Molk
Godlike Usmash
[Overview]
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Choice Specs
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Modest
evs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
[SET]
name: Sun Sweeper
move 1: SolarBeam
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Sunny Day / Sleep Powder
item: Heat Rock / Life Orb
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
[Other Options]
[Checks and Counters]
<p>At first glance, Exeggutor appears passive and harmless; it is, in fact, the opposite. With a base 125 Special Attack and a potent special movepool; Exeggutor is an extremely dangerous Pokemon. Exeggutor shares Celebi's typing of Grass / Psychic, which, despite granting it seven weaknesses, also affords it resistances to Ground-, Psychic-, Water-, Fighting-, and Electric-type moves. Exeggutor also has a very low base Speed stat of 55, meaning it is limited to hit-and-run tactics most of the time. In spite of this, Exeggutor is still very threatening, and will be hard for your opponent to handle if it is used correctly.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Choice Specs
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Modest
evs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With a combination of decent bulk, a few important resistances, and a massive Special Attack stat, Exeggutor is one of the best Choice Specs users available in the NU tier. When equipped with Choice Specs, Exeggutor 2HKOes almost every relevant Pokemon in the tier with the appropriate attack. Exeggutor can also put its common counters to sleep with Sleep Powder, crippling them for the rest of the match. Leaf Storm is the attack Exeggutor will usually be using, as it deals major damage to even dedicated special walls due to its incredibly high Base Power. Psychic is Exeggutor's other STAB attack, and in addition to super effectively hitting a few threats that can take two Leaf Storms, such as Amoonguss and Vileplume, it also hits most other Pokemon for solid neutral damage. Hidden Power Ice hits other Exeggutor and, more importantly, Altaria for super effective damage, preventing them from safely switching into Exeggutor. Sleep Powder, as mentioned before, cripples Pokemon that can take a hit from Exeggutor for the rest of the match. This is very useful in allowing Exeggutor to handle faster opponents that can take any of its other attacks, as it ensures that they can no longer repeatedly switch into it. All of these traits combine to make Choice Specs Exeggutor a Pokemon that is very difficult to wall in NU.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EVs let Exeggutor outrun base 70s with no investment. Exeggutor can also run a slightly faster EV spread of 52 HP / 252 SpA / 204 Spe to outrun uninvested base 80s, and finally, maximum Speed EVs allow it to outrun uninvested base 85s. Hidden Power Ground can be used over Hidden Power Ice to hit Metang, Probopass, Bastiodon, and Skuntank for super effective damage, but it is generally not worth it. Giga Drain is an option over Sleep Powder to try and recover HP, but Exeggutor shouldn't attempt to stay in for more than a few turns anyway. Additionally, putting counters to sleep is more important than attempting to recover HP. Psyshock can be used over Psychic to 2HKO specially defensive Altaria and Lickilicky, but Hidden Power Ice already OHKOes Altaria, and Lickilicky is susceptible to Sleep Powder.</p>
<p>Exeggutor, being the slow, lumbering palm tree that it is, can be revenge killed quite easily. The likes of Magmortar, Swellow, and Braviary can all OHKO Exeggutor with their powerful STABs, so Pokemon that can switch into their attacks, such as Flareon and Regirock, are excellent teammates. Flareon provides Wish support for Exeggutor, and can cure it of any status with Heal Bell. Regirock provides essential hazard support in Stealth Rock, and its access to Thunder Wave helps Exeggutor outspeed faster opponents. Exeggutor will be switching in and out a lot, so Rapid Spin support is a good idea to minimize the amount of damage it takes from hazards. Wartortle is a reliable spinner as it has great defensive synergy with Exeggutor, Foresight to prevent Ghost-types such as Misdreavus and Haunter from blocking its attempts at spinning, and the ever-annoying Scald. Finally, Exeggutor doesn't like Dark-types such as Skuntank and Absol as they can Pursuit Exeggutor Choice-locked into Psychic or eliminate it with a swift Sucker Punch, making Fighting-types such as Sawk and Gurdurr good teammates.</p>
[SET]
name: Sun Sweeper
move 1: SolarBeam
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Sunny Day / Sleep Powder
item: Heat Rock / Life Orb
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Exeggutor also makes an excellent sun sweeper with its massive Special Attack and Chlorophyll to boost its Speed. With no auto-weather in NU, very few Pokemon can stop Exeggutor's rampage. As its charge turn is removed in sun, SolarBeam becomes Exeggutor's main attack, with Exeggutor's base 125 Special Attack and STAB meaning that it will be doing heavy damage to all Pokemon that do not resist it. Psychic gives Exeggutor much-needed type coverage, and hits the many Poison- and Fire / Fighting-types that resist SolarBeam for super effective damage. Hidden Power Fire gets a pseudo-STAB boost in the sun, and takes down any Grass-types Exeggutor might encounter with ease; it also hits Metang, who walls Exeggutor otherwise. Sleep Powder will cripple one of Exeggutor's counters for the rest of the match, making it more difficult to wall. Sunny Day allows Exeggutor to be self-sufficient, activating Chlorophyll and making SolarBeam a viable attack to use.