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Sorting Through the Creative Moveset Thread
- Thread starter Stathakis
- Start date
Luxray - Lead Support
Luxray @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Evs: 204 HP / 54 Atk / 252 Satk
Nature: Quiet / Brave
- Hidden Power Fighting/Ground
- Crunch
- Thunderwave
- Lightscreen
A bulky Luxray, meant to lead off and abuse Intimidate and its many support options. Intimidate makes this pretty bulky in UU, being able to stand up to most offensive threats. The value of an ability that nets you some advantage before the battle's even started cannot be underestimated. Lead v. Lead is a point in time when it truly comes down to rock-paper-scissors, and either side could draw bad and be forced to flee. At that point in time you'll be much better off if your ability has already done something for you. Essentially, intimidate and powerful disabling support moves it is capable of wrecking defensive threats, who will be panickedly switched in at the threat of attacks off of 120 base ATK and 95 sp.ATK. People generally don't think of Luxray as a fearsome sweeper due to thunderfang's low base power and a lack of speed, but when you're an intimidated scyther Luxray seems a lot more fearsome. Often, the threat of electric attacks is actually just as fearsome as the electric moves themselves. Thunderbolt/Thunderfang are huge threats to all the many competitive water and flying types running around UU. Especially the flying types who generally are physically offensive (stuff like scyther and swellow). Intimidate and the scare of electric attacks forces many switches. Here's where it gets interesting. The threat of electric attacks generally pulls out ground types. The thing about ground types is that the number 1 likely poke to be switched in here, Steelix, is 2HKO'd by a super effective hidden power. This is including all those Sp.def evs the standard set carries. In addition, Luxray is NOT Ohko'd by Steelix' Earthquake even WITHOUT intimidate. So Luxray will always beat Steelix if it Hidden Powers on the switch. The other thing about this situation, is it's so obvious what's coming: a STAB earthquake. Now's a great chance to bring in a host of different levitators: rotom, swellow, scyther, etc, depending on the situation. There's nothing these types of frail yet powerful sweepers like more than free switch ins, and in the early turn you can play even more mind games by combining this Luxray with U-Turn Flying Sweepers.
Luxray is a switch whore. It wants to switch in, and thus it doesn't mind switching out. It wants to abuse intimidate and force situations where the opponet is forced to make iffy decisions. Thunderwave and Light Screen work beautifully in concert with this mind set of "Come in, screw the opponent up, then get my ass out." This is a great go-to pokemon for any unsure switch. Essentially, this guy forces switches, which is something that works beautifully when all his teammates are offensive threats. Crunch seems like an odd choice, but not really considering its coverage with hidden power fighting and the fact that it shaves off huge chunks from all the psychic type walls. Combined with Light Screen, it also lets Luxray stay in against opponents like Rotom, Jynx (if you have another Pokemon asleep) and Froslass, making him a threat to special attackers as well as physical attackers. In any case, they all hate Thunderwave.
Luxray will get more overall points from +ATK nature. But that doesn't nescessarily make it the best choice. Quiet is necessary to secure the 2HKO on Steelix. With Brave, there is no chance of a 2HKO. On the other hand, with Quiet, there is no chance of 2HKOing Hypno with Crunch. Steelix is usually more important, as its like the physcial blissy of UU, and chances are it will be switching in against you more times than Hypno. Besides, despite the fact that Luxray is slow and has Light Screen, fighting against Hypno and its Thunderwave is not what it does best. Where possible, stick to switching in against physical attackers and forcing them out with Intimidate.
Luxray @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Evs: 204 HP / 54 Atk / 252 Satk
Nature: Quiet / Brave
- Hidden Power Fighting/Ground
- Crunch
- Thunderwave
- Lightscreen
A bulky Luxray, meant to lead off and abuse Intimidate and its many support options. Intimidate makes this pretty bulky in UU, being able to stand up to most offensive threats. The value of an ability that nets you some advantage before the battle's even started cannot be underestimated. Lead v. Lead is a point in time when it truly comes down to rock-paper-scissors, and either side could draw bad and be forced to flee. At that point in time you'll be much better off if your ability has already done something for you. Essentially, intimidate and powerful disabling support moves it is capable of wrecking defensive threats, who will be panickedly switched in at the threat of attacks off of 120 base ATK and 95 sp.ATK. People generally don't think of Luxray as a fearsome sweeper due to thunderfang's low base power and a lack of speed, but when you're an intimidated scyther Luxray seems a lot more fearsome. Often, the threat of electric attacks is actually just as fearsome as the electric moves themselves. Thunderbolt/Thunderfang are huge threats to all the many competitive water and flying types running around UU. Especially the flying types who generally are physically offensive (stuff like scyther and swellow). Intimidate and the scare of electric attacks forces many switches. Here's where it gets interesting. The threat of electric attacks generally pulls out ground types. The thing about ground types is that the number 1 likely poke to be switched in here, Steelix, is 2HKO'd by a super effective hidden power. This is including all those Sp.def evs the standard set carries. In addition, Luxray is NOT Ohko'd by Steelix' Earthquake even WITHOUT intimidate. So Luxray will always beat Steelix if it Hidden Powers on the switch. The other thing about this situation, is it's so obvious what's coming: a STAB earthquake. Now's a great chance to bring in a host of different levitators: rotom, swellow, scyther, etc, depending on the situation. There's nothing these types of frail yet powerful sweepers like more than free switch ins, and in the early turn you can play even more mind games by combining this Luxray with U-Turn Flying Sweepers.
