Roselia
[Overview]
<p>Even though she is not fully evolved, Roselia becomes a great asset to RU teams due to Eviolite. Eviolite makes her a great wall, boosting her mediocre Special Defense and pitiful Defense to formidable levels. Roselia also possesses a great support movepool that includes Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Sleep Powder. Her pluses don't stop there; Roselia's ability, Natural Cure, is also a boon, as it allows her to shake off status effects and even cure herself from Rest upon switching out. Also, unlike other defensive Pokemon, Roselia boasts a decent base 100 Special Attack stat, which allows her to strike hard with a powerful STAB Giga Drain or Sludge Bomb. With an ideal support movepool, great defensive capabilities, and many other beneficial attributes, Roselia is certainly a Pokemon who will successfully fill the role of a defensive supporter.</p>
[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Spikes
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Sludge Bomb
move 4: Rest
item: Eviolite
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With Eviolite and base 80 Special Defense, Roselia makes for a great special wall. Because of this, she is able to take minimal damage from some of the most frightening special attackers in the tier, including Accelgor, Lilligant, Manectric, Rotom, Rotom-C, Sceptile, and more. As Roselia will usually get a free switch into one of these Pokemon, she will be able to get up one layer of Spikes. Roselia's STAB moves are vital to this set, as they prevent certain threats from being able to harm her and her team. Giga Drain is extremely important, as it hits bulky Water-types and restores a bit of HP, which is useful as Roselia cannot utilize the recovery from Leftovers. It is also important for checking Omastar, as Roselia can survive a +2 Modest Ice Beam from it and OHKO it with Giga Drain. Giga Drain also prevents common spinners, namely Kabutops and Sandslash, from spinning away Roselia's Spikes. Sludge Bomb is Roselia's secondary STAB move, hitting Grass-types such as Sceptile, Tangrowth, Lilligant, and Rotom-C for super effective damage. It also has the chance to poison the opponent, which could be useful for hitting common switch-ins that are immune to Toxic Spikes, such as Mandibuzz and Cryogonal. Rest rounds out the set by giving Roselia some semi-reliable recovery, as she is able to rid herself of sleep upon switching out.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread makes Roselia as specially bulky as possible and allows her to survive most non-super effective hits. Because Roselia cannot take physical attacks well due to her horrible base 45 Defense, a fully specially defensive spread is recommended over a physically defensive one. Natural Cure is the best ability for Roselia, as it removes status upon switching out, which is especially useful if she is using Rest.</p>
<p>Roselia's wide support movepool leaves her with a few other options. If Grass-types are not an issue for the team, she can use Toxic Spikes instead of Sludge Bomb to wear down opposing walls. Toxic Spikes can also be used in place of Spikes if you already have a Pokemon with Spikes. Synthesis can be used instead of Rest if you don't want to switch Roselia out, but it is generally more unreliable as it only heals half of Roselia's HP and restores less in any weather except sun.</p>
<p>As for teammates, bulky Water-types are the way to go, as their weaknesses and resistances pair well with Roselia's. Slowking and Poliwrath are especially good partners, as they beat Fire-types and can phaze with Dragon Tail and Circle Throw respectively, racking up entry hazard damage. Cofagrigus is another good partner, as it can take physical attacks aimed at Roselia while keeping her hazards on the field by blocking Rapid Spin.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Roselia has a variety of other moves she can use depending on her teammates. Hidden Power Fire is optional to hit Steel-type Pokemon that would otherwise wall Roselia. Leaf Storm can be used instead of Giga Drain to hit certain threats such as Cofagrigus harder, but Roselia will become setup bait after the decline in Special Attack. Venoshock is an interesting option to use over Sludge Bomb, especially if Roselia is using Toxic Spikes, as it has a much higher Base Power against a poisoned opponent. An offensive set is an option to exploit her base 100 Special Attack; Sleep Powder, Leaf Storm, and Sludge Bomb with a Life Orb could make Roselia into quite a formidable threat.</p>
<p>Roselia has quite a few other options in non-attacking moves as well. A SubSeed set is viable, and she can use Sludge Bomb to keep Grass-types that are immune to Leech Seed at bay. Sleep Powder is another good option, as it puts the opponent to sleep, which could allow her to set up another layer of Toxic Spikes. However, keep in mind that Sleep Powder and Spikes are illegal together, so Roselia will be forced to use Toxic Spikes. Finally, Aromatherapy is another great support move as it clears Roselia and her team of status effects. She can also use it with Synthesis so that she does not have to use Rest and switch out to get rid of burns or paralysis.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Steel-types, Ferroseed and Klinklang in particular, take basically nothing from Roselia's attacks and can set up on her. Fire-type Pokemon, such as Moltres and Entei, can OHKO Roselia, while she can't do much back and is forced to switch out. Flying-types such as Sigilyph and Mandibuzz are also a nuisance for Roselia, as they resist her STAB Giga Drain and can annihilate her with a boosted Air Slash or a powerful Brave Bird. Specially defensive Mandibuzz takes practically nothing from her attacks and can even Taunt Roselia, preventing her from healing or setting up entry hazards. Cryogonal is one of the most solid counters to Roselia, taking almost nothing from her attacks due to its high Special Defense and either spinning away Spikes or hitting hard with a STAB Ice Beam. Even resisted physical attacks will obliterate Roselia; for example, +2 Feraligatr's Waterfall will 2HKO her, and that same Feraligatr's Return will OHKO. Finally, Roselia hates getting hit by Trick because she becomes much less bulky after she loses Eviolite. Thus, be careful when switching her into Rotom and Rotom-C.</p>
[Unreleased]
<p>Roselia gets Leaf Guard from the Dream World, which prevents status conditions in the sun. She needs a Pokemon with the move Sunny Day to utilize this, as there are no Pokemon with the ability Drought in the tier. Furthermore, Roselia can already remove status effects upon switching out with Natural Cure. Leaf Guard is not recommended for Roselia.</p>