I can totally get behind Pheramosa getting knocked up to A+. While Pheramosa is indeed mad frail and has a limited movepool, these 2 faults don't make it any less of a dominant threat. While it is true that priority and Choice Scarf users can revenge her easily due to her bad bulk, the problem here lies in that, by definition of revenging, you have to lose a Pokemon first. And this in turn raises 2 more issues:
1. You have to sacrifice something just get a Pokemon in that can safely revenge her. With dual 137 offenses, even resisted hits are going to leave a mark. And often you'll be in situations where finding a good mon to sack will be a scary prospect because, depending on where you are in the match, you may not be able to sack anything without exposing yourself to one of her teammates. Ooh, did you have to sack your Tangrowth just keep your Mega Alakazam alive as a speedy attacker? Well good luck stopping Mega Metagross now. Mind you this is a situation many Pokemon can put you in, but Pheromosa is particularly scary at this because her incredible speed tier backed by potent dual offenses which allow her to run multiple sets despite limited coverage.
2. More importantly, your opponent often doesn't even HAVE to leave Pheromosa in. Right off the bat, she's currently rocking 2nd strongest and outright fastest U-Turn in the tier. If she's not Choice locked she can potentially just U-Turn on out leaving a decent mark on you. And even if she can't use U-Turn, your opponent can just simply switch her out, especially if it's early in the match where many of her teammates are still healthy. Pheromosa can work both in the early and late game thanks to her speed and U-Turn so it'll be tricky to catch her with your revenger at the right time and before she hasn't already weakened your team too much.
Now you may ask why I am making a big deal out of revenging. Why not just carry a mon that walls her? Problem there is that only one OU Pokemon walls her sets provided it wasn't already weakened is Toxapex and if Toxapex does get weakened, by say Stealth Rock, HP Ground from Timid Specs Mosa can become 2HKO.
0 SpA Choice Specs Pheromosa Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Toxapex: 124-146 (40.7 - 48%) -- 62.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
And due to the nature of Toxapex, only stall and certain balance builds can utilize it so offense is left ragged.
And then we have to go back to how, despite her horrendous defensive stats and limited movepool, she still can role with several sets. Her coverage, while not the best, gets the job done. Ice Beam to keep Landorus and bulky Dragons at, Poison Jab to put the Tapus on notice, and HP for a nasty surprise are just enough to allow her to threaten a lot of the meta and give her several options for sets:
At the very least she should be no lower than Greninja Ash. Great as it is, it HAS to get a kill to start wrecking things. Pheromosa doesn't. No good OU pivots can safely zoom around her as they're either too frail or fear a coverage move. With the right moves and set, she can 2HKO most if not all of OU's best walls bar Toxapex, especially with hazards.:
252 SpA Pheromosa Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skarmory: 184-217 (55 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Pheromosa Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 219-258 (55 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Pheromosa Bug Buzz vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 332-392 (82.1 - 97%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Pheromosa High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 488-576 (69.3 - 81.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Pheromosa Bug Buzz vs. 252 HP / 144+ SpD Sableye-Mega: 142-168 (46.7 - 55.2%) -- 62.5% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Pheromosa Bug Buzz vs. 248 HP / 144 SpD Venusaur-Mega: 174-205 (47.9 - 56.4%) -- 86.3% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Pheromosa Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Zapdos: 252-298 (65.6 - 77.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
And naturally, offensively inclined mons can't switch safely for squat unless you know the set. And as far as sets go, I only covered stuff currently considered conventional. Given her offenses and Beast Boost ability, I wouldn't be surprised if people start trying to find ways for her to use Z-moves at some point, however viable that may be. I mean imagine her getting an accurate safe Fighting type nuke that can net her a Beast Boost and is still usable afterwards. I really feel that could work in the right situation.
But I digress. Overall, Pheromosa, does have shortcomings. But they aren't enough to downplay how threatening she can really be and aren't anymore overbearing then the weaknesses of some mons in A+. I think some people underestimate just how versatile she is. You can get so used to dealing with physical Pheromosa's, only for a QD or Specs one to pop up and screw you with HP or Bug Buzz. Pheromosa puts clear pressure on teambuilding with almost no good OU mons that can blanket check/counter her and good players having plenty of ways to circumvent revenge kill attempts. Given all this and the presence of mons like Tapu Koko and Greninja Ash which I feel aren't nearly as unpredictable, she certainly deserves an A+ rank.
Edit: Here's a replay for kicks!:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-526693150
Bonus points for the guy using both Ash-Ninja and Tapu Koko losing and Psychic Terrian screwing Water Shuriken like I said it often does below.
