Clefable has Softboiled, and with Magic Guard, Ferrothorn is nothing but setup fodder. The 96 SpD EVs with a Calm nature avoid the 2HKO from Life Orb Greninja's Hydro Pump, allowing it to switch in and potentially set up on Greninja, but if you want to check as many physical attackers as possible, and potentially even beat Mega Heracross 1v1, then the Max HP/Def+ spread is an option.
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Other Don't use that, use this [XY OU Edition]
- Thread starter Magnemite
- Start date
- Status
Max HP/Def+ also prevents any Scizor from being able to OHKO you with Bullet Punch. Your spread has a decent shot of living (80%), but it still can happen that Bullet Punch OHKOs you, so it's up to you which you think is more threatening to Clefable overall, Scizor or Greninja.
Personally, I'd say Scizor, since Greninja can't come in on a Calm Mind and proceed to manhandle you.
Personally, I'd say Scizor, since Greninja can't come in on a Calm Mind and proceed to manhandle you.
The point wasn't Charge Beam, the point was Cosmic Power + Stored Power, which is used, sadly.
^that. Charge beam is also used on the set but the main thing was cosmic power fable.
As for the spread it allows it to:
-avoid the 2hko from lo ninjas hydro pump
-avoid the 2hkofrom lo thundy's tbolt
-avoid the 2hko from lo kyub's ice beam
-takes two earth powers from lando when cming
-can take 1 offensive venus sludge bomb at +1, and another at +2
Also it is surviving bullet punch from scizor unless were talking banded:
252+ Atk Technician Mega Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Clefable: 254-302 (64.4 - 76.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Clefable: 344-408 (87.3 - 103.5%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
As for the spread it allows it to:
-avoid the 2hko from lo ninjas hydro pump
-avoid the 2hkofrom lo thundy's tbolt
-avoid the 2hko from lo kyub's ice beam
-takes two earth powers from lando when cming
-can take 1 offensive venus sludge bomb at +1, and another at +2
Also it is surviving bullet punch from scizor unless were talking banded:
252+ Atk Technician Mega Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Clefable: 254-302 (64.4 - 76.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Clefable: 344-408 (87.3 - 103.5%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
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I think that the really bad set is Cosmic Power + Stored Power because it requires so much boosts to be moderately powerful.
I think that Cosmic Power alone in Unaware Clefable alone is barely viable, although it's suboptimal copared to many other moves. But Stored Power.
Clefable is a pokemon why you can create your own set and try with it. It's a pokemon that even though not all of sets are equally viable you can try your own set and see if it works without being a "silly set" at all. YTou want Stealth Rock? OK. You want to be a Wish passer? OK. Do you want to use Moonlight with Unaware? OK. Do you want a LO? OK. A tank? OK.
I think that if you:
-Don't use Cute Charm Clefable.
-Don't use physical set. Clefable doesn'0t learn Play rough to try that.
-Don't use Choice Scarf. It has only 95 Special Attack.
There's a difference between trying to come up with your own set, and then making a set that does the exact same thing as a well established set, but significantly worse, and that's what Cosmic Power + Stored Power Clefable is. Just a much worse Calm Mind Clefable.
In Bravests defense, I've seen people tell others to try the Cosmic Power/Stored Power on serious team builds. I really think it deserved a mention cause it is to teach people what not to use after all. People who are already familiar with OU know the Cosmic Power set is garbage, it's more for those who don't.
Don't Use This:
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Nature Timid
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
Why It's Bad:
Dark Pulse Greninja was relevant when Aegislash was dominating the meta, but with its recent banning Dark Pulse is redundant coverage these days. The main things you'll be hitting with Dark Pulse are already handled by your main Water/Psychic/Ice coverage and the couple of Mons that aren't tend to not be all that common anyway.
Instead Use:
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Nature Timid
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot/ Hidden Power Fire
Why it's better:
Grass Knot lets you hit hard and finish off many of the bulkiest of Water types, either 1 or 2HKOing the likes of Starmie, Blastoise, Slowbro, Politoed, and Quagsire. It also allows you to nail most Tyranitar for around 70-80%, giving them a hard time switching in and picking them off without the risk of Hydro Pump missing.
