good lord they're beautiful
QC: 3/3 (sparktrain, QueenOfLuvdiscs, sparktrain)
GP: 2/2 (Snobalt, The Dutch Plumberjack)
[OVERVIEW]
Plasmanta is a powerful special attacker that makes use of its unique Electric/ Poison typing to check common threats such as Mega Scizor, Pyroak, Tomohawk, and Fairy-types. Plasmanta's key resistances to Electric-, Steel-, Fairy-, Flying-, Poison-, and Grass-type moves in addition to Storm Drain give it plenty of opportunities to switch in, and its decent 60 / 119 / 98 defensive stats and access to support moves such as Taunt, Haze, and Encore allows it to perform more defensive roles well.
Unfortunately, two common weaknesses, to Psychic- and Ground-type attacks, limit what Plasmanta can effectively check and leave it checked by common threats such as Colossoil, Landorus-T, and Aurumoth. Plasmanta's offensive movepool is small, consisting mainly of STAB moves, Dazzling Gleam, Psychic, Psyshock, and Hidden Power. This means that Plasmanta is reliant on Hidden Power to get past Steel-types and Ground-types, which leaves it horribly walled by a large group of Pokemon depending on it moveset. Plasmanta also has trouble getting past common special walls, such as Chansey, and its lack of reliable recovery outside of Black Sludge severely limits its walling ability.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Haze
move 4: Taunt / Encore
item: Black Sludge
ability: Storm Drain
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 154 Def / 100 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Sludge Bomb allows Plasmanta to reliably check slower Fairy-types such as Clefable, Sylveon, Togekiss, Azumarill, and non-Mega Gardevoir, and it also allows Plasmanta to deal considerable damage to Mega Altaria. Sludge Bomb also allows Plasmanta to check Pyroak while still getting solid hits on Electric-types such as Cyclohm. Hidden Power is used to round out Plasmanta's coverage. Hidden Power Fire is the preferred option, as it allows Plasmanta to check Mega Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Cawmodore, and without it, Plasmanta is setup bait for Cawmodore and Ferrothorn. Hidden Power Ice can be used if checking Steel-types is not a priority for Plasmanta, as it deals solid damage to common switch-ins such as Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Gliscor. Hidden Power Ice is also this set's best option against Assault Vest Colossoil, but even then, it will only do chip damage at best. Haze allows Plasmanta to better check setup sweepers such as Cawmodore, Mega Scizor, and Clefable. Taunt and Encore are primarily for disrupting slower walls and for discouraging setup; Taunt allows Plasmanta to stop recovery, entry hazards, Defog, and phazing, while Encore can steal momentum and force switches by locking opposing Pokemon into undesirable moves.
Set Details
========
Black Sludge provides Plasmanta with its only source of recovery and can punish Trick users. A Bold nature gives a welcome boost to Plasmanta's Defense. 100 Speed EVs allow Plasmanta with Hidden Power Fire to outspeed Adamant Mega Altaria and hit it hard with Sludge Bomb. The rest of the EVs are put into HP and Defense for maximum physical bulk. If Plasmanta uses Hidden Power Ice, an EV spread of 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe is enough to outspeed Adamant Mega Altaria. A second spread of 252 HP / 60 Def / 200 Spe, or 252 HP / 64 Def / 196 Spe if running Hidden Power Ice, can be used to outspeed positive-natured Mega Altaria, but this takes away a good deal of Plasmanta's bulk and gives Cawmodore's Knock Off a slim chance to OHKO Plasmanta after Stealth Rock. If getting the jump on base 80 Speed Pokemon is not a priority, an EV spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spa can be used, as it noticeably increases Plasmanta's bulk and makes it a better check to Cawmodore.
Usage Tips
========
Be sure to scout for Ground-type coverage on Azumarill, Sylveon, and Keldeo; Bulldoze and Hidden Power Ground can blow holes into Plasmanta. If they do lack Ground-type coverage, Azumarill, Sylveon, and Keldeo are great oppurtunities for Plasmanta to switch in. Plasmanta can also freely switch-in on water-types such as Rotom-W and Suicune, even picking up a boost if it comes in on their STAB moves. If it's possible, try to switch Plasmanta in on Water-type moves, but be careful of switching into secondary STAB or coverage moves. When Plasmanta is conscious, it can actively discourage the use of Water-type moves from the foe, so don't be surprised if you switch your Plasmanta into Volkraken's Fire Blast or Rotom-W's Volt Switch.
