Simple Questions & Simple Answers & General Resources (OU Edition) MK II

[Linneus]

Masamune's question does get me interested... Does Skill Swap has no effect on Magic Bounce? (I assume goes for all the Swap/Split moves, including Pain Split.)

Oh, and speaking of Pain Split, even though it can deal damage, it's not considered an attack and can be stopped with Taunt but has no effect on Counter/Mirror Coat/Metal Burst, right?

[Chimpakt]

Skill Swap does work with Magic Bounce and I'm sure you can painsplit magic bounce users.

I'm not too confident about your 2nd question though.

[Darkblader]

Quick question: Are there any Pokemon that can use Hidden Power Water? I found that I have a shiny frame with that HP and a Timid nature.

[alkinesthetase]

hp water is almost always useless since the only real reason to use it is if you have a mon that functions in rain, wants water attacks and does not have em. there's really like no pokemon that falls into this category... i've seen HP water genesect and tornadus-T and what not brought up before but not in any serious capacity.

water doesn't have very good coverage on its own (as with most elemental types, it has good super effective coverage, but is also resisted by many) and it doesn't synergize especially well with any others (where as things like boltbeam are very good together) so it's rarely used as a one off coverage option like, say, hp ice or hp fire.

[Darkblader]

I figured as much; sounds almost as bad as HP Poison. It was on a low-numbered PID frame too, oh well. Thanks for the quick response.

[dark]

what is the highest power for the move return go?

[alkinesthetase]

what is the highest power for the move return go?

102

[The Great Mighty Doom]

Originally Posted by Fat Linneus

Masamune's question does get me interested... Does Skill Swap has no effect on Magic Bounce? (I assume goes for all the Swap/Split moves, including Pain Split.)

Oh, and speaking of Pain Split, even though it can deal damage, it's not considered an attack and can be stopped with Taunt but has no effect on Counter/Mirror Coat/Metal Burst, right?

I have the same answer as chimpakt for question 1: "Skill Swap does work with Magic Bounce and I'm sure you can painsplit magic bounce users." As for question 2, Pain Split is stopped by taunt, but Mirror Coat will fail on it.

Originally Posted by Fat Darkblader

Quick question: Are there any Pokemon that can use Hidden Power Water? I found that I have a shiny frame with that HP and a Timid nature.

Originally Posted by Fat alkinesthetase

hp water is almost always useless since the only real reason to use it is if you have a mon that functions in rain, wants water attacks and does not have em. there's really like no pokemon that falls into this category... i've seen HP water genesect and tornadus-T and what not brought up before but not in any serious capacity.

water doesn't have very good coverage on its own (as with most elemental types, it has good super effective coverage, but is also resisted by many) and it doesn't synergize especially well with any others (where as things like boltbeam are very good together) so it's rarely used as a one off coverage option like, say, hp ice or hp fire.

Actually, imo there's one pokemon that can use HP Water viably in OU: Offensive Rain Volcarona. Ok, under rain Hidden Power [Water] is like a better Hidden Power [Ground] for Volcarona, it still covers Heatran (even if it has an Air Balloon) and it also helps against Landorus-T, Landorus, Gliscor, Terrakion (Modest 252 SAtk +1 Hurricane from Volc dosen't get the guarenteed OHKO on any of these, even after Stealth Rocks) etc. I've seen it in battle a few times and it was mentioned in the on-site analysis. Even though I consider Hidden Power [Water] viable, I'm not saying I recommend it, Fire Blast is a really good option for that slot, especially if your team isn't the best at winning the weather war. Because outside of rain, Hidden Power [Water] isn't that great, and Fire Blast isn't weakened by rain, so in any weather other than rain, Fire Blast works better.

[blitzlefan]

hmmmm im trying a stall-ish team with Ferrothorn, Heatran, Jellicent, and Gliscor (all defensive) for sure, and I want to use Shell Smash Cloyster to sweep. What pokemon partner well with him as far as coverage and defensive synergy? Preferably obtainable in-game as then I can make a in-game replica of my team... but it doesn't really matter. XD

[tintinwong]

HP water is viable on a rain team volcarona as doom said, and I tried it out a little. I would say that the only reason to run HP water over fire blast is to kill heatrans, since your moves are hurricane, bug buzz and fire blast, heatran pretty much wall you and prevent your sweep. But then again, HP ground does a better job, unless heatran is on a blimp.

[The Unlucky one]

Question: Why exactly are Chance Based Items (Focus Band, Quick Claw and Bright Powder) legal in Standard OU considering chance based abilities were banned. Bright Powder lost me 3 games in a row recently and I am wondering if there is any way to play around it as I have no idea why they are legal.