Hidden Power Fire on the other hand. allows you to take down Ferrothorn and Bulky Mega Scizor with relative ease, being another nice alternative with good coverage.
Conclusion:
Unless you're afraid of Espeon or the occasional Alakazam, there's no reason to be using Dark Pulse over another coverage move. Grass Knot and HP Fire hit a much larger and more relevant range of threats, and Dark Pulse should just be hidden away until the eventual attempt to re-test Aegislash one day in the future.
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Nature Timid
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
Why It's Bad:
Dark Pulse Greninja was relevant when Aegislash was dominating the meta, but with its recent banning Dark Pulse is redundant coverage these days. The main things you'll be hitting with Dark Pulse are already handled by your main Water/Psychic/Ice coverage and the couple of Mons that aren't tend to not be all that common anyway.
Instead Use:
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Nature Timid
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot/ Hidden Power Fire
Why it's better:
Grass Knot lets you hit hard and finish off many of the bulkiest of Water types, either 1 or 2HKOing the likes of Starmie, Blastoise, Slowbro, Politoed, and Quagsire. It also allows you to nail most Tyranitar for around 70-80%, giving them a hard time switching in and picking them off without the risk of Hydro Pump missing.
Hidden Power Fire on the other hand. allows you to take down Ferrothorn and Bulky Mega Scizor with relative ease, being another nice alternative with good coverage.
Conclusion:
Unless you're afraid of Espeon or the occasional Alakazam, there's no reason to be using Dark Pulse over another coverage move. Grass Knot and HP Fire hit a much larger and more relevant range of threats, and Dark Pulse should just be hidden away until the eventual attempt to re-test Aegislash one day in the future.
We've had Bank since February, but I still keep seeing this crap, for some reason:
Don't use this:
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Cute Charm
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
Bold Nature
-Wish
-Protect
-Heal Bell
-Moonblast
Why it's bad: Yes, Moonblast is a good attack with a nice secondary effect. But, aside from that, it's completely outclassed by Hyper Voice, which is stronger (thanks to Pixilate) and has the added benefit of bypassing Substitute due to being a sound move. But, since Hyper Voice requires transfer, there could be some compatibility issues... except there aren't any. (Heal Bell is also a transfer move.) And there's no Kalos-nativity restrictions in OU either. Also, since genders are effectively random, Cute Charm is far too inconsistent to be useful.
Instead, use this:
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
Bold Nature
-Wish
-Protect
-Heal Bell
-Hyper Voice
Why it's better: Basically everything I just said. Despite the fact that Sylveon is mainly played as a support mon, 110 base Special Attack is nothing to sneeze at, so it can still pack a punch.
Similarly, you should not be using Moonblast on Mega Gardevoir either, for exactly the same reasoning. Nor should any Fairy types be using Dazzling Gleam at all in singles (except Togekiss, which doesn't get Moonblast for some reason).
yes, I know this thread was on page 2 when I found it, but I had to get this off my chest
Edit: here's how often this still happens:
Cute Charm 14.339%, Moonblast 18.540%
Don't use this:
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Cute Charm
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
Bold Nature
-Wish
-Protect
-Heal Bell
-Moonblast
Why it's bad: Yes, Moonblast is a good attack with a nice secondary effect. But, aside from that, it's completely outclassed by Hyper Voice, which is stronger (thanks to Pixilate) and has the added benefit of bypassing Substitute due to being a sound move. But, since Hyper Voice requires transfer, there could be some compatibility issues... except there aren't any. (Heal Bell is also a transfer move.) And there's no Kalos-nativity restrictions in OU either. Also, since genders are effectively random, Cute Charm is far too inconsistent to be useful.
Instead, use this:
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
Bold Nature
-Wish
-Protect
-Heal Bell
-Hyper Voice
Why it's better: Basically everything I just said. Despite the fact that Sylveon is mainly played as a support mon, 110 base Special Attack is nothing to sneeze at, so it can still pack a punch.
