Finishing Item Analysis

Xia · Dec 25, 2009

Since this is a completely separate thought from the above post, I'll go ahead and post this (to mods: if it's a problem just tell me/merge the posts).

<Uploaded>

SilverPowder

SilverPowder is an item that really should only be used in niche circumstances. The reasoning for this is because few Pokemon use Bug-type attacks, and those that do use them hardly ever use attacks solely of that type. The exception to this rule is Venomoth, who can run a support set with only Bug Buzz and U-turn as attack options.

Venomoth may be the only viable holder of SilverPowder, due to both its moveset strategy and its rather rare ability, Tinted Lens. Since sweeping isn't the Screech set's main strategy, it is acceptable for Venomoth to use only Bug-type attacks. These attacks, when paired with Tinted Lens and SilverPowder, will be doing enough damage to actually make Venomoth troublesome. Add SilverPowder to any other set Venomoth, or any other Pokemon, has and you'll see its usefulness greatly diminished. Even the other Pokemon with Tinted Lens, Yanmega and Illumise, can't use it effectively; they aren't able to pull off the same strategy as Venomoth. In short, only use this item when the more conventional item choices (Leftovers, Life Orb, Choice items, and the like) fail to provide the same effects SilverPowder does.

MagicMaster87 · Dec 25, 2009

Xia said:
SilverPowder

SilverPowder is an item that really should only be used in niche circumstances. The reasoning for this is because few Pokemon use Bug-type attacks, and those that do use them hardly ever use attacks solely of that type. The exception to this rule is Venomoth, who can run a support set with only Bug Buzz and U-turn as attack options.

Venomoth may be the only viable holder of SilverPowder, due to both its moveset strategy and its rather rare ability, Tinted Lens. Since sweeping isn't the Screech set's main strategy, it is acceptable for Venomoth to use only Bug-type attacks. These attacks, when paired with Tinted Lens and SilverPowder, will be doing enough damage to actually make Venomoth troublesome. Add SilverPowder to any other set Venomoth, or any other Pokemon, has and you'll see its usefulness greatly diminished. Even the other Pokemon with Tinted Lens, Yanmega and Illumise, can't use it effectively, since they can't pull off the same strategy Venomoth does. In short, only use this item when the more conventional item choices (Leftovers, Life Orb, Choice items, and the like) fail to provide the same effects SilverPowder does.

I don't know why, but the bolded section just sounds a bit... off. I don't know if it's the word choice, or the comma, or just me. It's not big enough to require changing if you don't feel like it, though. Aside from that bit, it looks great to me.

Xia · Dec 26, 2009

<Uploaded>

Zoom Lens

Zoom Lens only becomes a viable item on slow Pokemon whose moveset consists of multiple moves with low accuracy. Though these Pokemon aren't very common, there is at least one who can make use of this item: Gardevoir. Gardevoir's double status strategy, coupled with its moderately low base 80 Speed stat, makes the accuracy boost Zoom Lens provides very appealing.

Zoom Lens will always be compared to Wide Lens, due to their similar effects. While Wide Lens is the better choice on faster Pokemon, those who are naturally slow will find Zoom Lens's 20% accuracy more appealing than Wide Lens's 10%. Neither of these items guarantee a move hits 100%, though, nor do they provide recovery, like Leftovers, or increase sweeping potential like Life Orb or the Choice items.
__________________ ________
@MagicMaster: I fixed that phrase by changing the punctuation and rewording it a bit to aid flow. I hope that was what was needed.

EDIT: Fixed that spelling mistake; thank you Flamestrike.

Flamestrike · Dec 26, 2009

Xia said:
Choice items just to get a free turn of recovery, since the increase in power may be enough to keep them alive (an example of the old addage "the best defense is a good offense").

Was randomly reading through and noticed this, it should be adage.

Xia · Dec 27, 2009

Thanks for the catch, Flamestrike.

And anything within <> marks is HTML code, which I believe is necessary (just ignore it when reading it here).