[Bent1ey]

Bright Powder is the only one that is illegal under the Evasion Claw, the rest, while luck based aren't really reliable enough to use most of the time.

[The Unlucky one]

Originally Posted by Fat Bent1ey

Bright Powder is the only one that is illegal under the Evasion Claw, the rest, while luck based aren't really reliable enough to use most of the time.

Really? i have encountered a lot of Bright Powder Ninjask's on PS! standard OU. Bright Powder looks legal to me and i have no idea why

[BlankZero]

They rescinded the ban on bright powder recently.

[Onicon]

Originally Posted by Fat blitzlefan

hmmmm im trying a stall-ish team with Ferrothorn, Heatran, Jellicent, and Gliscor (all defensive) for sure, and I want to use Shell Smash Cloyster to sweep. What pokemon partner well with him as far as coverage and defensive synergy? Preferably obtainable in-game as then I can make a in-game replica of my team... but it doesn't really matter. XD

When you accentuate stall there is no need for synergy with your cleaner. You rather have to take out or weaken its checks and counters to the point you can fishish them. Synergy within your stall core should be your focus.
Cloyster's weakness against priority moves is probably its biggest flaw, so you probably should keep your eyes open for Scizor, Breelom and Conkeldurr. While Scizor is stopped cold by Jellicent (and maybe Heatran, should you not switch into Superpower), and Conkeldurr may not break through Jellicent without Payback, Technician Breloom can deal massive damage to your team. My two bets are on Skarmory and Celebi, both having recovery and entry hazards to contribute. Skarmory additionally has phazing while Celebi has Heal Bell.

[TheSuperSaiyanBreloom]

What should I replace scarf Genesect with if i'm going to use scarf mence?

[PDC]

I don't know the rest of your team but you can of course use Rock Polish Genesect in that slot for a fearsome sweeper. RP Gene works wonders on offensive teams and can tear apart teams after a Special Attack boost. RP / Flamethrower / Ice Beam / Giga Drain is the best set moveset wise as it grants coverage to defeat Rotom-W and Gastrodon, Steels, and dragons with Ice Beam.

[TheSuperSaiyanBreloom]

Originally Posted by Fat PDC

I don't know the rest of your team but you can of course use Rock Polish Genesect in that slot for a fearsome sweeper. RP Gene works wonders on offensive teams and can tear apart teams after a Special Attack boost. RP / Flamethrower / Ice Beam / Giga Drain is the best set moveset wise as it grants coverage to defeat Rotom-W and Gastrodon, Steels, and dragons with Ice Beam.

I tried it but it doesn't have u-turn and it didn't really work out for me. it just pulled the team down.

[PDC]

You could run Expert Belt to lure and kill threats while still using U-Turn or also try out a different Poke entirely if you need help with some specific threats.

[TheSuperSaiyanBreloom]

Originally Posted by Fat PDC

You could run Expert Belt to lure and kill threats while still using U-Turn or also try out a different Poke entirely if you need help with some specific threats.

ok .thx for the help

[Je-Muzu]

Whats Nidoking Base Sp.Attack essentially, when you factor in the boosts From Sheer force and life orb?

[ClubbingSealCub]

Originally Posted by Fat Je-Muzu

Whats Nidoking Base Sp.Attack essentially, when you factor in the boosts From Sheer force and life orb?

You could say it's 169% (100*1.3*1.3) if the attack you use has a secondary effect, 130% for non-sheer force boosted attacks.

[Je-Muzu]

Thanks for the help, but i meant the number as Nidoking has 85 as its base sp.Attack, so i was wondering what that becomes with the as fore mentioned boosts

[ClubbingSealCub]

Originally Posted by Fat Je-Muzu

Thanks for the help, but i meant the number as Nidoking has 85 as its base sp.Attack, so i was wondering what that becomes with the as fore mentioned boosts

Technically speaking, LO and Sheer Force boost damage done, not SpAttack :P

[alkinesthetase]

Thanks for the help, but i meant the number as Nidoking has 85 as its base sp.Attack, so i was wondering what that becomes with the as fore mentioned boosts

firstly note that what sealcub said is true - technically these boosts are to damage dealt, not to satk. we can approximate the equivalent satk that would be equivalent though. it depends on the investment.

a fully invested timid nidoking has 269 satk. these boosts are multiplicative so 269*1.3*1.3=454.6 satk which is roughly equivalent to a fully invested timid base 177.

however a fully invested MODEST nidoking has 295 satk. this adds up to 498.6 satk which, oddly, is roughly equivalent to a fully invested modest base 177. i'm sure there's a good reason that the two are the same but i'm too lazy to go look into that right now.

the important lesson to take away from these numbers though is that 177 is much greater than 85*1.3*1.3