Similarly, you should not be using Moonblast on Mega Gardevoir either, for exactly the same reasoning. Nor should any Fairy types be using Dazzling Gleam at all in singles (except Togekiss, which doesn't get Moonblast for some reason).
yes, I know this thread was on page 2 when I found it, but I had to get this off my chest
Edit: here's how often this still happens:
Cute Charm 14.339%, Moonblast 18.540%
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Don't use this:
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Ice Beam/Toxic/Roar/Heal Bell
Why it's bad:
Vaporeon is a bulky water/cleric. Vaporeon isn't exactly bad (well it does have a large amount of flaws such as a huge amount of Pokemon in the meta game fucking it up), more outclassed.
Instead, use this:
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Wish
- Protect
- Knock Off / Toxic
Why it's better:
Alomomola is a far better combination of a bulky water and a cleric than Vaporeon. The main reason for this is Alomomola's ability, Regenerator. Regenerator allows Alomomola to be much harder to wear down than Vaporeon, which makes it a truly fantastic ability for a defensive Pokemon such as Alomomola. Alomomola also has bigger wishes, still has access to Scald (I know, it's weaker, but Scald is mainly there for burns on the pair of them) and has that lovely Knock Off access that provides excellent utility and overall usefulness, seeing as something without an item is always nice. Vaporeon with Heal Bell doesn't matter either because every single stall team is going to be using Chansey.
Conclusion:
Alomomola, who may have lower stats that Vaporeon, has a combination of a better ability, better moves to play with (Knock Off) and bigger wishes to make it a better Bulky Water/Cleric (or wishpasser, what ever the fuck you want to call it lol). It's disgusting that Alomomola is RU, but Vaporeon is UU.
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Ice Beam/Toxic/Roar/Heal Bell
Why it's bad:
Vaporeon is a bulky water/cleric. Vaporeon isn't exactly bad (well it does have a large amount of flaws such as a huge amount of Pokemon in the meta game fucking it up), more outclassed.
Instead, use this:
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Wish
- Protect
- Knock Off / Toxic
Why it's better:
Alomomola is a far better combination of a bulky water and a cleric than Vaporeon. The main reason for this is Alomomola's ability, Regenerator. Regenerator allows Alomomola to be much harder to wear down than Vaporeon, which makes it a truly fantastic ability for a defensive Pokemon such as Alomomola. Alomomola also has bigger wishes, still has access to Scald (I know, it's weaker, but Scald is mainly there for burns on the pair of them) and has that lovely Knock Off access that provides excellent utility and overall usefulness, seeing as something without an item is always nice. Vaporeon with Heal Bell doesn't matter either because every single stall team is going to be using Chansey.
Conclusion:
Alomomola, who may have lower stats that Vaporeon, has a combination of a better ability, better moves to play with (Knock Off) and bigger wishes to make it a better Bulky Water/Cleric (or wishpasser, what ever the fuck you want to call it lol). It's disgusting that Alomomola is RU, but Vaporeon is UU.
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actually that was covered in his post.
not being able to cure status doesn't matter much because most teams that would use Big Disc would have chansey on them anyway
Sylveon post: I disagree with your argument to an extent. I think you just favor raw damage over anything else... Which I feel is folly. Please, tell me something sylveon OHKO's as opposed to 2HKO's with hyper voice in lue of moonblast.
it may do more damage, but that spatk drop feels a lot more helpful than a small amount of damage added to her attacks, which does not significantly weaken anything I can think of... Mostly because sylveon doesn't invest in offense.
