encore / Taunt
move 3: Helping Hand / Moonblast / Giga Drain
move 4: Protect
item: Sitrus Berry / Focus Sash
nature: Timid
ability: Prankster
evs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Moves
=======
One of the most important facets of Doubles is speed control, which Whimsicott easily counteracts with
- Tailwind allows Whimsicott's partner to get the jump on faster Pokemon, especially scarfed 'mons like Landorus-T, as well as counteracting negative effects such as a speed drop from Icy Wind
- Encore and Taunt do similar jobs:
- Encore interferes with set-up sweepers, and is disruptive to Trick Room and Pokemon with Fake Out and Protect
- Taunt is better at checking opponents' support and TR set-up, like Cresselia and Amoonguss
- Helping Hand's +1 can give your partner the boost needed to bring an opposing Pokemon into KO range
- Moonblast stops Whimsicott from being Taunt bait, hitting common Pokemon like Hitmontop, Scrafty, and Terrakion, as well as picking off weakened threats and Sashed targets Preferred over Dazzling Gleam to avert being blocked by Wide Guard, as well as having stronger base power
- Giga Drain's usefulness is relative to its effectiveness -- it won't do decent damage or healing if it isn't super-effective
- Protect blocks against Fake Out, among other priority, and in general helps it to survive.
Set Details
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- 216 Speed EVs allows it to outspeed and Taunt opposing Thundurus at max Speed
- Sitrus is used as Whimsicott will usually switch in on resisted attacks, and typically survive a number of unresisted hits
- Sash can be used instead to allow Whimsicott to survive more powerful hits, such as Charizard-Y's Heat Wave, Talonflame's Brave Bird, etc.
- Maximum HP investment is for all-around survivability; Defense is preferred as spread moves (EQ, Rock Slide) are more often physical
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- Cripple something, boost with Tailwind, and if (and/or when) it faints, your teammates can make the most out of the opportunities it creates
- Its ability to disrupt common strategies such as TR make it a good lead
- Switch it in on Water, Ground, Electric, and Fighting Pokemon that threaten it little
- Partners that can apply good offensive pressure force Protects which Whimsicott can Encore
- Moonblast and Giga Drain are last-ditch moves; don't use Whimsicott for offense unless you are backed into a corner, or need to use it for a free switch
- If Whimsicott is likely to be hit by Fake Out, use Protect before anything, and use Tailwind / Taunt / Encore later
- Encore is an obvious choice against set-up sweepers and Protect/Fake Out -- your opponent likely (hopefully?) knows this as well; that in mind, don't waste Encore on obvious switches
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- Whimsicott is primarily support, so it's mostly about Pokemon that it creates opportunities for, like Substitute users (Mega Mawile, Heatran) or set-up sweepers (DDance Mega Gyarados, Mega Kangaskhan).
- Deoxys-A is an especially terrifying partner -- potential Fake Out and Protect users are threatened by Whimsicott's Encore as it applies relentless offensive pressure
- Slower threats make excellent Pokemon who take advantage of Tailwind -- Mega Heracross, Mamoswine, and Breloom are good examples
- Pokemon that hate Speed control (Latios, Deoxys-A, Scarf users) appreciate Tailwind -- Whimsicott with Taunt makes a good partner for these. Conversely, they force all-important Protects, allowing Whimsicott to safely boost or switch out to maximize offensive potential
- Heatran and Rotom-Wash enjoy Tailwind and solidly check Talonflame, which Whimsicott hates
Other Options
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- Coupling Focus Sash with Endeavor could drop a Pokemon into KO range for a partner
- Light Screen gives a +1 boost to your team's Special Defense.
- Beat Up coupled with a user of Justified can often lead to upwards of +6 Attack boosts.
- Memento drops both an opponent's Attack and Special Attack to -2, and can be used for when Whimsicott has done all it can.
- Stun Spore paralyzes opponents and is difficult to avoid due to Prankster.
- U-turn could be used to maintain momentum and allow more teammates to take advantage of Whimsicott boosts
- Switcheroo can offload items with negative effects like Iron Ball or Flame Orb onto opponents
- SubSeed is a nice alternative set, but is difficult to set in Doubles and generally defeats Whimsicott's purpose of team support as opposed to keeping itself safe
- Priority Sunny Day with Heat Rock is a good addition to sun teams
- An offensive set (with Life Orb + Giga Drain) could be run to take advantage of its speed and movepool, but it usually lacks the power to break targets
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- **Offensive Typing Advantage**
- Priority attacks, such as Bullet Punch from Scizor, or Brave Bird from Talonflame make quick work of it.
- Frail in general. Just piling on spread moves keeps pressure on Whimsicott -- Mega Charizard-Y's Heat Wave and assorted Rock Slides come to mind.
- Gengar (particularly M-Gengar) has blistering speed and a 4x effective move in Sludge Bomb / Wave.
- Fire-types like Heatran, Mega Charizard-Y, Talonflame, and Rotom-Heat can threaten or kill with SE STAB moves
- Steel-types do the same: Scizor, Excadrill, and Bisharp are notable in this respect
- Anything that resists Fairy or Grass in general. Note that Whimsicott will lose most 1v1 situations.
- Frailty pretty much guarantees it'll be 2HKOed by unresisted attacks.
- **Miscellaneous**
- Aromatisse's Aroma Veil stops Taunt or Encore on itself or its teammates.
- Trick Room setters holding a Mental Herb can get away with setting up in Whimsicott's face, and switch out if they fear Encore
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