Gallade
(Not that good of an skeleton I know, but I suck at making bullet point analysis's, so sue me.)
[Overview]
<p>When looking at Gallade, it's odd that he isn't getting a lot of usage. Fighting STAB backed up with a great base 125 Attack is excellent, especially when combined with Psychic STAB. Gallade's movepool is top-notch, with great coverage moves like Night Slash, Stone Edge, Ice Punch, and X-Scissor, priority in the form of Shadow Sneak, and a wide range of disruptive moves like Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Destiny Bond, and Trick. Access to Swords Dance allows Gallade to act as a powerful wallbreaker and sweeper, while Bulk Up acts as a more bulky alternative, working quite well with the buff to Drain Punch. With all this, it seems odd that Gallade is seeing so little usage.</p>
<p>Sadly, Gallade has to deal with problems both new and old. Gallade's base Speed is average at best, meaning he will be outsped by a large amount of dangerous threats. Gallade's great Special Defense is heavily undermined by his medicore Defense and HP, leaving Gallade on the frail side. Gallade also faces huge competition from the other Fighting-types in the tier, namely Heracross and Cobalion. Despite all this, Gallade is still a largely useful Pokemon, and can easily be fitted on most teams.</p>
[Set]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Ice Punch
move 4: Shadow Sneak / Night Slash
item: Life Orb
nature: Adamant
evs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
<p>With STAB Fighting and various coverage moves, Gallade can easily force a switch and set up a Swords Dance, boosting his Attack to a terrifiying 766. Close Combat is obligatory STAB, and can break through all but the bulkiest of resists. Ice Punch compliments Close Combat greatly, breaking through Gligar, Nidoqueen, Celebi, and Flying-types in general. The choice between Shadow Sneak or Night Slash depends entirely on whether you want an easier time with offense or stall. Shadow Sneak works better against offense, hitting faster Psychic-types, Mismagius, and revenge killing in a pinch. Night Slash helps with stall, breaking through the bulky Psychic- and Ghost-types like Slowbro, Cofagrigus, and Deoxys-D</p>
[Additional Comments]
<p>The Speed EVs outspeed Honchkrow and 0 Speed Celebi, Attack is maxed for power, and the rest is put into HP for some bulk. A fourth attack can be used over Swords Dance for additional coverage. Zen Headbutt hits Poison- and Fighting-types, Stone Edge hits Flying-types with the exception of Gligar, X-Scissor obliterates Celebi, and Night Slash hits Ghost- and Psychic-types. It's also possible to replace Ice Punch with another of the listed attacks because Ice Punch really doesn't hit anything that the other listed moves don't with the excpetion of Gligar.</p>
<p>Gallade absolutley loves entry hazard support, especially when running Night Slash because it allows him to get an almost guranteed OHKO on Slowbro and a good chance of a OHKO on Deoxys-D with a layer of Spikes and Stealth Rock. Froslass can set up Spikes, and even stops them from being spun with its typing. Donphan can set up Stealth Rock, and can even spin away entry hazards for Forslass. U-turn and Volt Switch also work well with Gallade, being able to bounce of the walls they lure to get Gallade in safely. Jolteon is a great example of this, luring in Chansey and Registeel to Volt Switch off of them and get in Gallade, who easily forces both of them out.</p>
<p>Gallade's counters and checks really depend on what it happens to run in the last moveslot. without Night Slash, any bulky Psychic- and Ghost-type easily counter Gallade, and can either set up or burn Gallade, rendering him useless. Choice Band Heracross makes for a fantastic partner, easily switching in on the Psychic- and Ghost-types that trouble Gallade, and destroying them with Megahorn and Pursuit. Hearcross also takes advantage of Will-o-Wisp from the Ghost-types, making Heracross into even more of a wrecking ball. Without Shadow Sneak, Gallade is much more easy to revenge kill, especially by faster Psychic-types, Mismagius, and Staraptor. Houndoom makes for a great partner, being able to force Mismagius and Psychic-types into a deadly guessing game with Sucker Punch and Pursuit, and being able to destroy the bulkier Psychic- and Ghost-types. Sadly, Staraptor is much harder to play around due to the ridiculous power it brings, but playing around with resists will generally work.</p>
[Set]
name: Choice
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Ice Punch
move 3: Zen Headbutt / X-Scissor
move 4: Trick / Night Slash
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Band
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Set Comments
- Either hits rediculously hard with a Choice band or revenges with a Choice Scarf.