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0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 296-350 (91.6 - 108.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 242-288 (74.9 - 89.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 40 HP / 0 SpD Mega Heracross: 264-312 (84.8 - 100.3%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 40 HP / 0 SpD Mega Heracross: 216-254 (69.4 - 81.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 254-300 (84.1 - 99.3%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 204-242 (67.5 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Terrakion: 332-392 (102.7 - 121.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Terrakion: 270-320 (83.5 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Garchomp: 348-410 (97.4 - 114.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Garchomp: 284-336 (79.5 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kyurem-B: 296-350 (75.7 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kyurem-B: 242-288 (61.8 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 242-288 (74.9 - 89.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 40 HP / 0 SpD Mega Heracross: 264-312 (84.8 - 100.3%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 40 HP / 0 SpD Mega Heracross: 216-254 (69.4 - 81.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 254-300 (84.1 - 99.3%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 204-242 (67.5 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Terrakion: 332-392 (102.7 - 121.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Terrakion: 270-320 (83.5 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Garchomp: 348-410 (97.4 - 114.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Garchomp: 284-336 (79.5 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kyurem-B: 296-350 (75.7 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kyurem-B: 242-288 (61.8 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
There would be tons more 3HKOs to 2HKOs as well. 30% extra damage is always useful, and is far superior to a 15% of infatuation (Because there is only a 50% chance of the enemy pokemon being the other gender) and a 30% chance of lowed SpAtt
I'm not saying Mola is bad or Vaporeon is better. I'm just saying don't call it a cleric when it's not :P
OK people need to keep their sets up to date because look what we've got at 23% usage
Don't use:
Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts / Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
The only reason that Heracross runs Earthquake is to hit both Aegislash and Mega Mawile. Both of these threats are now long gone, and as such Earthquake now has redundant coverage. With Heracross's gigantic 185 Attack, it doesn't care a single bit about having an extra coverage move since Pin Missile, Rock Blast, and Close Combat already inflict serious damage on a majority of the OU metagame.
Use this instead:
Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts / Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile / Swords Dance / Substitute
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
- Substitute / Swords Dance
The banning of Aegislash and Mega Mawile significantly improved Heracross. It can now choose between SD and Sub depending on what the team needs. With SD, you can hit stupidly hard with Close Combat, Pin Missile, and Rock Blast. With Substitute, Heracross laughs at status, and its threatening presence often forces the opponent to switch. Heracross can even run SD + Sub if you want, as Close Combat and Rock Blast already have decent coverage
Don't use:
Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts / Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
The only reason that Heracross runs Earthquake is to hit both Aegislash and Mega Mawile. Both of these threats are now long gone, and as such Earthquake now has redundant coverage. With Heracross's gigantic 185 Attack, it doesn't care a single bit about having an extra coverage move since Pin Missile, Rock Blast, and Close Combat already inflict serious damage on a majority of the OU metagame.
Use this instead:
Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts / Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile / Swords Dance / Substitute
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
- Substitute / Swords Dance
The banning of Aegislash and Mega Mawile significantly improved Heracross. It can now choose between SD and Sub depending on what the team needs. With SD, you can hit stupidly hard with Close Combat, Pin Missile, and Rock Blast. With Substitute, Heracross laughs at status, and its threatening presence often forces the opponent to switch. Heracross can even run SD + Sub if you want, as Close Combat and Rock Blast already have decent coverage
Double post but I have something to bring up that's 55th in the raw usage stats
Don't use:
Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play
Umbreon was only viable when Aegislash was around because it resists Shadow Ball and Shadow Sneak and can take a few Sacred Swords and Iron Heads. It was able to function as a bulky cleric that can pass Wishes and heal status right in the face of Aegislash. Now that Aegislash is banned, Umbreon has lost its niche in OU. It also is U-turn weak attracts Fighting-types like a magnet, and overall is just not effective in a Fighting/Fairy dominant metagame.
Use this instead:
I can think of numerous Pokémon that can perform similar jobs to Umbreon but are more effective in performing them. Mandibuzz can shrug off U-turns and also some Fighting-type attacks due to its Flying typing, and has access to Defog and Knock Off to support the team and cripple opponents, respectively. It can also run Taunt and phase boosters with Whirlwind. Chansey has a lot more special bulk and passes bigger Wishes. Sylveon has a Fairy typing to take on Dragons as well as STAB Pixelate Hyper Voice to hit decently hard. Clefable has Unaware to tank hits from boosters or Magic Guard to block status as well as hazards and Leech Seed. Overall there are better options to use than Umbreon in an Aegisless metagame.
Don't use:
Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play
Umbreon was only viable when Aegislash was around because it resists Shadow Ball and Shadow Sneak and can take a few Sacred Swords and Iron Heads. It was able to function as a bulky cleric that can pass Wishes and heal status right in the face of Aegislash. Now that Aegislash is banned, Umbreon has lost its niche in OU. It also is U-turn weak attracts Fighting-types like a magnet, and overall is just not effective in a Fighting/Fairy dominant metagame.