Luxray is a switch whore. It wants to switch in, and thus it doesn't mind switching out. It wants to abuse intimidate and force situations where the opponet is forced to make iffy decisions. Thunderwave and Light Screen work beautifully in concert with this mind set of "Come in, screw the opponent up, then get my ass out." This is a great go-to pokemon for any unsure switch. Essentially, this guy forces switches, which is something that works beautifully when all his teammates are offensive threats. Crunch seems like an odd choice, but not really considering its coverage with hidden power fighting and the fact that it shaves off huge chunks from all the psychic type walls. Combined with Light Screen, it also lets Luxray stay in against opponents like Rotom, Jynx (if you have another Pokemon asleep) and Froslass, making him a threat to special attackers as well as physical attackers. In any case, they all hate Thunderwave.
Luxray will get more overall points from +ATK nature. But that doesn't nescessarily make it the best choice. Quiet is necessary to secure the 2HKO on Steelix. With Brave, there is no chance of a 2HKO. On the other hand, with Quiet, there is no chance of 2HKOing Hypno with Crunch. Steelix is usually more important, as its like the physcial blissy of UU, and chances are it will be switching in against you more times than Hypno. Besides, despite the fact that Luxray is slow and has Light Screen, fighting against Hypno and its Thunderwave is not what it does best. Where possible, stick to switching in against physical attackers and forcing them out with Intimidate.
Tyranitar - Screech
Tyranitar @ Leftovers / Expert Belt
Ability: Sandstream
Evs: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Brave
- Screech
- Pursuit
- Focus Punch
- Ice Beam
Tyranitar is a great abuser of Screech to force switches. And he can take advantage of those switches as well. The staple moves of the set are Screech, Pursuit, and Focus Punch. Screech is the staple of the set, and it enables him to force switches effectively. Pursuit and Focus Punch hit everything except Heracross for neutral damage, and Tyranitar has no business with Heracross anyways. Pursuit is great for hitting Pokemon that are eager to flee, as they have no business staying in with -2 Defense on something as fearsome as Tyranitar, and with 120 base power and a massive Attack stat, coupled with the weakened defense of the enemy Pokemon, it can often kill. The other move, Focus Punch, also is great for taking advantage of switches, hitting many things for a 150 power attack with great coverage. The choice between Leftovers and Expert belt really depend on whether you'd rather boost the power of all your moves, especially Ice Beam, which can kill the Gliscor and Garchomp switchins with a little bit of residual damage and Expert Belt, something he cannot do with Leftovers, or whether you'd rather have some form of recovery on this rather bulky Pokemon. Another good thing about expert belt is that Tyranitar can come in on something he threatens and Pursuit early game, feigning a Choice Band set, and then surprising the opponent later on in the game.
But isn't this outclassed? Why not just use Dragon Dance and have a chance to sweep? Well, Dragon Dance Tyranitar does basically the opposite of Screech Tyranitar. Screech forces switches while any opponent who switches a lot against a Dragon Dancer is going to be destroyed. And Screech+Pursuit is really what makes this set different from the dragon dancer, aside from the bulkiness that this guy has. And while Dragon Dance is great for sweeping teams, that's not exactly what this guy is supposed to do. ScreechTar is better for taking out individual pokemon, in a one-at-a-time style rather than a sweep-them-completely style. Because with Pursuit hitting 120 power on a switching Pokemon, most -2 Defense Pokemon are going to die, especially if they are pursuit-weak. The Dancer can be countered and walled and then forced out without doing anything, but it can also sweep. The two serve completely different purposes, and if you're not going to abuse Pursuit with ScreechTar, you may as well use the Dragon Dancer, who, though he can't trap, can do all sorts of other things. Basically, make sure you've got ScreechTar in your team for the right reasons, otherwise he's outclassed.
Tyranitar @ Leftovers / Expert Belt
Ability: Sandstream
Evs: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Brave
- Screech
- Pursuit
- Focus Punch
- Ice Beam
Tyranitar is a great abuser of Screech to force switches. And he can take advantage of those switches as well. The staple moves of the set are Screech, Pursuit, and Focus Punch. Screech is the staple of the set, and it enables him to force switches effectively. Pursuit and Focus Punch hit everything except Heracross for neutral damage, and Tyranitar has no business with Heracross anyways. Pursuit is great for hitting Pokemon that are eager to flee, as they have no business staying in with -2 Defense on something as fearsome as Tyranitar, and with 120 base power and a massive Attack stat, coupled with the weakened defense of the enemy Pokemon, it can often kill. The other move, Focus Punch, also is great for taking advantage of switches, hitting many things for a 150 power attack with great coverage. The choice between Leftovers and Expert belt really depend on whether you'd rather boost the power of all your moves, especially Ice Beam, which can kill the Gliscor and Garchomp switchins with a little bit of residual damage and Expert Belt, something he cannot do with Leftovers, or whether you'd rather have some form of recovery on this rather bulky Pokemon. Another good thing about expert belt is that Tyranitar can come in on something he threatens and Pursuit early game, feigning a Choice Band set, and then surprising the opponent later on in the game.