- Close Combat is obvious STAB.
- Ice Punch hits Flying-types.
- Zen Headbutt hits Ghost-, Poison-, and Fighting-types. X-Scissor is an option with Choice Scarf to OHKO Celebi, but Band is content with Ice Punch.
- Trick is great for messing up walls and screwing up Baton Pass, but Night Slash is usable if Zen Headbutt is not being used to hit Ghost- and Psychic-types.
- Adamant or Jolly work with either item. Jolly will outspeed Adamant Heracross and Nidoking, while Adamant offers more power.
- Shadow Sneak can be used for priority with Choice Band, but Gallade has better options.
- Depending on which Choice item you use, Gallade will require different support, but both sets will love entry hazards.
- Choice Band will like paralysis support, meaning it won't have to worry about being outsped. Registeel can easily spread paralysis, and can even set Stealth Rock.
- Choice Scarf, due to the lower power, will like heavy hitting teamates. Nasty Plot Azelf, Life Orb Roserade, Choice Band Escavalier, and Specs Rotom-H are just some examples.
name: Bulk Up
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Drain Punch
move 3: X-Scissor
move 4: Ice Punch / Psycho Cut
item: Leftovers
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 72 Atk / 184 Spe
Set Comments
- Can easily set up on weak special attackers due to great special bulk
- Drain Punch offers both STAB and healing.
- X-Scissor hits the multitude of Psychic-types roaming the tier.
- Ice Punch hits Gligar, Nidoqueen, and Flying-types while Psycho Cut hits Fighting-types harder while still hitting Nidoqueen.
- EVs once again outspeed Honchkrow and min Speed Celebi, max HP for bulk, and the rest is put into Attack. A more bulky alternative EV spread of 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpDef can be used if you want to make Gallade more defensive, but this makes Gallade outsped by mnay dangerous threats.
- Night slash is viable to hit Ghost-types harder, but they can easily take the hit and burn Gallade, rendering him useless.
- Stone Edge can hit Flying-types harder, but offers little coverage that isn't already covered better by something else
- Shadow Sneak is viable as priority, but the weakness of it makes it off-putting.
- This sets lower power menas it'll be walled by more things, so having teammates that can leave gaping holes in an opponents team are welcome.
- Despite the increased bulk of this set, Gallade will still not want to take repeated super effective attacks, especially if there coming from the physical side. Registeel makes for a great partner, taking on Flying and Ghost-type attacks with ease.
- Gallade has a large amount of status moves to abuse, but gets much more milage out of just smashing Pokemon's faces in.
- Substitute takes advantage of the switches Gallade causes.
- Trick Room can work, considering that Gallade can set it up himself, but Trikc Room lowers his coverage, and Gallade has enough trouble covering everything with 4 moves.
- Gallade is very hard to counter due to his wide coverage and rediculous power, but he can't carry all his moves at once, so once his movepool is figured out, he becomes easier to handle.
- Psychic-types in general handle any Gallade without X-Scissor, and Flying-types can take anything but Stone Edge and boosted Zen Headbutt.
- Dusclops is also a major annoyance to Gallade, taking nearly every common move he has and burning with Will-O-Wisp
- Gallade's low Speed also makes him majorly susceptiable to being revenge killed.
- Gallade gets Justfied for a Dream World ability.
- While an Attack boost from getting hit by a Dark-type move may seem appealing, Gallade doesn't resist Dark-type moves, and in general, Dark-type moves are rare in UU.