Use this instead:
I can think of numerous Pokémon that can perform similar jobs to Umbreon but are more effective in performing them. Mandibuzz can shrug off U-turns and also some Fighting-type attacks due to its Flying typing, and has access to Defog and Knock Off to support the team and cripple opponents, respectively. It can also run Taunt and phase boosters with Whirlwind. Chansey has a lot more special bulk and passes bigger Wishes. Sylveon has a Fairy typing to take on Dragons as well as STAB Pixelate Hyper Voice to hit decently hard. Clefable has Unaware to tank hits from boosters or Magic Guard to block status as well as hazards and Leech Seed. Overall there are better options to use than Umbreon in an Aegisless metagame.
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MQJinx It's really not a double post when the posts are over a month apart, it's a necro (dunno if that's good or bad, but that's what it is)
Also, you should really put in an alternative set when suggesting a replacement. Since the set you suggested is a wish passer / cleric, I would suggest making the replacement clefable, given it has similar-ish resists and considerably fewer weaknesses, letting it tank pretty much anything umb could (cept maybe gengar and gren) and then quite a few others.
Also, you should really put in an alternative set when suggesting a replacement. Since the set you suggested is a wish passer / cleric, I would suggest making the replacement clefable, given it has similar-ish resists and considerably fewer weaknesses, letting it tank pretty much anything umb could (cept maybe gengar and gren) and then quite a few others.
Sebberball
formerly BoXeD
Chansey is completely better, if you are expecting a knock off on Chansey everyone switches (or just I do)
I'd like to point out how Dark Pulse isn't irrelevant any more due to the popularity of Pokemon like Jirachi in the current metagame. It's certainly a very viable option on Greninja, without a doubt.Don't Use This:
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Nature Timid
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
Why It's Bad:
Dark Pulse Greninja was relevant when Aegislash was dominating the meta, but with its recent banning Dark Pulse is redundant coverage these days. The main things you'll be hitting with Dark Pulse are already handled by your main Water/Psychic/Ice coverage and the couple of Mons that aren't tend to not be all that common anyway.
Instead Use:
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Nature Timid
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot/ Hidden Power Fire
Why it's better:
Grass Knot lets you hit hard and finish off many of the bulkiest of Water types, either 1 or 2HKOing the likes of Starmie, Blastoise, Slowbro, Politoed, and Quagsire. It also allows you to nail most Tyranitar for around 70-80%, giving them a hard time switching in and picking them off without the risk of Hydro Pump missing.
Hidden Power Fire on the other hand. allows you to take down Ferrothorn and Bulky Mega Scizor with relative ease, being another nice alternative with good coverage.
Conclusion:
Unless you're afraid of Espeon or the occasional Alakazam, there's no reason to be using Dark Pulse over another coverage move. Grass Knot and HP Fire hit a much larger and more relevant range of threats, and Dark Pulse should just be hidden away until the eventual attempt to re-test Aegislash one day in the future.
Idk when that post was was, but I'm assuming it may have been in the aegislash meta since that was the only relevant target for dark pulse. Back then, things like slowbro, jirachi, starmie, cresselia, and other bulky psychic types just weren't viable because of aegislash, and now they have risen in usage to reflect that.
"Dark Pulse Greninja was relevant when Aegislash was dominating the meta"
I'm pretty sure it was post Aegislash metagame, and the guy just didn't realise how popular Jirachi, Slowbro, Cresselia ext had become and still are to this day.
I think that post was pretty soon after the aegi ban before all the psychics got way more popular. It probably made sense at the time.
The psychics became popular almost immediately after the ban. How would it ever make sense? Everyone knew they'd become good after the Aegi ban so they started using them asap (at least I know this was the case for some of them).
Aegislash was banned on August 2 (using last post date of Suspect thread as evidence: http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...ng-round-5-ghost-of-perdition.3511596/page-70). The post was made August 24, so about 3 weeks after his ban. While some time had passed, unless I'm mistaken it took at least a month for Psychics to be considered viable again by the majority of the community, and even more time passed until a lot of them were considered good. More importantly, the post you guys are focusing on is almost 4 months old now. Is this really worth pursuing?
- Status