But isn't this outclassed? Why not just use Dragon Dance and have a chance to sweep? Well, Dragon Dance Tyranitar does basically the opposite of Screech Tyranitar. Screech forces switches while any opponent who switches a lot against a Dragon Dancer is going to be destroyed. And Screech+Pursuit is really what makes this set different from the dragon dancer, aside from the bulkiness that this guy has. And while Dragon Dance is great for sweeping teams, that's not exactly what this guy is supposed to do. ScreechTar is better for taking out individual pokemon, in a one-at-a-time style rather than a sweep-them-completely style. Because with Pursuit hitting 120 power on a switching Pokemon, most -2 Defense Pokemon are going to die, especially if they are pursuit-weak. The Dancer can be countered and walled and then forced out without doing anything, but it can also sweep. The two serve completely different purposes, and if you're not going to abuse Pursuit with ScreechTar, you may as well use the Dragon Dancer, who, though he can't trap, can do all sorts of other things. Basically, make sure you've got ScreechTar in your team for the right reasons, otherwise he's outclassed.
Dragonite - Bulky Substitute
Dragonite (M) @ Apicot Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 28 HP / 152 Atk / 192 Spd / 136 SDef
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Outrage/Dragon Claw
- Roost
There are many ways to make Dragon Dancing Dragonite able to survive Ice Beams from bulky waters, but this one has certain advantages over the other ones, the main one being substitute. The ability to block debilitating status moves like Toxic and Thunderwave is a great thing to have. Also, the ability to scout what counters the opponent has in store for Dragonite is great. This way, you can sub the switch and see what the opponent has to counter you with. Then, you can either roost off the damage you've taken and switch out as they break your sub, or get in a light hit. With Substitute and Roost, this also makes a great staller if you have Toxic Spikes somewhere on your team. Against bulky waters, Dragonite has the ability to Substitute down to the Sp.Def boost from the Apicot Berry then roost back up to full health before utilizing dragon dance and roost to slowly set up, as well as being able to set up Substitute whenever the opponent switches out. So, in short, if the opponent relies on a bulky water type with ice beam to defeat DDnite, you can often break through their defenses and sweep. After you gain a few dragon dances here and there, which you can do easily with all the switching the opponent is bound to do, you can outspeed most revenge killers as well and proceed to destroy the opponent. The choice between dragon claw and outrage is tough. Outrage serves the "immediate damage" purpose better, while dragon claw takes better advantage of the bulk this Pokemon possesses, as well as serving the subroost stalling strategy better. The Evs hit 244 speed, outspeeding max Speed +natured Tyranitar, 332 hp, which is divisible by 4, so you can activate the Apicot Berry after 3 Substitutes or 2 Substitutes and SR. The Special Defense Evs hit 270, which is a nice round number, boosting to 405 with the Apicot Berry. The rest is dumped into Attack, and it still hits a hefty 374, which is by no means low. This Bulky Dragonite is a great way to utilize toxicstalling, though lack of leftovers hurts, as well as attempting a sweep. Needless to say, before you try a sweep, you have to get rid of steel types, who also happen to be immune to poison, so they can be a real thorn in your side.
Dragonite (M) @ Apicot Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 28 HP / 152 Atk / 192 Spd / 136 SDef
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Outrage/Dragon Claw
- Roost
There are many ways to make Dragon Dancing Dragonite able to survive Ice Beams from bulky waters, but this one has certain advantages over the other ones, the main one being substitute. The ability to block debilitating status moves like Toxic and Thunderwave is a great thing to have. Also, the ability to scout what counters the opponent has in store for Dragonite is great. This way, you can sub the switch and see what the opponent has to counter you with. Then, you can either roost off the damage you've taken and switch out as they break your sub, or get in a light hit. With Substitute and Roost, this also makes a great staller if you have Toxic Spikes somewhere on your team. Against bulky waters, Dragonite has the ability to Substitute down to the Sp.Def boost from the Apicot Berry then roost back up to full health before utilizing dragon dance and roost to slowly set up, as well as being able to set up Substitute whenever the opponent switches out. So, in short, if the opponent relies on a bulky water type with ice beam to defeat DDnite, you can often break through their defenses and sweep. After you gain a few dragon dances here and there, which you can do easily with all the switching the opponent is bound to do, you can outspeed most revenge killers as well and proceed to destroy the opponent. The choice between dragon claw and outrage is tough. Outrage serves the "immediate damage" purpose better, while dragon claw takes better advantage of the bulk this Pokemon possesses, as well as serving the subroost stalling strategy better. The Evs hit 244 speed, outspeeding max Speed +natured Tyranitar, 332 hp, which is divisible by 4, so you can activate the Apicot Berry after 3 Substitutes or 2 Substitutes and SR. The Special Defense Evs hit 270, which is a nice round number, boosting to 405 with the Apicot Berry. The rest is dumped into Attack, and it still hits a hefty 374, which is by no means low. This Bulky Dragonite is a great way to utilize toxicstalling, though lack of leftovers hurts, as well as attempting a sweep. Needless to say, before you try a sweep, you have to get rid of steel types, who also happen to be immune to poison, so they can be a real thorn in your side.