<Uploaded>

Muscle Band

Muscle Band is a lesser seen item that sees occasional use on physical sweepers. Though Life orb is oftentimes used instead of Muscle Band, it does have one characteristic that helps it avoid being totally outclassed: no recoil. This fact enables you to bluff a Choice item in battle, since many players see no recovery and no recoil as a sure sign of such items. Unfortunately, Muscle Band does nothing to aid special attacks, meaning mixed sweepers are better off using Life Orb and enduring the 10% recoil. Special sweepers can hold Muscle Band's special counterpart, <a href="/dp/items/wise_glasses">Wise Glasses</a>, for the same effect.

Xia · Dec 28, 2009

My boredom over the holidays has benefitted this thread greatly (assuming all my things are uploaded). =P

<Uploaded>

Iron Ball

While Iron Ball's effects appear to be very negative, they become very useful when it is used against an opponent. Iron Ball, like many other items, halves the Speed of the Pokemon holding it. Unlike the other items, however, it also removes the immunities Flying-type and Levitating Pokemon receive. For this reason, Iron Ball is often paired with the move Trick. Once a sweeper, Flying-type, Levitator, or a combination of the three has Iron Ball Tricked onto it, it becomes severely crippled and unable to perform its job as effectively. This makes it easy to counter or set up on, aiding your team's overall strategy both offensively and defensively.

Iron Ball is also held by Pokemon who use the attack Fling. When Flung, Iron Ball becomes a 130 Base Power Dark-type attack. This offensive power makes it very appealing for Fling Pokemon, although utilizing Iron Ball can be somewhat difficult.

Before your Pokemon is unshackled from Iron Ball, it is forced to endure its negative side effects. While the halved Speed is something many Trick Pokemon must deal with (or enjoy, in some casesr), Pokemon, such as Bronzong, will not enjoy losing immunities to Ground-type attacks, Spikes, or Toxic Spikes. Tricking Iron Ball can also be a gamble, since it's not up to the user which Pokemon is Tricked; if your opponent switches out to a slow wall, you basically lose one way to disarm a threatening Pokemon. The Pokemon who forfeit their items also miss out on Leftovers recovery or other item benefits, which few Pokemon enjoy losing. Still, Iron ball does see use, proving that it can be used effectively in today's metagame.

MagicMaster87 · Dec 28, 2009

Xia said:
Muscle Band

Muscle Band is a lesser seen item that sees occasional use on physical sweepers. Though Life orb is oftentimes used instead of Muscle Band, it does have one characteristics that helps it avoid being totally outclassed: no recoil. This fact enables you to bluff a Choice item in battle, since many players see no recovery and no recoil as a sure sign of such items. Unfortunately, Muscle Band does nothing to aid special attacks, meaning mixed sweepers are better off using Life Orb and enduring the 10% recoil. Special sweepers can hold Muscle Band's special counterpart, <a href="/dp/items/wise_glasses">Wise Glasses</a>, for the same effect.

Take the "s" off at the end, there's only one after all. :P Everything else is fine with this item.

Xia said:
Iron Ball

While Iron Ball's effects appear to be very negative, they become (removed "s") very useful when it is used against an opponent. Iron Ball, like Macho Brace and the Power items (these are the only other ones that actually reduce Speed, so you might as well just list them for clarification)[/B], halves the Speed of the Pokemon holding it. Unlike the other items, however, it also removes the immunities Flying-type and Levitating Pokemon receive. For this reason, Iron Ball is often paired with the move Trick (sounds a little less awkward). Once a sweeper, Flying-type, Levitator, or a combination of the three has had Iron Ball Tricked onto it, it becomes severely crippled and unable to perform its job as effectively. This makes it easy to counter or set up on, aiding your team's overall strategy both offensively and defensively.

Iron Ball is also held by Pokemon who use the attack Fling. When Flung, Iron Ball becomes a 130 Base Power Dark-type attack. This offensive power makes it very appealing for Fling Pokemon, although utilizing Iron Ball can be somewhat difficult.