1. You have to sacrifice something just get a Pokemon in that can safely revenge her. With dual 137 offenses, even resisted hits are going to leave a mark. And often you'll be in situations where finding a good mon to sack will be a scary prospect because, depending on where you are in the match, you may not be able to sack anything without exposing yourself to one of her teammates. Ooh, did you have to sack your Tangrowth just keep your Mega Alakazam alive as a speedy attacker? Well good luck stopping Mega Metagross now. Mind you this is a situation many Pokemon can put you in, but Pheromosa is particularly scary at this because her incredible speed tier backed by potent dual offenses which allow her to run multiple sets despite limited coverage.
2. More importantly, your opponent often doesn't even HAVE to leave Pheromosa in. Right off the bat, she's currently rocking 2nd strongest and outright fastest U-Turn in the tier. If she's not Choice locked she can potentially just U-Turn on out leaving a decent mark on you. And even if she can't use U-Turn, your opponent can just simply switch her out, especially if it's early in the match where many of her teammates are still healthy. Pheromosa can work both in the early and late game thanks to her speed and U-Turn so it'll be tricky to catch her with your revenger at the right time and before she hasn't already weakened your team too much.
Now you may ask why I am making a big deal out of revenging. Why not just carry a mon that walls her? Problem there is that only one OU Pokemon walls her sets provided it wasn't already weakened is Toxapex and if Toxapex does get weakened, by say Stealth Rock, HP Ground from Timid Specs Mosa can become 2HKO.
0 SpA Choice Specs Pheromosa Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Toxapex: 124-146 (40.7 - 48%) -- 62.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
And due to the nature of Toxapex, only stall and certain balance builds can utilize it so offense is left ragged.
And then we have to go back to how, despite her horrendous defensive stats and limited movepool, she still can role with several sets. Her coverage, while not the best, gets the job done. Ice Beam to keep Landorus and bulky Dragons at, Poison Jab to put the Tapus on notice, and HP for a nasty surprise are just enough to allow her to threaten a lot of the meta and give her several options for sets:
- She can be Life Orbed and capable of U-Turning out on the Fly while still doing good damage
- She can be Banded to unleash devastating High Jump Kicks and U-Turns
- She can be Specs to surprise your physical walls with Bug Buzz, Focus Blast, and Hidden Power
- She can be Focus Sashed'd to better ensure something gets whacked and screw over priority and scarf users bar a well placed Water Shuriken.
- She can use a Choice Scarf to let her outspeed everything while applying her Beast Boost to one of her offensive stats, making her a nasty cleaner.
- She can be super real and surprise you with a Quiver Dance set to capitalize on the switches she often forces and clean late game.
At the very least she should be no lower than Greninja Ash. Great as it is, it HAS to get a kill to start wrecking things. Pheromosa doesn't. No good OU pivots can safely zoom around her as they're either too frail or fear a coverage move. With the right moves and set, she can 2HKO most if not all of OU's best walls bar Toxapex, especially with hazards.:
252 SpA Pheromosa Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skarmory: 184-217 (55 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Pheromosa Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 219-258 (55 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Pheromosa Bug Buzz vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 332-392 (82.1 - 97%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Pheromosa High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 488-576 (69.3 - 81.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Pheromosa Bug Buzz vs. 252 HP / 144+ SpD Sableye-Mega: 142-168 (46.7 - 55.2%) -- 62.5% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Pheromosa Bug Buzz vs. 248 HP / 144 SpD Venusaur-Mega: 174-205 (47.9 - 56.4%) -- 86.3% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Pheromosa Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Zapdos: 252-298 (65.6 - 77.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
And naturally, offensively inclined mons can't switch safely for squat unless you know the set. And as far as sets go, I only covered stuff currently considered conventional. Given her offenses and Beast Boost ability, I wouldn't be surprised if people start trying to find ways for her to use Z-moves at some point, however viable that may be. I mean imagine her getting an accurate safe Fighting type nuke that can net her a Beast Boost and is still usable afterwards. I really feel that could work in the right situation.
But I digress. Overall, Pheromosa, does have shortcomings. But they aren't enough to downplay how threatening she can really be and aren't anymore overbearing then the weaknesses of some mons in A+. I think some people underestimate just how versatile she is. You can get so used to dealing with physical Pheromosa's, only for a QD or Specs one to pop up and screw you with HP or Bug Buzz. Pheromosa puts clear pressure on teambuilding with almost no good OU mons that can blanket check/counter her and good players having plenty of ways to circumvent revenge kill attempts. Given all this and the presence of mons like Tapu Koko and Greninja Ash which I feel aren't nearly as unpredictable, she certainly deserves an A+ rank.
Edit: Here's a replay for kicks!:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-526693150
Bonus points for the guy using both Ash-Ninja and Tapu Koko losing and Psychic Terrian screwing Water Shuriken like I said it often does below.
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