Dragonite - Bulky Light Screen
Dragonite @ Lum Berry / Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 196 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Light Screen
- Roost
This Dragonite, like many of the other bulky Dragonite sets, attempts to slowly set up a sweep while abusing general bulkiness and roost to stay alive, even against decently powerful ice beams. While this one doesn't have the ability to toxicstall or abuse substitute, it has the ability to use light screen to support the rest of the team. It also has the advantage of being able to outrun more pokemon and take physical hits slightly better, with the trade off of not hitting insanely hard. The idea is that you can use Light Screen against bulky waters and then easily take Ice Beams while you boost up. Then, when you get a bit low on hp, you can Roost up, taking 40% damage from a 260 Sp.Atk Ice Beam while Roosting or under Light Screen, and 20% from that same Ice Beam while roosting and behind Light Screen up. So basically, you beat bulky waters that don't carry Toxic 1 on 1. The main reason to use this set over a Substitute set is the ability to support the rest of the team with Light Screen, so even if the opponent switches in something like Mamoswine, Dragonite has still done something. You also boast the advantage of either being able to recover with Leftovers, or being able to recover from Outrage confusion once with Lum Berry.
Dragonite @ Lum Berry / Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 196 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Light Screen
- Roost
This Dragonite, like many of the other bulky Dragonite sets, attempts to slowly set up a sweep while abusing general bulkiness and roost to stay alive, even against decently powerful ice beams. While this one doesn't have the ability to toxicstall or abuse substitute, it has the ability to use light screen to support the rest of the team. It also has the advantage of being able to outrun more pokemon and take physical hits slightly better, with the trade off of not hitting insanely hard. The idea is that you can use Light Screen against bulky waters and then easily take Ice Beams while you boost up. Then, when you get a bit low on hp, you can Roost up, taking 40% damage from a 260 Sp.Atk Ice Beam while Roosting or under Light Screen, and 20% from that same Ice Beam while roosting and behind Light Screen up. So basically, you beat bulky waters that don't carry Toxic 1 on 1. The main reason to use this set over a Substitute set is the ability to support the rest of the team with Light Screen, so even if the opponent switches in something like Mamoswine, Dragonite has still done something. You also boast the advantage of either being able to recover with Leftovers, or being able to recover from Outrage confusion once with Lum Berry.
Blaziken - Sunny Day
Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
Evs:252 SAtk / 196 Spd / 56 Atk
Nature: Rash
- Solarbeam
- Overheat / Fire Blast
- Sunny Day
- Sky Uppercut
Blaziken is a great abuser of Sunny Day, for a few reasons, the main reason being he can KO every weather Pokemon in OU without a problem. Tyranitar cannot switch into Sky Uppercut while Hippowdon cannot switch into any attacks without being KO'd the next turn by Overheat or Fire Blast. And of course Abomasnow can't switch into anything except Solarbeam. And of course if these guys switch in when Blaziken uses Sunny Day, the Sun stays out rather than their assorted weathers, because switching takes place before the move is used.
With that cleared up, Blaziken's offensive stats are also great, making it very easy for him to pound things into submission with the Grass/Fire combination, as well as hitting Heatran, the main resistor of it, for supereffective damage with Sky Uppercut. The main reason Blaziken is used over Infernape is that while Infernape can do a pretty similar thing, the power vs. speed arguement is really won over by power here, as there are plenty of fast guys who can abuse sunny day with Chlorophyll, but blaziken can keep the opponent from keeping out the sun. With these stats, Blaziken can OHKO Tyranitar and Abomasnow, and Hippowdon dies to two Overheats or Overheat (or Fire Blast) coupled with Sky Uppercut. Pretty much anything that doesn't resist fire is going to die in the sun to a massively powerful double STAB Overheat or Fire Blast, and once Blaziken gets into low hp, Fire Blast has 405 power, so basically nothing is surviving.
Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
Evs:252 SAtk / 196 Spd / 56 Atk
Nature: Rash
- Solarbeam
- Overheat / Fire Blast
- Sunny Day
- Sky Uppercut
Blaziken is a great abuser of Sunny Day, for a few reasons, the main reason being he can KO every weather Pokemon in OU without a problem. Tyranitar cannot switch into Sky Uppercut while Hippowdon cannot switch into any attacks without being KO'd the next turn by Overheat or Fire Blast. And of course Abomasnow can't switch into anything except Solarbeam. And of course if these guys switch in when Blaziken uses Sunny Day, the Sun stays out rather than their assorted weathers, because switching takes place before the move is used.