Before your Pokemon is unshackled from Iron Ball, it is forced to endure its negative side effects. While the halved Speed is something many Trick Pokemon must deal with (or enjoy, in some cases), Pokemon, such as Bronzong, will not enjoy losing immunities to Ground-type attacks (needs to be pluralized as there's more than one such attack), Spikes, or Toxic Spikes. Tricking Iron Ball can also be a gamble, since it's not up to the user which Pokemon is Tricked (capitalization); if your opponent switches out to a slow wall, you basically lose one way to disarm a threatening Pokemon. The Pokemon who forfeit their items also miss out on Leftovers recovery or other item benefits, which few Pokemon enjoy losing. Still, Iron ball does see use, proving that it can be used effectively in today's metagame.

My changes are in the above quote, with my comments in the parenthesis.

eric the espeon · Dec 29, 2009

Updated the OP with what has been done, what is on site and a few other things, I have not forgotten this project.

Xia said:
After looking over the list of items, a lot of them are 10% type-boosting items. Would it be plausible to make a "cookie cutter" of sorts for these analyses? What I mean is, since they are so similar, would it be plausible to make an analysis that works for all of them?

Take my Silk Scarf analysis for example, it could easily be edited and make sense for NeverMeltIce, Sharp Beak, Mystic Water, and the like just by changing the names of the item and the Pokemon that hold it. It would get the same amount of information out while saving time. Figured it was worth mentioning at any rate.

I would not be against this in most cases, having a short analysis would give users a quick general idea of the usefulness of the item. Some of the items would want slightly different analysis though, like Silk Scarf as it seems to be far more common than the others. Most of the other items have practically no use, so the quite positive Silk Scarf analysis would not be appropriate.

Xia · Dec 30, 2009

In that case, here's a possible palette for the type boosting item analyses (I'm using Mystic Water in this example):

Mystic Water

Although a 20% boost sounds good when coupled with STAB, few Pokemon are able to use Mystic Water effectively. Even those whose analyses mention it&emdash;Floatzel and Empoleon&emdash;hardly ever hold it. This is because there aren't many movesets that focus primarily on Water-type attacks. Most Pokemon would be better off getting their power boosts from more conventional items, such as Life Orb or Choice items. These items boost all of the attacks in a moveset instead of just attacks of one type, making them superior choices over Mystic Water.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Assuming we go with this palette, all that is needed for the other items is to substitute in the item name, which type it boosts, and which Pokemon showcase it in their analyses. If/once this gets approved, I have no problem editing this post with the other type boosting item analyses as well.

MagicMaster87 · Dec 30, 2009

Xia said:
Mystic Water

Although a 20% boost sounds good when coupled with STAB, few Pokemon are able to use Mystic Water effectively. Even those whose analyses mention it&emdash;Floatzel and Empoleon&emdash;hardly ever hold it. This is because there aren't many movesets who focus primarily on Water-type attacks. Most Pokemon would be better off getting their power boosts from more conventional items, such as Life Orb or Choice items. These items boost all of the attacks in a moveset instead of just attacks of one type, making them superior choices over Mystic Water.

Should be "that".

Xia · Jan 4, 2010

After getting the go-ahead from both eric the espeon and Jimbo, I went ahead and did the analyses for the remaining type-boosting items. Mystic water's analysis is posted here as well.

<All Uploaded>

BlackGlasses

Although a 20% boost sounds good when coupled with STAB, few Pokemon are able to use BlackGlasses effectively. Even Weavile, whose analysis mentions BlackGlasses, hardly ever holds it. This is because there aren't many movesets that focus primarily on Dark-type attacks. Most Pokemon would be better off getting their power boosts from more conventional items, such as Life Orb or Choice items. These items boost all of the attacks in a moveset instead of just attacks of one type, making them superior choices over BlackGlasses.