Team Options
========
Depending on the choice of Hidden Power, Plasmanta will need have team support to handle Steel- and Ground-type Pokemon, and even with Hidden Power, it will still struggle against bulky Pokemon such as Assault Vest Colossoil and Heatran. Pokemon that can easily handle Ground-types, such as Gliscor and Tomohawk, make for great teammates. Wish passers, such as Clefable and Chansey, can help make up for Plasmanta's lack of reliable recovery moves. Dark-types such as Colossoil, Bisharp, and Weavile can easily switch into Psychic-type attacks targeted towards Plasmanta and can provide Pursuit support to remove Plasmanta's Psychic-type checks. Plasmanta enjoys having a secondary check to Cawmodore as a teammate, whether it be Haze Tomohawk, Unaware Clefable, or a special Choice Scarf user. This takes off a lot of pressure on Plasmanta to stay healthy and leaves it free to check Pokemon such as Keldeo and Rotom-W. Pokemon that enjoy Plasmanta's ability to soak up Water- and Grass-type attacks, such as Gliscor, Colossoil, and Stratagem, make for good teammates. They also encourage the use of Water-type attacks, which Plasmanta can use to get a Special Attack boost through Storm Drain. Gyarados also makes an excellent partner for Plasmanta, as it's able to setup on the Ground-types that threaten Plasmanta, and Plasmanta can absorb the Grass- and Electric-type attacks Gyarados attracts in return. Plasmanta also threatens Tomohawk and Fairy-types that can check Gyarados. Other Pokemon that can set up or threaten the Ground-types that check Plasmanta work well. Azumarill, Keldeo, and Serperior do this aptly, and Serperior can also pressure Electric-types such as Rotom-W.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Sludge Wave
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice
move 4: Encore / Taunt
item: Life Orb
ability: Storm Drain
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Sludge Wave is Plasmanta's most powerful Poison-type STAB move, allowing it to OHKO or 2HKO Pyroak and every relevant Fairy-type in the CAP Metagame. Sludge Bomb is a viable alternative to Sludge Wave, as it has an increased poison chance, but it hits for less damage and has a higher chance of triggering Guts on one of Plasmanta's most common switch-ins, Colossoil. Thunderbolt allows Plasmanta to deal heavy damage to Flying- and Water-types such as Tomohawk and Mega Slowbro. Hidden Power Fire allows Plasmanta to get past Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Excadrill, and Mega Scizor. It also prevents Cawmodore from setting up on Plasmanta, although Cawmodore has to be wary of Encore regardless. Hidden Power Ice allows Plasmanta to get past some of its Ground-type checks. With a Life Orb, Plasmanta can OHKO Landorus-T and Garchomp and 2HKO Hippowdon with the move. Encore allows Plasmanta to force switches by locking slower Pokemon into undesirable moves, such as status moves, moves it resists, and Water-type attacks. Taunt or a fourth coverage move can be ran over Encore. Taunt prevents walls from healing, stops entry hazards from being set up, and prevents slower Pokemon from setting up. Psychic or Psyshock can be ran to hit opposing Poison-types hard. Psychic hits opposing Plasmanta and Mega Venusaur harder while 2HKOing specially defensive Mollux most of the time. Psyshock can be over Psychic to have a chance to OHKO Mollux after Stealth Rock damage. Dazzling Gleam can be run to deal more damage to Colossoil, and it is worth noting that a Modest Life Orb-boosted Dazzling Gleam can 2HKO Assault Vest Colossoil.
Set Details
========
Life Orb gives Plasmanta a significant boost to its damage output and is needed to guarantee the OHKO or 2HKO on several Pokemon, such as Pyroak, Gliscor, Landorus-T, and Hippowdon. Storm Drain allows Plasmanta to switch into Water-types more reliably and helps punish Scald spam, and the boost to its Special Attack allows Plasmanta to OHKO or 2HKO almost anything besides Chansey. The given EV spread gives Plasmanta as much Speed and Special Attack as possible. A Timid nature allows Plasmanta to Speed tie with base 100 Speed Pokemon, notably Manaphy, Mega Gardevoir, and Jirachi. A Modest nature can be used if Speed tying with base 100 Speed Pokemon is not a concern, as the extra power allows Plasmanta to grab several important OHKOs and 2HKOs, such as the OHKO on specially defensive Gliscor with Hidden Power Ice.
Usage Tips
========
Plasmanta is meant to serve as an offensive check to Pokemon such as Keldeo, Cyclohm, Rotom-W, and Fairy-types. It should be noted that this Plasmanta cannot check Cawmodore, as a single Belly Drum-boosted Acrobatics will OHKO it. Be sure to scout for Ground-type coverage on Pokemon such as Azumarill, Keldeo, and Pyroak before you switch Plasmanta in, as Bulldoze, Hidden Power Ground, and Earth Power will easily 2HKO or OHKO it. Make the best use of Encore as you can; Encore locks slower walls into status or recovery moves and offensive Pokemon into resisted or setup moves. If you can manage it, use Encore to lock a Pokemon into a Water-type attack, as a boosted Plasmanta can 2HKO almost the entire metagame. Be aware that Encore is expected on Plasmanta, and many opponents will switch Pokemon if possible.