With that cleared up, Blaziken's offensive stats are also great, making it very easy for him to pound things into submission with the Grass/Fire combination, as well as hitting Heatran, the main resistor of it, for supereffective damage with Sky Uppercut. The main reason Blaziken is used over Infernape is that while Infernape can do a pretty similar thing, the power vs. speed arguement is really won over by power here, as there are plenty of fast guys who can abuse sunny day with Chlorophyll, but blaziken can keep the opponent from keeping out the sun. With these stats, Blaziken can OHKO Tyranitar and Abomasnow, and Hippowdon dies to two Overheats or Overheat (or Fire Blast) coupled with Sky Uppercut. Pretty much anything that doesn't resist fire is going to die in the sun to a massively powerful double STAB Overheat or Fire Blast, and once Blaziken gets into low hp, Fire Blast has 405 power, so basically nothing is surviving.
This set looks pretty promising, mind showing some calcs?
Tyranitar @ Leftovers / Expert Belt
Ability: Sandstream
Evs: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Brave
- Screech
- Pursuit
- Focus Punch
- Ice Beam
Tyranitar is a great abuser of Screech to force switches. And he can take advantage of those switches as well. The staple moves of the set are Screech, Pursuit, and Focus Punch. Screech is the staple of the set, and it enables him to force switches effectively. Pursuit and Focus Punch hit everything except Heracross for neutral damage, and Tyranitar has no business with Heracross anyways. Pursuit is great for hitting Pokemon that are eager to flee, as they have no business staying in with -2 Defense on something as fearsome as Tyranitar, and with 120 base power and a massive Attack stat, coupled with the weakened defense of the enemy Pokemon, it can often kill. The other move, Focus Punch, also is great for taking advantage of switches, hitting many things for a 150 power attack with great coverage. The choice between Leftovers and Expert belt really depend on whether you'd rather boost the power of all your moves, especially Ice Beam, which can kill the Gliscor and Garchomp switchins with a little bit of residual damage and Expert Belt, something he cannot do with Leftovers, or whether you'd rather have some form of recovery on this rather bulky Pokemon. Another good thing about expert belt is that Tyranitar can come in on something he threatens and Pursuit early game, feigning a Choice Band set, and then surprising the opponent later on in the game.
But isn't this outclassed? Why not just use Dragon Dance and have a chance to sweep? Well, Dragon Dance Tyranitar does basically the opposite of Screech Tyranitar. Screech forces switches while any opponent who switches a lot against a Dragon Dancer is going to be destroyed. And Screech+Pursuit is really what makes this set different from the dragon dancer, aside from the bulkiness that this guy has. And while Dragon Dance is great for sweeping teams, that's not exactly what this guy is supposed to do. ScreechTar is better for taking out individual pokemon, in a one-at-a-time style rather than a sweep-them-completely style. Because with Pursuit hitting 120 power on a switching Pokemon, most -2 Defense Pokemon are going to die, especially if they are pursuit-weak. The Dancer can be countered and walled and then forced out without doing anything, but it can also sweep. The two serve completely different purposes, and if you're not going to abuse Pursuit with ScreechTar, you may as well use the Dragon Dancer, who, though he can't trap, can do all sorts of other things. Basically, make sure you've got ScreechTar in your team for the right reasons, otherwise he's outclassed.
Crobat - Screech
Crobat @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Evs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Screech
- Hypnosis / Roost
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Crobat's movepool has a wondrous many support options. But Screech is often overlooked in his support movepool. Crobat can abuse Screech decently well, as Hypnosis forces quite a few swiches, though on weaker foes, Hypnosis + Pursuit is a great option for keeping sleep clause unactivated. The idea is that screech forces the opponent to switch. With Pursuit, he takes advantage of a -2 defense foe trying to switch out, getting hit rather hard by pursuit after the defense drop. U-turn, while not doing as much damage as pursuit to fleeing foes, grants a great scouting move, allowing you to get a good switchin to an enemy pokemon, which can often turn the tide of a battle by allowing you to get a sweep. With Stealth Rock and the amount of switching this thing is gonna do, Life Orb eats away at Crobat's health very fast, so if you go with Life Orb, Roost is reccomended to heal Crobat. With Leftovers, Hypnosis is a viable option to cripple something Crobat can't handle, but Roost still is a good idea. The evs are pretty self-explanatory, but more hp evs can be used if you intend to switch crobat into fighting attacks, though all he can do is u-turn out, so that's not really nescessary. The main reason to use this guy over a different screecher, like Tyranitar, is the fact that he can abuse his speed to fire off quick hypnosises as well as u-turn to abuse the switching he's gonna force.
