Necturna (OU Analysis) [DONE]

[Pwnemon]

Originally Posted by Fat bmb

<p>Some might wonder why, when Necturna has every coverage move in the entire game available to it, the only coverage moves that will ever be Sketched are Sacred Fire, possibly Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick, maybe V-create, and if you are going special, then Blue Flare. One may wonder, indeed, why all of these moves are Fire- or Fighting-type, and the simple answer is that these are the highest-powered moves in the game with the best coverage alongside Necturna's Grass- and Ghost-type moves. As far as other moves go, there are few that are of significant note, but plenty that are worth mentioning in passing. Eruption is an alternative to Blue Flare, but is weaker than the latter if Necturna falls under 87% of her maximum HP. On the physical side, Bolt Strike is an immensely strong option that can hit Flying-types for good damage, but as the only one worth hitting is Dragonite, and Necturna can hit Water-types with her STAB moves anyway, it is hardly worth the bother. On the special side, Blizzard and Focus Blast are options to hit Dragonite and Heatran with, respectively, but are extraordinarily inaccurate and will ruin you as often as they save you. Blizzard may be of more note if you are using Necturna on a hail team, but as Necturna is quite solidly beaten by just about every threat to hail teams already, she is not the most advantageous Pokemon to place in that situation. Staying with the weather theme, it is worth noting that Hydro Pump, Thunder, and Hurricane are all useful moves to take advantage of the rain that a partner Politoed brings, but only Hydro Pump gets the boost from rain, and indeed only Hydro Pump will really hit targets that you couldn't hit already. If using Necturna on a sun team, SolarBeam becomes an option, as it works well in tandem with sun-boosted Blue Flare, but if your opponent switches in a Politoed or Tyranitar then you're a bit stuffed. Secret Sword is an option on Calm Mind sets to beat Chansey, Blissey, and specially defensive Heatran with, but if you're that worried about these threats, then maybe the Substitute + Quiver Dance set is a better bet. Lastly, if you are still lacking a move of an odd type, you can always equip a Plate item and use Judgment, though even Arceus's holy rain of death is somewhat pathetic when given to a Necturna. Oh, and you pretty much lose your item slot.</p>

just a suggestion:

"Necturna's sketch slot options are completely limitless, yes, but there's a good reason that all of the suggested coverage moves in the analysis are Fire- or Fighting-type: they simply afford the best coverage in conjunction with Necturna's Grass- and Ghost-type STAB moves, such as on Steel-types and Hydreigon. That's not to say there aren't numerous other coverage options available - Bolt Strike, Blizzard, and Hurricane being just a few examples - but you should only consider running them to counter a specific threat to your team, not as all-purpose coverage. There are also surprisingly many adequate Fire- and Fighting-type moves, such as Eruption, Secret Sword, and Focus Punch, but all of these have niche uses and are thus generally outclassed unless otherwise mentioned."

o and this should probably be reassigned (id be willing to take it if nobody with bigger cap-muscles takes it instead)

[Korski]

Hello, I will be taking this over in the wake of bugmaniacbob's departure (approved by Birkal). Currently the analysis is worse than a Russian novel in terms of length, so expect everything you see in the current analysis, minus most of it.

[Korski]

It is my right as an American to double-post.

A quick update: I have finished the primary revision of the original analysis, which in its current form can be viewed in the OP of this thread. We need grammar/prose checkers and content suggestions to move forward with this and get in on-site after all these years and years, so I call upon the community for help and guidance.