Dragon Fang

Although a 20% boost sounds good when coupled with STAB, few Pokemon are able to use Dragon Fang effectively. Even Dragonite, whose analysis mentions Dragon Fang, hardly ever holds it. This is because there aren't many movesets that focus primarily on Dragon-type attacks. Most Pokemon would be better off getting their power boosts from more conventional items, such as Life Orb or Choice items. These items boost all of the attacks in a moveset instead of just attacks of one type, making them superior choices over Dragon Fang.

Mystic Water

Although a 20% boost sounds good when coupled with STAB, few Pokemon are able to use Mystic Water effectively. Even those whose analyses mention it&emdash;Floatzel and Empoleon&emdash;hardly ever hold it. This is because there aren't many movesets that focus primarily on Water-type attacks. Most Pokemon would be better off getting their power boosts from more conventional items, such as Life Orb or Choice items. These items boost all of the attacks in a moveset instead of just attacks of one type, making them superior choices over Mystic Water.

NeverMeltIce

Although a 20% boost sounds good when coupled with STAB, few Pokemon are able to use NeverMeltIce effectively. Even those whose analyses mention it&emdash;Mamoswine and Weavile&emdash;hardly ever hold it. This is because there aren't many movesets that focus primarily on Ice-type attacks. Most Pokemon would be better off getting their power boosts from more conventional items, such as Life Orb or Choice items. These items boost all of the attacks in a moveset instead of just attacks of one type, making them superior choices over NeverMeltIce.

Soft Sand

Although a 20% boost sounds good when coupled with STAB, few Pokemon are able to use Soft Sand effectively. Even those whose analyses mention it&emdash;Dugtrio and Trapinch&emdash;hardly ever hold it. This is because there aren't many movesets that focus primarily on Ground-type attacks. Most Pokemon would be better off getting their power boosts from more conventional items, such as Life Orb or Choice items. These items boost all of the attacks in a moveset instead of just attacks of one type, making them superior choices over Soft Sand.

Sharp Beak

Although a 20% boost sounds good when coupled with STAB, few Pokemon are able to use Sharp Beak effectively. Even those whose analyses mention it&emdash;Crobat and Staraptor&emdash;hardly ever hold it. This is because there aren't many movesets that focus primarily on Flying-type attacks. Most Pokemon would be better off getting their power boosts from more conventional items, such as Life Orb or Choice items. These items boost all of the attacks in a moveset instead of just attacks of one type, making them superior choices over Sharp Beak.

Xia · Jan 5, 2010

Here's another one (tell me if it needs additions/rewrites/corrections):

<Uploaded>

Petaya Berry

Petaya Berries are the item of choice for Pokemon looking to boost their Special Attack while hiding behind Substitutes. Although it is less seen than Salac Berry, Petaya Berry has advantages Salac Berry misses out on.

Since Special Attack will reach +1 with Petaya Berry, many sweepers will complement this boost with other stat boosts. Empoleon, for example, maximizes its sweeping potential through a combination of Agility, Substitute, and Petaya Berry. After dropping below 25% HP, Empoleon becomes very threatening, its power inflated by multiple Speed boosts, +1 Special Attack, and Torrent. This combination is very potent for Pokemon who benefit from Speed boosts more than power boosts (as is the case with Empoleon), or Pokemon who do not have a move to increase their Special Attack. Either way, Petaya Berry is a staple on multiple Pokemon, making it a very useful item for boosting sweepers.

MagicMaster87 · Jan 5, 2010

Xia said:
Petaya Berry

Petaya Berries are the item of choice for Pokemon looking to boost their Special Attack while hiding behind Substitutes. Although it is less seen than Salac Berry, Petaya Berry has advantages this pinch Berry misses out on.

You might to specifically say Salac Berry instead, since it sounds like you're talking about Petaya Berry there.