Crobat @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Evs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Screech
- Hypnosis / Roost
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Crobat's movepool has a wondrous many support options. But Screech is often overlooked in his support movepool. Crobat can abuse Screech decently well, as Hypnosis forces quite a few swiches, though on weaker foes, Hypnosis + Pursuit is a great option for keeping sleep clause unactivated. The idea is that screech forces the opponent to switch. With Pursuit, he takes advantage of a -2 defense foe trying to switch out, getting hit rather hard by pursuit after the defense drop. U-turn, while not doing as much damage as pursuit to fleeing foes, grants a great scouting move, allowing you to get a good switchin to an enemy pokemon, which can often turn the tide of a battle by allowing you to get a sweep. With Stealth Rock and the amount of switching this thing is gonna do, Life Orb eats away at Crobat's health very fast, so if you go with Life Orb, Roost is reccomended to heal Crobat. With Leftovers, Hypnosis is a viable option to cripple something Crobat can't handle, but Roost still is a good idea. The evs are pretty self-explanatory, but more hp evs can be used if you intend to switch crobat into fighting attacks, though all he can do is u-turn out, so that's not really nescessary. The main reason to use this guy over a different screecher, like Tyranitar, is the fact that he can abuse his speed to fire off quick hypnosises as well as u-turn to abuse the switching he's gonna force.
Tyranitar - Fast Mixed
Tyranitar @ Life Orb / Expert Belt
Ability: Sandstream
Evs: 76 Atk / 180 SAtk / 252 Speed
Nature: Hasty
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Mixtar is a very formidable pokemon, and this set shows it. While not as hard-hitting as some of the mixtar variants, this spread allows you to outspeed many more things than usual, thus playing more as a "outspeed and destroy walls" type pokemon rather than a "take a hit and deal back a bigger one" type pokemon. There's not much to say, as the analysis says pretty much everything you need to know. Well, the choice between expert belt and life orb is kinda tough, since life orb gives that extra kick but expert belt allows you to feign a choice band and hit those skarmories and foretresses that come in. Pretty self-explanatory.
Tyranitar @ Life Orb / Expert Belt
Ability: Sandstream
Evs: 76 Atk / 180 SAtk / 252 Speed
Nature: Hasty
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Mixtar is a very formidable pokemon, and this set shows it. While not as hard-hitting as some of the mixtar variants, this spread allows you to outspeed many more things than usual, thus playing more as a "outspeed and destroy walls" type pokemon rather than a "take a hit and deal back a bigger one" type pokemon. There's not much to say, as the analysis says pretty much everything you need to know. Well, the choice between expert belt and life orb is kinda tough, since life orb gives that extra kick but expert belt allows you to feign a choice band and hit those skarmories and foretresses that come in. Pretty self-explanatory.
Rotom - Status Trick
Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Evs: 4 Hp / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Nature: Timid
- Trick
- Will-o-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt / Discharge
Rotom is known for his ability to cripple Pokemon, by means of tricking bad items onto them or by means of status. This set accomplishes both, crippling walls by slapping a Choice Scarf onto them and crippling sweepers by Paralysing or Burning them. Discharge is the preferred move here, for its ability to further Rotom's crippling prowess while Will-o-Wisp is a great way to cripple physical attackrers. Shadow Ball is here for the obvious STAB, as well as Discharge, making Rotom a semi-decent revenge killer of fast, weakened Pokemon before he tricks the scarf onto someone else. It should be noted that you are walled by Steel types, which means that statusing them is your best option, and Aggron and Steelix certainly don't like being burned, especially since you resist Steel, Normal, and Ground, as well as Flying and Fighting should Aggron go the subpunching route. This set, surprisingly enough, also works decently well in OU, crippling many of the physically oriented sweepers running around, as well as burning and walling to some extent full priority SDLuke. Rotom doesn't have recovery, so usually you have to rely on hit and run tactics to get the maximum amount of enemy pokemon crippled before he dies.
Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Evs: 4 Hp / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Nature: Timid
- Trick
- Will-o-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt / Discharge
Rotom is known for his ability to cripple Pokemon, by means of tricking bad items onto them or by means of status. This set accomplishes both, crippling walls by slapping a Choice Scarf onto them and crippling sweepers by Paralysing or Burning them. Discharge is the preferred move here, for its ability to further Rotom's crippling prowess while Will-o-Wisp is a great way to cripple physical attackrers. Shadow Ball is here for the obvious STAB, as well as Discharge, making Rotom a semi-decent revenge killer of fast, weakened Pokemon before he tricks the scarf onto someone else. It should be noted that you are walled by Steel types, which means that statusing them is your best option, and Aggron and Steelix certainly don't like being burned, especially since you resist Steel, Normal, and Ground, as well as Flying and Fighting should Aggron go the subpunching route. This set, surprisingly enough, also works decently well in OU, crippling many of the physically oriented sweepers running around, as well as burning and walling to some extent full priority SDLuke. Rotom doesn't have recovery, so usually you have to rely on hit and run tactics to get the maximum amount of enemy pokemon crippled before he dies.
