Sableye (QC 2/2)

will do this over thanksgiving break. i think i bothered too many people about this at long beach, but i think this thing is amazing, especially with disrupting set-ups.

format will be cleaned up once i get to actually writing the analysis

Sableye

[Overview]

<p>

• No weaknesses, making it deceptively bulky and easy to fit on a team
• Excellent typing also grants immunity to Fighting, Psychic, and Normal
• Only Prankster Pokemon with access to Will-O-Wisp, allowing it to shut down many offensive threats, as well as access to useful moves like Fake Out and Trick
• STAB on one of the strongest priority moves in the game, 2HKOing Latios even with a middling Attack stat and no investment
• However, relies on a move with shaky accuracy and a miss in VGC can spell disaster
• Low base stats means that it cannot take as much abuse as other popular utility Pokemon such as Cresselia and Amoonguss
• Has trouble dealing damage to things that aren't weak to Sucker Punch and don't care about being burned

</p>

[SET]
name: Priority Abuser
move 1: Fake Out
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Trick / Detect / Recover
item: Lagging Tail / Leftovers
nature: Careful
ability: Prankster
evs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>

• Fake Out is an infinitely helpful move in VGC, breaking Sashes and disrupting set-ups
• Sucker Punch 2HKOs Latios and Chandelure who do not invest in HP, as well as having an attacking move available if Sableye is Taunted
• Priority Will-O-Wisp neuters physical threats before most of them have the chance to attack
• Be cautious of Scizor and Metagross, whose Bullet Punches will attack before you and deal massive damage
• Last slot is up to preference: Lagging Tail and Trick can shut down one of your opponent's Pokemon by forcing it to move last as well as stealing their item, Detect is an all-around useful move in VGC, and priority Recover allows it to last longer

</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>

• Full SpD investment to let it take hits from the special side, as most physical threats are neutered by WoW
• If Trick is not your cup of tea, Leftovers helps it survive on the field longer
• Works great with any sweeper who can take advantage of the disrupting set-up it provides, special mention going to ones in awkward speed tiers such as Hydreigon and slower Pokemon such as Tyranitar, who appreciate problem Pokemon being Tricked a Lagging Tail and can make up for Sableye's lack of offensive prowess with their high damage output
• Fast, fragile sweepers such as Latios appreciate the enemy being burned as well as Lagging Tail helping disable Trick Room sweepers

</p>

[OTHER OPTIONS]

<p>

• Taunt can be useful, but most targets carry Mental Herb or are more susceptible to being Tricked a Lagging Tail
• Feint is a priority attack that breaks through Protect
• Gets Sunny Day and Rain Dance in case weather conditions are unfavorable to you

</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>

• Fire types, save for Chandelure who do not invest in HP, are suitable checks
• With smart prediction, Heatran can switch in on Will-O-Wisp and get a Flash Fire boost, laugh at Sucker Punch, and deal tremendous damage
• Sableye can do almost nothing to Infernape and Arcanine
• All must be wary of being Tricked a Lagging Tail or having their item taken away from them
• Guts Pokemon get boosted by burns and Flame Orb hurts Sableye if it decides to Trick, so Pokemon like Hariyama and Heracross are counters

</p>

I got 4th at Doswell, VA using Sableye. I ran Fake Out/WoW/Trick/Recover @ Lagging Tail. Prankster Recover lets him survive a lot of shit and forces people to really gang up on him to kill him; failure to do so = insane disruption either via scrambling items or burning. Even if you've already gotten rid of your lagging tail, things like giving an item that can't be consumed to something with Acrobatics is insanely powerful. Stealing enemy resist berries/power gems is also really strong, too. Even more fun is stealing a resist berry and then tricking it to your partner the next turn :D

I'm not huge on sucker punch, he's honestly got better moves for that last slot. Also, taunt is a very viable option as well.

In case you can't tell, I'm infatuated with this thing :D

I placed 10th in Long Beach leading with this every single match, I love this thing too. I like Sucker Punch simply because there's so many Latis around (it 2HKOs Latios, and dissuading it from attacking is very strong) and I don't like running anything without an attacking move. I will include Recover on a slash when I get around to writing this whole thing up.
I disagree with including Taunt; most of the things you will target with it will be carrying a Mental Herb (most notably Cress), which resulted in one of my losses. It was the only time I really used it. At best I think it's OO.

Iron Ball? Pretty good way to slow down weather abusers such as Kingdra.