Since Special Attack will reach +1 with Petaya Berry, many sweepers will complement this boost with other stat boosts. Empoleon, for example, maximizes its sweeping potential through a combination of Agility, Substitute, and Petaya Berry. After dropping below 25% HP, Empoleon becomes very threatening, its power inflated by multiple Speed boosts and +1 Special Attack. This combination is very potent for Pokemon who benefit from Speed boosts more than power boosts (as is the case with Empoleon), or Pokemon who do not have a move to increase their Special Attack. Either way, Petaya Berry is a staple on multiple Pokemon, making it a very useful item for boosting sweepers.

Since you're using Empoleon as an example, you might want to mention that it gets another boost from Torrent.

Hegna · Jan 6, 2010

Yache Berry

The Yache Berry is a useful item that allows some Pokemon to endure normally fatal Ice-type attacks. In OU this item can allow both Salamence and Gliscor an extra turn to get a useful Speed or Attack boost. The Yache Berry's claim to fame is in early DP where it consistently allowed Garchomp to set up a Swords Dance, even while being hit by 4x super effective Ice-type attacks. Thanks to the Yache Berry these Pokemon can raise their own stats consistently which allows them to be much larger threats to opposing teams.

I felt like trying to help out. If you don't think it fits your standards, just don't use it. I hope it helped in some way though.

EDITED in Xia's changes.

Xia · Jan 7, 2010

Hegna said:
Yache Berry

The Yache Berry is a useful item that allows some Pokemon to endure normally fatal Ice-type attacks. In OU this item can allow both Salamence and Gliscor an extra turn to get a useful Speed or Attack boost. The Yache Berry's claim to fame is in early DP where it consistently allowed Garchomp to set up a Swords Dance, even while being hit by 4x super effective Ice-type attacks. Thanks to the Yache Berry these Pokemon can raise their own stats consistently which allows them to be much larger threats to opposing teams.

Hegna · Jan 7, 2010

I added those.
Hope it's fine now.

Xia · Jan 9, 2010

<Uploaded>

White Herb

Erasing stat drops is very appealing for certain sweeper strategies. The two strategies that benefit the most from this item are Pokemon utilizing Curse and Pokemon using stat-reducing attacks.

While Curse is normally left to naturally slow Pokemon, such as Snorlax or Umbreon, combining it with White Herb results in +1 Attack and Defense without a Speed drop. This greatly increases the number of Pokemon who can use Curse, adding speedy threats, like Aerodactyl, to the list. Unfortunately, these Pokemon rarely want to give up their conventional items in exchange for a item that is consumed after use. In Areodactly's case, even a +1 Defense is no match for boosting sweepers like Gyarados and Salamence, nor is it very capable of enduring Scizor's Bullet Punch.

The use of high Base Power attacks is popular in today's metagame. Attacks like Overheat, Draco Meteor, and Leaf Storm all see high usage, although their secondary effects oftentimes leave the user too weak to do much of anything. By holding White Herb, these Pokemon can rid themselves of this effect once, helping them plow through the opponent's team with 140 Base Power moves without switching out. The downside to this is a lack of Leftovers, Life Orb, or Choice item benefits, all of which tend to outclass White Herb's effect.

Also, since White Herb can only be used once, sweepers will see a reduction in sweeping potential after attacking twice, as they will be left with a -2 offensive stat and no item.

Komodo · Jan 9, 2010

Farfetch'd is so useless I don't know if this is even needed, but:

Stick

This is a unique hold item for Farfetch'd that raises its chance of scoring a critical hit by two stages. Useful paired with moves such as Air Cutter, Leaf Blade, Night Slash and Slash, that already have a high critical hit rate.

Stick isn't a reliable item to use on Farfetch'd as, due to its low Base Stats, it will probably faint before having the chance to land a critical hit.

Xia · Jan 9, 2010

<Uploaded>

Micle Berry

Although it is illegal to use OHKO attacks in standard play, Micle Berry's accuracy modifier would be a very strong asset to this strategy should the OHKO clause be removed. A combination of Substitute, OHKO attack, and Micle Berry would nearly guarentee one KO per game, assuming the opponent does not choose Protect or Detect. Although the Pokemon who have OHKO attacks are rare and those who could potentially pull of such a set are even rarer, such a strategy could be quite effective (outside of competitive play, of course).