Medicham - Bulky Bulk Up
Medicham @ Muscle Band / Life Orb
Ability: Pure Power
Evs: 192 Hp / 156 Atk / 104 Spd / 56 SDef
Nature: Jolly
- Bulk Up
- Recover
- Brick Break
- Ice Punch
This Medicham attempts to Bulk up while using a decent amount of Hp and Sp.Def evs to survive random special hits and recovering off the damage. The general strategy behind it, is that it can Bulk Up to raise the humongous attack score, while enabling itself to also take physical hits well, with the EV spread ensuring that it does not die to every single special attack out there. Since this Medicham can take hits fairly well, especially on the physical side after a couple of Bulk Ups, it can Recover the damage off and go for a sweep with Brick Break and Ice Punch, which together, can hit 9 types super-effectively.
The ev spread carries enough speed EVs to outspeed all Tyranitars that aren't holding a choice scarf. This medicham also gets 200 Special Defense so that it doesn't get completely demolished by all special attacks. 192 HP EVs is a good number for Life Orb, reaching 309 HP, though if you're not using Life Orb, it's still good, but you can go for more without it. 156 Atk EVs allows for 390 Attack, which rips most things apart after a Bulk Up, though you can go for more Attack as well, though it isn't advised.
Now, the thing that makes this set stand out from all of the other Bulk Uppers in OU is that Medicham can actually Recover its health, while the others can't (besides Slaking, who has Truant to make it a bad idea, and Vigoroth, who, well, if you're brave enough to use it, go ahead). This makes using the boosts a lot easier, since a lot of the time, after the boosts are done, the pokemon who just got them is at very low HP, however, this is not an issue when Medicham can Recover off the damage.
The big problem with this set is that it's still pretty vunerable to special attacks, and there is always the risk that a physical attack will CH through the defensive boosts and will have a 99.99999999% chance of OHKOing Medicham if that happens. But then again crits ruin pretty much any pokemon, so that's not really an issue.
Medicham @ Muscle Band / Life Orb
Ability: Pure Power
Evs: 192 Hp / 156 Atk / 104 Spd / 56 SDef
Nature: Jolly
- Bulk Up
- Recover
- Brick Break
- Ice Punch
This Medicham attempts to Bulk up while using a decent amount of Hp and Sp.Def evs to survive random special hits and recovering off the damage. The general strategy behind it, is that it can Bulk Up to raise the humongous attack score, while enabling itself to also take physical hits well, with the EV spread ensuring that it does not die to every single special attack out there. Since this Medicham can take hits fairly well, especially on the physical side after a couple of Bulk Ups, it can Recover the damage off and go for a sweep with Brick Break and Ice Punch, which together, can hit 9 types super-effectively.
The ev spread carries enough speed EVs to outspeed all Tyranitars that aren't holding a choice scarf. This medicham also gets 200 Special Defense so that it doesn't get completely demolished by all special attacks. 192 HP EVs is a good number for Life Orb, reaching 309 HP, though if you're not using Life Orb, it's still good, but you can go for more without it. 156 Atk EVs allows for 390 Attack, which rips most things apart after a Bulk Up, though you can go for more Attack as well, though it isn't advised.
Now, the thing that makes this set stand out from all of the other Bulk Uppers in OU is that Medicham can actually Recover its health, while the others can't (besides Slaking, who has Truant to make it a bad idea, and Vigoroth, who, well, if you're brave enough to use it, go ahead). This makes using the boosts a lot easier, since a lot of the time, after the boosts are done, the pokemon who just got them is at very low HP, however, this is not an issue when Medicham can Recover off the damage.
The big problem with this set is that it's still pretty vunerable to special attacks, and there is always the risk that a physical attack will CH through the defensive boosts and will have a 99.99999999% chance of OHKOing Medicham if that happens. But then again crits ruin pretty much any pokemon, so that's not really an issue.
Dusknoir - Memento
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Evs: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Brave
- Trick Room / Gravity
- Will-o-Wisp
- Thunderpunch / Shadow Sneak
- Memento
Dusknoir is a fairly sturdy user of Trick Room and Gravity, and this set is actually quite interesting. The idea is that Dusknoir can set them up and die so that another pokemon can take advantage of the weakened state of whoever he mementoes to proceed and kill things. Basically, he will-o-wisps a pokemon or two, then sets up and mementoes when his hp gets a little low. He can hit the two most popular taunters, Gyarados and Azelf, for supereffective damage, which is a great thing, since taunt ruins his setup. After that, when his health is low, he can set up and memento, which is particularly devastating to physical threats that may be burned already. After that, something like Rampardos or Garchomp can come in and really wreak havoc.