Iron ball is inferior in every way to lagging tail. And yeah, I agree on taunt being relegated to OO, it definitely deserves mention though as it supports certain types of teams very well.

please let the writer finish the skeleton before commenting for all analyses


please

Alright, I think the skeleton is done. Rip into it. I left Sucker Punch as a main option because I really, really don't like the idea of running anything without an attack move and everyone runs Latios, so the last slot is a bit messy. Also the format will be cleaned up once I get to writing the actual analysis and get rid of the bullet points.

(Also, for some reason I thought Embargo was an AoE attack...I wish it were.)

This thing is so crazy, Prankster totally gave Sableye a viable edge

It seems like everything's mentioned to me, maybe Sitrus Berry in OO?

QC 1/2

ugh sbaleye has so many options

i think feint and taunt should be on here, as well as rain dance / sunny day in oo.

[OTHER OPTIONS]

<p>
Taunt can be useful, but most targets carry Mental Herb or are more susceptible to being Tricked a Lagging Tail
Feint is a priority attack that breaks through Protect
Gets Sunny Day and Rain Dance in case weather conditions are unfavorable to you

??

Mention Shadow Sneak in OO?

i meant as slashes on the main set. missed reading the weather moves>_<

feint is great on sableye for easing prediction. something like latios + sableye doesnt have to rely on w-o-w hitting, it can just feint + d meteor every time. feint and sucker punch are not compatible together with prankster, though. taunt messes up everything that will-o-wisp doesn't. the main problem is 4mss though :x

i hate po

I dislike feint in the main set just because it can be a little difficult to use, but I guess it depends how you look at it, I wouldn't be against it if you feel it's worth it.
taunt is just less reliable unless you can be certain your opponent isn't going to attack, which is why I think it should stay in oo

also PO really needs to learn how egg moves work..

um he cant use sucker punch with prankster?

brownballa55 said:

um he cant use sucker punch with prankster?

Click to expand...

Yes he can, as an Egg move. Along with most other combinations to go with it. Look here to see all the egg moves that Sableye receives in Gen 5 http://serebii.net/pokedex-bw/egg/302.shtml#egg

Sorry for the post AoK.

brownballa55 said:

um he cant use sucker punch with prankster?

Click to expand...

He can actually. Teach a Male Sableye Sucker Punch in the previous gen, trade it over and breed with a female with prankster. Job done

sucker punch is actually illegal with recover; it is legal with prankster.

this may have been the source of your issues.

EDIT: lol this is kind of silly

Breludicolo said:

sucker punch is actually illegal with recover; it is legal with prankster.

this may have been the source of your issues.

Click to expand...

po must have been misidentifying the problem

thanks for the clear-up

Breludicolo said:

sucker punch is actually illegal with recover; it is legal with prankster.

this may have been the source of your issues.

Click to expand...

Despite PO saying this is illegal....this is actually a legal combo. A 4th gen Sableye with Recover and Sucker Punch can indeed be bred with a Prankster Sableye and have access to Sucker Punch, Recover and Prankster.

I know this as I have such a Sableye on my game

wow this really needs to be fixed on po

this is kind of ridiculous lol

Yep I would be nice for PO to sort it out, it's cause it lists Sucker Punch as a gen4 move tutor move and thus can't be used with prankster...not putting the breeding into place for it 9.9

TELEKINESIS! Sableye is the only user that gets to use it with Priority and it totally pwned after that idea got stuck in my head in SkarmBliss server (I tested this lol).

Telekinesis totally deserves an OO mention, or you could attach it to the main set and mention for it to be used in conjunction with like... oh choice scarf Sheer cold user lol. Tear up that wall you hate in one turn :D.

EDIT: Look at breludicolo's post <.< PO HAS ISSUES! Now how to report this glitch to the guy that makes it....

from bulbapedia:

Telekinesis raises a foe into the air and makes the target immune to Ground-type moves and Arena Trap. In addition, all other moves, except one-hit knockout moves, hit the target regardless of accuracy and evasion.

if you're resorting to telekinesis, use dynamicpunch/zap cannon/inferno. conversely, for when you don't want to miss with your teammate I guess.

Finals are over so I should be able to pick this up again. I'll consider all of the posts in this thread and make edits in the coming days.

It should also be noted that in addition to Sucker Punch, Trick is legal with Prankster + all egg moves except rofl Metal Burst due to it being an Pt/HG/SS tutor move.

qc 2 / 2

hurrr im late sorry, please write it up soon