In today's metagame, however, Micle Berry is rarely&emdash;if ever&emdash;seen, since few Pokemon carry moves with extremely low accuracy. Since these moves are the only ones that would make Micle Berry viable, it has fallen by the wayside and is typically replaced by items that benefit a Pokemon's strategy longer than one attack. Pokemon who utilize pinch Berries would be better off obtaining long-lasting stat boosts from the likes of Leichi, Petaya, and Salac, since their lingering effects allow for a much easier sweep. Those Pokemon who do not rely on such a strategy will use Lefovers, Life Orb, or a Choice item instead, forgoing the high risk, high reward idea of Micle Berry + low accuracy attack in favor of multiple boosted hits from a more accurate, less powerful attack.

EDIT: Also, bouncing off of cantab's idea back on the first page, I've come up with a basic outline for the plates to follow, assuming this is the way people would like it done.

Any feedback on this idea would be cool, since Id much rather wait to post until I know it's in the best interest of the community at large.

Xia · Jan 11, 2010

<Both Uploaded>

Shell Bell

While Shell Bell may seem like a good item in theory, one must take into account just how outclassed this item is. For instance, the recovery Shell Bell provides is considerably less desirable than the recovery <a href="/dp/items/leftovers">Leftovers</a> provides; while Shell Bell's recovery only occurs when the Pokemon holding it attacks and the amount of HP healed is variable, Leftovers provides recovery of 1/6 of the holder's total HP every turn, making it a superior option. It fails to help boost sweepers' power, help defensively, or provide any other service one would hope to get from an item. Shell Bell should never be used as a held item, simply because its effect is too gimmicky.

Metronome

To be frank, Metronome is a bad item. Having your sweeper hold it will actually hurt them in the long run, inevitably ending in the loss of one of your Pokemon. The number of turns a Pokemon needs to use the same attack to get a substantial boost is much too high to ever be of use, and the chances any one Pokemon would use one attack for that amount of time are slim to none. If you're looking for a power boost and don't plan on changing attacks, try a <a href="/dp/items/choice_band">Choice Band</a> or <a href="/dp/items/choice_specs">Choice Specs</a>; they provide immediate power boosts with the drawback of being locked into a single move. If you want to increase your attacks' power but want the freedom to change attacks, have your Pokemon hold a <a href="/dp/items/life_orb">Life Orb</a>; although its power boost is smaller, it powers up both special and physical attacks and allows you to freely change attacks.

eric the espeon · Jan 11, 2010

Xia said:
EDIT: Also, bouncing off of cantab's idea back on the first page, I've come up with a basic outline for the plates to follow, assuming this is the way people would like it done.

Any feedback on this idea would be cool, since Id much rather wait to post until I know it's in the best interest of the community at large.

Sounds good to me, no need to duplicate the analysis.

MagicMaster87 · Jan 11, 2010

Xia said:
Micle Berry

Although it is illegal to use OHKO attacks in standard play, Micle Berry's accuracy modifier would be a very strong asset to this strategy should the OHKO clause be absolved. A combination of Substitute, OHKO attack, and Micle Berry would nearly guarentee one KO per game, assuming the opponent does not choose Protect or Detect. Although the Pokemon who have OHKO attacks are rare and those who could potentially pull of such a set are even rarer, such a strategy could be quite effective (outside of competitive play, of course).

The only gripe I have with this is "absolved". It is not synonymous with "removed"; it is closer in meaning to being declared not guilty, which makes no sense in this context.