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The choice between Heat Rock and Life Orb is simple: if Exeggutor is using Sunny Day, use a Heat Rock to make the sunny weather last longer. Life Orb, on the other hand, should be used with Sleep Powder and a teammate that provides Sunny Day support, as the extra power is appreciated to get a few crucial KOs. A Modest nature gives Exeggutor significantly more power, but a Timid nature allows it to outrun Choice Scarf Rotom-S in the sun, preventing it from revenge killing Exeggutor. As with the Choice Specs set, Giga Drain is an option that gives Exeggutor a form of semi-reliable HP recovery, but it is significantly weaker than SolarBeam. Psyshock can also be used over Psychic to hit Altaria harder; however, physical walls are more common than special ones, and Cryogonal cannot take repeated Hidden Power Fires in the sun anyway.</p>
<p>Of the few Pokemon that can wall this set, Altaria is perhaps the most threatening; therefore, Ice-types such as Jynx and Cryogonal are excellent partners. Cryogonal is especially good because Exeggutor is vulnerable to all entry hazards, which it can Rapid Spin away. Exeggutor also appreciates entry hazards on the opponent's side to weaken Pokemon into their KO range. Probopass and Regirock are good partners for setting up Stealth Rock, whereas Cacturne is a great user of Spikes, despite it sharing many weaknesses with Exeggutor. Additionally, Probopass has a slow Volt Switch to get Exeggutor in for free, while Regirock can set up Sunny Day for it. </p>
[Other Options]
<p> Exeggutor has quite a few other options it can run outside of those already mentioned. A Substitute + 3 attacks set can be employed to decent effect, unleashing powerful attacks under the protection of a Substitute; this is more suited to Pokemon such as Gardevoir, Magmortar, and Jynx, however, due to their higher Speed stats. Exeggutor can also attempt a SubSeed set; however, it is very slow, and Pokemon such as Cottonee and Jumpluff pull it off more effectively. Exeggutor can run several sets making use of its Dream World ability, Harvest, including restoring HP with a Sitrus Berry, status immunity with a Lum Berry, or a luck-based booster with a Starf Berry. However, all these options are relatively gimmicky, and Exeggutor has more consistently effective sets. Exeggutor is one of the best users of Trick Room in the tier, as it can make full use of its massive Special Attack and powerful STABs during the four turns it 'outspeeds' the opponent. However, outside of a dedicated Trick Room team, Exeggutor is usually better off using Sunny Day for a longer sweep. Exeggutor is also a decent user of Wish, but there are better Wish supporters, namely Alomomola, Lickilicky, and Flareon. The same applies for a dual screens set: Gardevoir and Mesprit are more suited for this role. Exeggutor can utilize Stun Spore to support its team with paralysis, but it is better off going on the offensive most of the time. With its access to Swords Dance, Wood Hammer, and Explosion, Exeggutor can take a physically offensive path, but this is usually done better by Torterra. Lastly, Exeggutor can use Gravity, but that usually won't achieve much at all.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Due to the sheer power of Exeggutor's attacks, there is nearly nothing that can safely switch in on it. The most common switch-ins include Altaria, Cryogonal, and Lickilicky. Altaria is 4x resistant to Leaf Storm and can Roost off the damage from Psychic, and Natural Cure allows Altaria to shrug off Sleep Powder by merely switching out; however, it fears Hidden Power Ice. Cryogonal can take a Leaf Storm and recover off the damage, but the rare Psyshock will easily KO it. Lickilicky possesses the special bulk to take even two Leaf Storms from Exeggutor and proceed to heal off the damage with Wish. There exist less common Pokemon that can attempt to take on Exeggutor. Kecleon uses Color Change to change its typing to resist repeated attacks and can use Recover to heal. Metang can switch in on any of Exeggutor's attacks bar Sleep Powder, then strike back with Meteor Mash. Sap Sipper Miltank is a good switch-in, being immune to Leaf Storm and Sleep Powder. It can then take advantage of its high Speed to recover with Milk Drink before Exeggutor can strike again. However, Choice Specs-boosted Psychic will 2HKO the brave cow. Flareon can take everything but a predicted Psyshock or Sleep Powder, and can strike back with a super effective Lava Plume. Murkrow gets a special mention as it is immune to Psychic, resists Leaf Storm, and can stall out Hidden Power Ice by removing its Ice weakness with priority Roost. However, these Pokemon have less general utility than the aforementioned three common ones. </p>
<p>Outside of these Pokemon, the best way to deal with Exeggutor is to revenge kill it. Swellow, Magmortar, and Braviary can outspeed Exeggutor outside of sun and OHKO it with their powerful STAB moves. Skuntank and Absol can switch into Psychic and trap Exeggutor with Pursuit, forcing it to switch out and take heavy damage. The sun sweeper is harder to revenge kill, but has more safe switch-ins; for example, Altaria now has no fear of switching into Hidden Power Ice, meaning it can safely wall and eventually KO Exeggutor. Probopass and Bastiodon take major damage from Leaf Storm, but they take next to nothing from Exeggutor's other attacks, and only fear being put to sleep.</p>