For posterity, here is the original, written by bugmaniacbob, in all its glory:

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[title]
Necturna
[head]
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<h2>Overview</h2>

<p>The beautiful queen of night, fair damsel and bright star, emerges from her resting-chamber with the grace of a fluid corpse. The ebon black of her skirt dappled with pale starlight, her arms swaying in the light breeze, she trickles with an air of disillusionment from her place of rest, a lone tear trickling down a face that has never seen the sun. All is serene, all is peaceful. But suddenly, something skitters between the dead trees. Awakening, she stands erect, her arms absolutely still. Then all at once, a cracking sound – her body splits in two, and then explodes. The creature within the trees raises a puzzled eyebrow, and leaves very quickly.</p>

<p>Yes, this is Necturna, the adorable little flower with the ability to smash her own nonexistent shell. Don't let her pretty looks fool you – this clairvoyant cutie is one of OU's very deadliest Pokemon. How should this be so, I hear you cry? Well, Necturna has one party piece that no other Pokemon with her level of stats has – the ability to use Sketch once, and only once, to obtain any one move that she could not learn otherwise. Shell Smash? Sacred Fire? Necturna can do it all, and as such is one of the most feared Pokemon currently in existence. Coupled with a base 120 Attack stat, which gives her the strongest Power Whip in the game, you will appreciate the terror that Necturna strikes into the hearts of all sane battlers. With the ability to perform nearly every strategy in the game, how do you fight her? And don't think she's any pushover defensively, either. With 64/120 bulk on the special side, she can certainly take more than a few hits before going down.</p>

<p>However, all is not sunshine and rainbows and Armageddon. While Necturna does possess significant power, she is not at all fast – with only 81 base Speed, she cannot really sweep teams unless she boosts her Speed. However, this has its own problems, in that if she uses her Sketch slot on a set-up move, she cannot use it for a coverage move. Thus is the shrine maiden's biggest dilemma – do you want to set up, or do you want a coverage move? Without a set-up move, she cannot sweep, but without coverage moves, her power is severely limited. Her STAB options are weak outside of Power Whip and her coverage options are limited to Hidden Power on the special side and Stone Edge on the physical side. As such, she will often find herself stopped by the common Steel- and Dragon-types of OU, especially as her physical defensive ability leaves a fair amount to be desired. Thus, despite all her power, the femme flytrap will often find herself on the receiving end of a short back and sides from OU's favourite gardening implement for naughty foliage, the infamous hedge Scizor.</p>

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<p>Gentlemen, prepare yourselves – what we have here is nothing short of the fastest and most powerful Shell Smash sweeper in existence. Shell Smash is the single most powerful set-up move in the game, and is able to boost Necturna's Attack stat to frighteningly high levels, while at the same time raising her Speed and Special Attack stats. With this kind of power at her disposal, her STAB Power Whip will be hitting opponents like, well, a whip. With an express train attached to the end. And that's a good thing, because owing to Shell Smash's side-effect of lowering Necturna's defensive stats, if Necturna isn't killing everything in sight in one hit, then she's in trouble. Power Whip is recommended despite its shaky accuracy, as power is absolutely everything where Shell Smash is concerned. As for alternatives, Horn Leech is a decent STAB attack that has a nifty side-effect of draining HP from opponents, which can be useful to offset Life Orb recoil, and is also 100% accurate, saving you from the misery of missing a Power Whip against your opponent's Gliscor. However, it should be noted that, against the aforementioned Gliscor, Horn Leech can never OHKO without severe prior damage – and if the Gliscor carries Protect, it may not even 2HKO. Hence, the loss in power is colossal. It should be noted here that Leaf Blade, while apparently a happy compromise between power and accuracy, lacks both the ability of Power Whip to OHKO serious threats and the healing ability of Horn Leech, so should never be considered as a serious alternative.</p>