Shell Bell

While Shell Bell may seem like a good item in theory, one must take into account just how outclassed this item is. For instance, the recovery Shell Bell provides is considerably less desirable than the recovery <a href="/dp/items/leftovers">Leftovers</a> provides; while Shell Bell's recovery only occurs when the Pokemon holding it attacks and the amount of HP healed is variable, Leftovers provides recovery of 1/6 of the holder's total HP every turn, making it a superior option. It fails to help boost sweepers' power, help defensively, or provide any other service one would hope to get from an item. Shell Bell should never be used as a held item, simply because its effect is too gimmicky.

Metronome

To be frank, Metronome is a bad item. Having your sweeper hold it will actually hurt them in the long run, inevitably ending in the loss of one of your Pokemon. The number of turns a Pokemon needs to use the same attack to get a substantial boost is much too high to ever be of use, and the chances any one Pokemon would use one attack for that amount of time are slim to none. If you're looking for a power boost and don't plan on changing attacks, try a <a href="/dp/items/choice_band">Choice Band</a> or <a href="/dp/items/choice_specs">Choice Specs</a>; they provide immediate power boosts with the drawback of being locked into a single move. If you want to increase your attacks' power but want the freedom to change attacks, have your Pokemon hold a <a href="/dp/items/life_orb">Life Orb</a>; although its power boost is smaller, it powers up both special and physical attacks and allows you to freely change attacks.

Just wondering, why are the items hyperlinked here? None of the other referenced items in your previous analyses are linked such, including the second mention of Leftovers in the first paragraph.

Xia · Jan 11, 2010

Thank you for the edits, Magicmaster.

To answer your question, the reason I hyperlinked on these analyses and not on the others is because these analyses explain why you shouldn't use these items. I link to better items so the reader can easily find more appropriate items. I wouldn't do it on other items because they're hardly as bad as these two. If, however, other people want the links out, I'll go ahead and remove them.

EDIT: After talk on IRC, this is what we came up with:

[Type] Plate

On any Pokémon other than <a href="/dp/pokemon/arceus">Arceus</a>, this item preforms almost exactly like <a href="/dp/items/[type-boost item]">[Type-Boost item]</a>; for information on the competitive use of this item, see the [Type-Boost Item] description. The only difference between these two items is the Fling Base Power; [type] Plate has 90 Base Power when Flung.

Hopefully this is acceptable or can be made acceptable with minor edits.

Xia · Jan 24, 2010

<Uploaded>

Since the Plate template has been added, eric the espeon and I decided that there should be an overview template for hold items linked to from those pages. This would include the following items:

Miracle Seed
Charcoal
TwistedSpoon
Poison Barb
Hard Stone
Magnet
Metal Coat
Spell Tag

The template below is a rough copy of what will be added in the overview section of these items:

[Type Boost Item] generally does not see much competitive play. This is partly due to the fact that few Pokémon are able to effectively use multiple attacks of the same type. Therefore, most trainers will opt to use items that provide bigger boosts to a wider range of attacks, such as <a href="/dp/items/choice_band">Choice Band</a>, which boosts the power of physical attacks, <a href="/dp/items/choice_specs">Choice Specs</a>, which boosts the power of special attacks, or <a href="/dp/items/life_orb">Life Orb</a>, which boosts the power of both kinds of attacks. [Type Boost Item] does not have side effects, which all three alternative items carry with them.

Xia · Feb 9, 2010

White Herb

White Herb tends to be a gimmicky item at best. Although avoiding the side-effects from the likes of Leaf Storm and Overheat may seem very beneficial, the fact that White Herb is consumed after use greatly diminishes its usefulness.

White Herb can be used with Curse to some success; for example, Aerodactyl and Mamoswine benefit from the Attack and Defense boost from Curse, but are harmed by the Speed drop. Holding a White Herb will allow them to gain the Attack and Defense boosts while avoiding the Speed drop. The problem is, they can only use Curse once without negative side effects, leaving your Pokémon with no item and a nearly useless moveslot until the end of the match.

Finishing Item Analysis

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maybe I just misunderstood

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Huff

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On porpoise

maybe I just misunderstood

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On porpoise

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