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Evs: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Brave
- Trick Room / Gravity
- Will-o-Wisp
- Thunderpunch / Shadow Sneak
- Memento
Dusknoir is a fairly sturdy user of Trick Room and Gravity, and this set is actually quite interesting. The idea is that Dusknoir can set them up and die so that another pokemon can take advantage of the weakened state of whoever he mementoes to proceed and kill things. Basically, he will-o-wisps a pokemon or two, then sets up and mementoes when his hp gets a little low. He can hit the two most popular taunters, Gyarados and Azelf, for supereffective damage, which is a great thing, since taunt ruins his setup. After that, when his health is low, he can set up and memento, which is particularly devastating to physical threats that may be burned already. After that, something like Rampardos or Garchomp can come in and really wreak havoc.
Blaziken - Bulk Up Pass
Blaziken @ Salac Berry
Ability: Blaze
Evs: 4 HP/ 172 Atk/ 96 Def/ 236 Speed
Nature: Jolly
- Bulk Up
- Fire Punch/Blaze Kick
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
Scare something away (Blaziken does this very well) and Sub the switch. From there, you have the option to pull off a Sub-pass to a counter (Starmie especially hates it when you BP to Weavile...) or begin to Bulk Up from behind the Sub. The Def EV's mean you'll have 300 Def after the Bulk Up, enough to survive Jolly Garchomp's EQ. The Speed Evs hit 280 speed, outspeeding neutral natued base 90's.
From here, you usually sub down, getting as many Bulk Up's as possible, hopefully to the point where my Sub can't be broken, functioning in a pretty similar way to EspyJump. Salac activates sending his speed up to 420 and Blaze activates making his Fire attack particularly formidable. From here, you're free to sweep or pass the boosts to something else that can sweep.
Blaziken @ Salac Berry
Ability: Blaze
Evs: 4 HP/ 172 Atk/ 96 Def/ 236 Speed
Nature: Jolly
- Bulk Up
- Fire Punch/Blaze Kick
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
Scare something away (Blaziken does this very well) and Sub the switch. From there, you have the option to pull off a Sub-pass to a counter (Starmie especially hates it when you BP to Weavile...) or begin to Bulk Up from behind the Sub. The Def EV's mean you'll have 300 Def after the Bulk Up, enough to survive Jolly Garchomp's EQ. The Speed Evs hit 280 speed, outspeeding neutral natued base 90's.
From here, you usually sub down, getting as many Bulk Up's as possible, hopefully to the point where my Sub can't be broken, functioning in a pretty similar way to EspyJump. Salac activates sending his speed up to 420 and Blaze activates making his Fire attack particularly formidable. From here, you're free to sweep or pass the boosts to something else that can sweep.
Sceptile - Swords Dance Mixed
Sceptile @ Life Orb / Expert Belt
Ability: Overgrow
Evs: 76 Atk / 180 SAtk / 252 SPd
Nature: Hasty
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake / Crunch
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fire
On the first turn sceptile comes out, you may want to Leaf Storm. This can fool your opponent into thinking you're running a different sceptile set, and also scout for their counter. Either way, something's going to get hurt. Switch sceptile out, and switch to a pokemon who counters or can safely switch in. The next time sceptile comes out, you can either Leaf Storm again, depending on the scenario, or you can attempt to swords dance. After a swords dance, Sceptile will hit 410 attack, coupled with 372 speed, and a powerful STAB special attack. Mixed with life orb or expert belt, he's going to cause serious damage.
There are some safe counters to this set, and depending on your moveset, there are more. Choose the moves you want for the appropriate coverage. The choice between Earthquake and Crunch depends on whether you want to hit Cresselia and friends or things like Tyranitar, Tentacruel, and Metagross. The choice between HP Fire and HP Ice depends on whether you want to hit levitating steels or dragons and gliscor. Usually you'll go with EQ+HP ice or Crunch+HP fire. The choice between expert belt and life orb mainly depends on preference. Life orb gives that extra kick on things, but expert belt feigns a choice specs set better and keeps sceptile around for longer.
Sceptile @ Life Orb / Expert Belt
Ability: Overgrow
Evs: 76 Atk / 180 SAtk / 252 SPd
Nature: Hasty
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake / Crunch
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fire
On the first turn sceptile comes out, you may want to Leaf Storm. This can fool your opponent into thinking you're running a different sceptile set, and also scout for their counter. Either way, something's going to get hurt. Switch sceptile out, and switch to a pokemon who counters or can safely switch in. The next time sceptile comes out, you can either Leaf Storm again, depending on the scenario, or you can attempt to swords dance. After a swords dance, Sceptile will hit 410 attack, coupled with 372 speed, and a powerful STAB special attack. Mixed with life orb or expert belt, he's going to cause serious damage.
There are some safe counters to this set, and depending on your moveset, there are more. Choose the moves you want for the appropriate coverage. The choice between Earthquake and Crunch depends on whether you want to hit Cresselia and friends or things like Tyranitar, Tentacruel, and Metagross. The choice between HP Fire and HP Ice depends on whether you want to hit levitating steels or dragons and gliscor. Usually you'll go with EQ+HP ice or Crunch+HP fire. The choice between expert belt and life orb mainly depends on preference. Life orb gives that extra kick on things, but expert belt feigns a choice specs set better and keeps sceptile around for longer.