<p>After this fearsome display, Necturna's other offerings to the world of Shell Smash sweeping are a little more modest. Shadow Claw is her strongest Ghost-type STAB attack, and at 70 Base Power is a far cry from Power Whip, but is a necessary evil in order to take care of weakened opponents, where Power Whip's accuracy may catch you out. It also enables her to OHKO Celebi and Latias, to 2HKO Jirachi and Metagross, as well as to OHKO Dragonite with Stealth Rock support. One thing that Necturna is still missing is coverage on Steel-types, which is unfortunate given their significant presence in OU. Hidden Power Fire is the ideal choice, as with the boosts provided by Shell Smash and Life Orb, it can OHKO Ferrothorn, Forretress, Scizor, and physically defensive Skarmory; however, you cannot really beat Heatran (offensive variants can be 2HKOed by Shadow Claw with Stealth Rock support, but Heatran will OHKO with Fire Blast before you get a chance to move twice), and you also lose power in the rain, meaning that you cannot OHKO any of the above Pokemon, and cannot even 2HKO specially defensive Skarmory. In order to surprise Heatran, you can run Hidden Power Fighting, but this will only 2HKO most variants, while being weaker than Hidden Power Fire against nearly all other OU Steel-types barring Lucario and Magnezone.</p>

<p>Given that Necturna needs to be killing everything in one hit, Life Orb, maximum Attack, and a Naughty nature are essential for some crucial KOs – notably, the OHKO on Ferrothorn with Hidden Power Fire, the OHKO on Gliscor with Power Whip, and the 2HKO on Jirachi with Shadow Claw. Alternatively, White Herb could enable Necturna to restore her defensive stats after having used Shell Smash, but forfeits the ability to OHKO the above. 252 EVs in Speed ensure that whatever happens, Necturna won't be getting outrun after a boost (unless your opponent happens to be running Ninjask or Timid Choice Scarf Latios). Importantly, the EVs enable Necturna to outpace Modest Heatran before a boost and some dangerous revenge killers, such as Modest Chlorophyll Venusaur under sunlight and Jolly Choice Scarf Terrakion, after a Shell Smash. As a general battle plan, you will want to save Necturna for late-game, at which point most of her counters will be either dead or weakened such that she can easily dispose of them. You will want to give yourself time to set up your hazards or other support moves, spread a bit of poison, or simply smash your opponent until they are little more than meat paste for Necturna to clean up. If you bring in Necturna early on in the game, there is very little to stop Scizor from jumping in and ending her with a quick Bullet Punch, whereas if you take the time to remove Scizor with Magnezone, Necturna will find her life a lot easier. Necturna has an advantage over other Shell Smash users in OU in that one is never entirely sure what set she is running, giving you the element of surprise over your opponent – bringing Necturna in once or twice in the early-game on a double switch can help reinforce the belief that Necturna has a Choice Band or the like. Because of this, Necturna has a tendency to force switches, so should have little trouble setting up on a bulky Water- or Grass-type, but once it comes to actually sweeping the opposing team, things can get tricky if you are not prepared.</p>

<p>With such power at her vine-tips, you would be well within your rights to ask yourself how Necturna could possibly be stopped. How, indeed? Well, a weakness to passive damage and rather disappointingly weak coverage moves play a part, but largely the fault lies with those pesky Steel-types, with their high Defense stats and Nintendo-approved "I am a strong Pokemon" badges. To be rid of them will depend on what coverage move you are running. If Hidden Power Fire, then Heatran will be troublesome, and if Hidden Power Fighting, then Ferrothorn and Forretress will be troublesome. In fact, Skarmory, Heatran, Scizor, Jirachi, and Metagross will almost certainly be huge trouble regardless of your coverage move, particularly in the rain. To deal with them, the most desperate response is to look to trappers such as Dugtrio and Magnezone. Dugtrio can revenge kill Heatran, weakened Jirachi, and weakened Metagross lacking Bullet Punch with relative ease, but can't do toffee to Skarmory or Scizor. Magnezone, on the other hand, has a fairly easy time against Skarmory and Scizor, but specially defensive Jirachi and Metagross with Fire Punch and Earthquake, respectively, will give it trouble, and it must contend with Heatran's STAB Fire-type attacks on top of everything else. In lieu of being able to trap Steel-types, the alternative is, of course, to lure them out and weaken them. Dragon-types are particularly good at this - a Latios with Hidden Power Fire can lure in and OHKO a cocky Scizor, and Choice Band Haxorus can force the opponent to switch in their Steel-types to take its Outrage, thus significantly weakening them. For more reliable answers to Steel-types, Heatran is a good bet, as it can quite easily force out nearly all Steel-types in OU who would threaten Necturna, barring of course other Heatran, and possibly some others if protected by the rain. Heatran also has the benefit of luring in bulky Water-types that Necturna can switch in on and threaten, enabling her to set up a quick Shell Smash as they switch out. Speaking of Water-types, one of your own may be a worthwhile investment in order to make an opposing Heatran's job more difficult. Vaporeon is particularly helpful for its ability to pass Wishes, so is able to possibly heal Necturna if your first sweeping attempt does not go as planned. Finally, it is a good idea to include users of entry hazards, such as Deoxys-S or Skarmory, to ensure vital KOs, as well as possibly a dual screen user such as Espeon or Latias to make setting up a less onerous task.</p>