Team Options
========
Depending on the choice of Hidden Power, Plasmanta will need to have team support to handle Steel- and Ground-type Pokemon, and even with Hidden Power, it will struggle against bulky Pokemon such as Assault Vest Colossoil and Heatran. Dark-types such as Colossoil, Bisharp, and Weavile can easily switch into Psychic-type attacks targeted towards Plasmanta and can provide Pursuit support to remove Plasmanta's Psychic-type checks. They also appreciate Plasmanta's ability to take on the Fairy-types they're weak too. Plasmanta enjoys entry hazard support, as Stealth Rock helps guarantee KOs on Pokemon such as Gliscor. Plasmanta also forces a lot of switches through its immunity to Water-type attacks and ability to Encore opposing Pokemon into undesirable moves, so having entry hazards up is a good way to wear down the opposing team. One of Plasmanta's best checks, Assault Vest Colossoil, can be worn down through the use of entry hazards. A dedicated check to Colossoil is appreciated, as it is only 3HKOed by a Modest Life Orb Hidden Power Ice and can do significant damage to Plasmanta with Pursuit. Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Mega Altaria, Pyroak, Mega Scizor, and Tomohawk are all reliable Colossoil checks. Tomohawk can set up Stealth Rock and counter Colossoil and has good type synergy with Plasmanta. Tomohawk can handle Ground-types, and Plasmanta can handle Electric- and Fairy-types. Ground-types, such as Colossoil, enjoy Plasmanta's ability to switch into and threaten Water-types, and they can handle Mollux, opposing Plasmanta, and specially defensive Heatran. Pokemon that struggle with Fairy- and Flying-types, notably Fighting- and Grass-types such as Keldeo and Pyroak, enjoy Plasmanta's ability to switch in on them and threaten them. Gyarados also makes for an excellent partner for Plasmanta, as it's able to set up on the Ground-types that threaten Plasmanta, and Plasmanta can absorb the Grass- and Electric-type attacks Gyarados attracts in return. Plasmanta also threatens Tomohawk and Fairy-types that can check Gyarados. Other Pokemon that can set up or threaten the Ground-types that check Plasmanta work well. Azumarill, Keldeo, and Serperior do this aptly, and Serperior can also pressure Electric-types such as Rotom-W.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Discharge can be used as an alternative to Thunderbolt, but the higher Base Power of Thunderbolt is preferable on the offensive set. Thunder Wave can be used to cripple switch-ins such as Latias, Mega Metagross, and Mega Gallade, but it does not affect Ground- and Electric-types such as Colossoil and Cyclohm. Clear Smog can prevent stop setup sweepers but can't be prevented through Taunt, unlike Haze. Unfortunately, it can't stop Steel-type setup sweepers, such as Scizor and Cawmodore. Hidden Power Ground can be used to get past Heatran, Mollux, and opposing Plasmanta, but this leaves Plasmanta walled by Ground-types and unable to break Ferrothorn and Cawmodore. Choice Scarf can be used to revenge kill faster threats, such as Cawmodore, more reliably, but both Electric- and Poison-type moves are easy to take advantage of when locked into. Choice Scarf also faces serious competition from other Electric-types such as Magnezone, Rotom-W, and Raikou, which have access to Volt Switch and better coverage. Air Balloon can be use to allow Plasmanta to serve as a one-time check to Mega Altaria, but the item is easy to get rid of and leaves Plasmanta with no passive recovery. Plasmanta can make use of Water Pulse and Thunder on rain teams, as a rain-boosted Water Pulse has a decent chance to 2HKO Assault Vest Colossoil and OHKO Landorus-T after one round of Stealth Rock damage.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types and Ground-type Coverage**: Ground-types such as Gliscor, Colossoil, and Landorus-T can easily switch in and threaten to KO Plasmanta with their STAB moves, and they only fear Hidden Power Ice. Ground-type coverage also allows Pokemon such as Mega Altaria, Azumarill, Keldeo, and Tomohawk to get past Plasmanta.
**Heatran**: Specially defensive Heatran can take any attack Plasmanta can throw at it and hit it hard with its Fire-type STAB moves or Earth Power.
**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Latias, Latios, Mega Metagross, and Mega Gallade can all tank a hit from Plasmanta and OHKO it with their STAB moves. Frailer Psychic-types such as Alakazam and Mega Medicham will take considerable damage on the switch, though.
**Trappers**: Gothitelle and Dugtrio can switch into Plasmanta and remove it from play, but both have to be wary of switching into Life Orb-boosted attacks.
**Specially Defensive Pokemon**: Specially defensive Pokemon, such as Chansey and Mollux, can tank Plasmanta's attacks and slowly wear it down, but they must be careful of being locked into a status move. Mollux must also be wary of Psychic-type coverage on Plasmanta.
**Mega Venusaur**: Mega Venusaur can wall the defensive set and proceed to either wear it down with Leech Seed or 2HKO it with Earthquake, but it cannot check the offensive set reliably, as a Life Orb-boosted Sludge Wave will always 2HKO Mega Venusaur after a round of Stealth Rock damage and has a high chance to 2HKO it without Stealth Rock.
**Steel-types**: If Plasmanta lacks Hidden Power Fire, Steel-types such as Ferrothorn can wall it to no end. Cawmodore can also use Plasmanta as setup bait, but it must be wary of being Encored into Belly Drum. Mega Metagross can also tank a hit and KO Plasmanta with Zen Headbutt or Earthquake.
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