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<p>While the classic Shell Smash set is notable for its supreme efficiency, this is not to say that a pure physical version of the set cannot work. Such a set largely plays in the same way, but to an extent exchanges one set of counters for another. While Hidden Power grants overall coverage that no other move in Necturna's natural arsenal can match, it is severely lacking in power, even with the two-stage boost courtesy of Shell Smash. In this case, then, Necturna exchanges its Hidden Power slot for Stone Edge, which acts as a sort of halfway house between Hidden Power Fire and Hidden Power Fighting, able to cover all of Heatran, Scizor, and Forretress, in exchange for adding a few solid counters that did not exist previously, most notably Ferrothorn and physically defensive Skarmory, though some would say that these two cannot be beaten even with Hidden Power if rain is present on the field.</p>

<p>With a layer of Spikes and Stealth Rock courtesy of a willing hazard user, such as Deoxys-S, Necturna actually has a chance to OHKO 248 HP Heatran with a boosted Stone Edge, even with Leftovers taken into account—and offensive variants of Heatran do not even need that extra layer of Spikes. Scizor is also OHKOed with only Stealth Rock support, and Forretress and Skarmory are 2HKOed, with Necturna dealing around 50% to both with a boosted Stone Edge - that being said, both will likely be able to break Necturna in a single turn regardless, so she will very likely not get a chance to attack twice. Stone Edge also gives Necturna the ability to break through Dragonite, even with Multiscale, and to crack Salamence even through Intimidate—although admittedly, a Shadow Claw will suffice for the OHKO if you have Stealth Rock support regardless. As with the above set, Power Whip exists to massacre everything that doesn't run screaming at the very sight of "Necturna used Shell Smash", and Shadow Claw is a nice, reliable secondary STAB move that will quite easily OHKO Jirachi and Metagross. As a note, 252 HP Jirachi takes 75% minimum from a boosted Shadow Claw, so make sure that Jirachi is weaker than that at least before trying to set up. Once again, Life Orb is absolutely required for Necturna to achieve the above KOs, although again White Herb is an option if you feel confident in your ability to weaken the opponent's team significantly, but not necessarily in your ability to remove opposing priority revenge killers. However, here it becomes necessary to mention another part of Stone Edge that we have so far neglected - its accuracy. It isn't nicknamed "Stone Miss" for nothing - and with both Power Whip and Stone Edge on the same set, Necturna's consistency when playing many games is questionable at best. Statistically, you will be losing at least four out of every five games to an untimely miss if you rely on Necturna to clean up your team's mess at the end - and that's a big risk to take. While it may seem tempting to try to patch up this weakness in the set with Wide Lens, this is a poor idea and will really only serve to weaken Necturna and make her even less consistent. This is something that you should always bear in mind when running physical Shell Smash Necturna, and especially when choosing between the mixed and physical Shell Smash sets. Sadly, Necturna has no other physical coverage—Return is next door to useless against those meddling Steel-types.</p>

<p>As with the mixed set, Necturna is generally best used in late-game situations where your team has had a chance to slowly wear down the opposition sufficiently for her to bulldoze the rest. Although Necturna is now perfectly capable of beating nearly all Heatran, do not assume that all is just peachy in her little anarchic world—to do so would be to forget that Ferrothorn still exists, and will waste no time in Gyro Balling or Thunder Waving Necturna back to whatever pestilence-ridden graveyard she originated from. Skarmory and Forretress still pose problems too, as does physically defensive Jirachi. Oh, and Scizor still threatens with Bullet Punch. However, there is some good news - all of these threats are soundly trapped and executed by a Magnezone. Hidden Power Fire breaks Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Forretress, while a nice crisp Thunderbolt will make short work of Skarmory and Jirachi. It should be noted here that Politoed support both helps and hinders, as with the mixed set - Necturna no longer has Hidden Power Fire, so does not need to worry about the reduced damage output from the rain, and indeed the dampening of defensive Heatran's Fire Blast can only be a good thing. As far as Magnezone goes, it too appreciates being able to live through weak Fire Blasts and Lava Plumes, as well as making use of its powerful STAB Thunder, but weakening its own Hidden Power Fire makes it much more difficult to beat Ferrothorn. As such, if you do run both Drizzle and Magnezone, a Subsitute + Charge Beam set is advised to allow it to break Ferrothorn with far greater ease. As before, wallbreakers and general offensive support is also greatly appreciated to wear down the opponent's team, as is hazard support from a Pokemon such as Deoxys-S.</p>

<p>On another note entirely, if you happen to want to use a Shift Gear or Swords Dance set, then this set is probably the one to base it off. Obviously, one of Shift Gear or Swords Dance replaces Shell Smash as the Sketch move of choice, and both grant you a different boost. Note that Swords Dance sets may appreciate a Jolly nature in order to enable them to outrun Timid Heatran, as without it they are somewhat lacking in the Speed department. Shadow Sneak is also far more viable on the Swords Dance set than it is on the Shell Smash set, as unlike the Shell Smash set, quite a lot can outrun Swords Dance Necturna, and the things that can strike first are not limited to Bullet Punch Scizor. Do note, however, that while both of these sets can boost to a significant degree without any kind of drawback, they are both generally inferior to Shell Smash as they lack the raw offensive potential and Speed at the same time, despite the lack of defensive drops. Indeed, it is not unreasonable to run a defensive spread to compensate for the lack of Speed, in the vein of Gliscor.</p>

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<p>While it is possible to obtain incredible power through Necturna's sweeping sets, this is not the only route that Necturna can take. Her single use of Sketch is indeed well used by providing a very potent set-up tool, such as Shell Smash or Quiver Dance, but at the same time, going for straightforward power is an entirely plausible option. The natural conclusion of this train of thought is, of course, that Necturna ends up with some preposterously powerful legendary exclusive move like, oh, say… Sacred Fire.</p>

<p>With a Choice Band equipped, Necturna attains greater immediate power, greater effective bulk, and greater coverage, all in exchange for losing the ability to sweep teams. Hence, this variant of Necturna is primarily to be played in a supporting role. With an unboosted Attack stat of 508, even with a Jolly nature, she can break down opposing teams with next to no difficulty. Of course, the big thing that sets Necturna apart from those of a similar ilk is, of course, access to Sacred Fire, which is not only a very powerful attacking move that grants good coverage against Steel-types, but also an excellent utility move for its 50% chance to burn the opponent (or 47.5% if you factor in its accuracy), which can make the opponent regret switching their Tyranitar in. Throw in a powerful STAB move, a STAB priority move, and some filler, and you have one of the most monstrous Choice Pokemon in the game on your hands.</p>

<p>Power Whip is your STAB move of choice for the humungous strength, and is capable of 2HKOing Latios and Hydreigon with Stealth Rock support. Shadow Sneak is a useful priority move which lets Choice Band Necturna double as a revenge killer, so can be used to finish off Pokemon weak to it, such as Alakazam and Latios, as well as weakened sweepers – for reference, a Choice Band Shadow Sneak will snip a minimum of 25% off a bulky Dragonite. Lastly, Stone Edge is Necturna's only real extra physical coverage, and will most often be filler – it does have some merit in catching threats such as Dragonite and Salamence off-guard, though. As the Sketch moveslot is not dedicated to any particular set-up move, there is a reasonably large potential for customisation to suit your team's needs. Sacred Fire is almost always the best choice for its pure overall utility, but V-create has much more immediate power than Sacred Fire – almost twice as much, in fact – which means that Necturna actually has enough power to OHKO physically defensive Skarmory and Jirachi, which is a big plus. V-create's side-effect, however, is crippling, and Sacred Fire can easily 2HKO both of the above regardless, and is arguably more useful in rain, given its chance to burn. Close Combat and Hi Jump Kick are alternatives that are not weakened by the rain, as well as getting a possible OHKO on Heatran, who is otherwise a pretty solid stop to Choice Necturna. However, neither has the same utility as Sacred Fire in terms of being able to burn opponents, not to mention that neither of them can even 2HKO defensive Jirachi and Skarmory. It should be mentioned in passing that Horn Leech can help Necturna stay alive for longer by draining HP, but the loss in power from Power Whip is immense.</p>

<p>Necturna sits in a Speed tier full of things that she simply must outspeed, so maximum Speed and Attack are both essential. Thus, a Jolly nature and 252 EVs in Speed are required for Choice Band Necturna to outrun Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite, while also enabling Choice Scarf Necturna to outpace Jolly Dragonite after a Dragon Dance. Generally speaking, the ability to outrun these threats is more important than any other application her EVs could have; however, it is certainly possible to run a bulkier spread if you value Necturna's ability to switch in, though if such is the case you would probably be better off with a different Choice user. A spread of 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe with an Adamant nature grants greater bulk and offensive presence while enabling her to outrun most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom, although the HP EVs do not do anything in particular, so for the most part the given EV spread is superior. As a Choice Band user, Necturna works fairly well as a wallbreaker thanks to her high damage output, as well as the ability to burn opponents. However, any attempt to simply spam Sacred Fire endlessly will end in disaster – Sacred Fire's 8 PP are all well and good when the battle begins, but you will find that they can be drained away very quickly, and a sharp opponent will be keeping count. So, you are advised to play conservatively with your trump card. Necturna is also the only Choice Band user in OU who is also a spinblocker, which means that she will be able to keep your entry hazards on the field, thus further damaging the opponent's team - it is a good idea, therefore, to pair Necturna with an entry hazard user such as Deoxys-S or Skarmory. Necturna tends to lure in Steel-types such as Skarmory and Jirachi, both of whom she can promptly 2HKO with Sacred Fire, although this ability is greatly limited in the rain, where she will fail to even 3HKO them. As previously mentioned, V-create's ability to OHKO these Steel-types makes Necturna a far more effective lure, as the Steel-types don't get the opportunity to switch out, but the surprise will only work once. If you do decide to go with V-create, it's a good idea to capitalize on the surprise factor of the Necturna lure by running a Tyranitar or similar Pokemon to keep rain off the field, and as such ensure that neither of the above Pokemon has a hope of surviving Necturna's onslaught. Naturally, a sun-boosted V-create - or even Sacred Fire - is something that few Pokemon are going to want to face, and even fewer will walk away from unscathed, but Ninetales is generally a lackluster partner unless you are running a full sun team. Weakening or outright killing the opponent's Steel-types can pave the way for powerful attackers to clean up the rest of your opponent's team - Alakazam and Latios are excellent cleaners, who also appreciate the removal of Steel-types such as Scizor and Jirachi. Sweepers such as Salamence and Dragonite are also noteworthy partners.</p>

<p>It goes without saying that you should not even think about aimlessly clicking that Sacred Fire button if Heatran is on your opponent's team, so pay close attention to the Team Preview and plan accordingly. In any case, Heatran is a big, big problem if you aren't running Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick, as even a Choice Band Stone Edge cannot 2HKO defensive variants, and if Necturna happens to be locked in on Power Whip or Sacred Fire, she might as well be wearing a sign around her neck saying "stomp me". As you really don't want to be giving Heatran a free rein, a Water-type is a good investment. Starmie is a useful Pokemon to bring along thanks to its access to Rapid Spin, as well as its ability, Natural Cure, so that it does not fear Toxic quite as much. Vaporeon is also helpful, particularly as it can heal Necturna with Wish, and Rotom-W is another notable partner. All three of these can also combat Salamence and Gyarados, should they attempt to take advantage of a Necturna locked into an ineffective attack.</p>

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<p>Where a Choice Band set is concerned with indiscriminately marmalising your opponent's team through a combination of raw power, burns, and the element of mystery surrounding every Necturna before it comes into play, the Choice Scarf set is more concerned with a thinking man's support role. Yes, I know that there's generally little thinking involved with bulky revenge killers, but in Necturna's case, there are a number of characteristics she possesses that set her apart from other Choice Scarf users, and make her an entirely special little snowflake - namely Sacred Fire, the ability to block Rapid Spin, and the surprise factor.</p>

<p>Sacred Fire adds all manner of applications that simply don't exist for an ordinary Choice Scarf user - Necturna can risk the chance of a burn to stop a physical sweeper that she couldn't OHKO otherwise, such as bulky Dragon Dance Dragonite or Gyarados. As with the Choice Band set, it also serves as a nasty poser for anything expecting to come in to hit her on her weaker physical side - Tyranitar will dislike being burned almost as much as Scizor will dislike being deep-fried to a rather tasty crisp. As such, it is hard to deal with in the same manner as most other Choice-locked revenge killers, not to mention the uncertainty over its set, meaning that Necturna can quite easily bluff the ability to stop a threat that she could not ordinarily stop simply by switching in and leaving the opponent to their options. Finally, Choice Scarf Necturna combines Jellicent's bulk with Gengar's Speed as a spinblocker, and thanks to Sacred Fire, has something of the utility of both of the above as well.</p>

<p>Once again, Power Whip is necessary to provide a powerful STAB attack, and Stone Edge is even more helpful than it was on the Choice Band set, in terms of being able to call a halt to non-bulky Dragon Dance Dragonite lacking Multiscale. The other moveslots, however, are slightly different - Shadow Claw is now more or less entirely superior to Shadow Sneak, as without the Choice Band or even an Attack-boosting nature, Shadow Sneak is extremely weak, and Necturna will outrun most important threats regardless, so the priority is far less necessary. As for the Sketch slot, once again Sacred Fire is best for the reasons outlined above; however, V-create is no longer a viable option owing to it no longer being sufficiently powerful to make the most of its surprise value, and the Speed drops are counterproductive on a Choice Scarf set. On the other hand, Close Combat and Hi Jump Kick are more viable options if you want a more generic revenge killer, as both of them enable Necturna to defeat Heatran, a threat which pretty much entirely counters the set otherwise, at the expense of losing to defensive Jirachi and Skarmory, though it must be mentioned that Close Combat will actually outdamage Sacred Fire in the rain, though without the useful burn chance. A Jolly nature and 252 EVs in Speed are necessary to outrun all Dragonite after a Dragon Dance, and 252 EVs in Attack slightly make up for the lack of any boosts to the Attack stat - or, indeed, the severe power drain that Choice Scarf Necturna experiences compared to almost every other set.</p>

<p>In battle, the advised method of play is generally akin to that of a revenge killer or momentum gainer, with of course the added bonuses of being able to possibly clean up weakened teams and to block Rapid Spin, as well as possibly being able to burn a threat in an emergency, as previously mentioned. Necturna is fast enough to outpace most of the faster threats in the metagame, including the aforementioned Alakazam and Latios, and is more than capable of OHKOing both of them. While Choice Scarf Necturna has a noticeable lack of power compared to the Choice Band set, she still has fairly potent offensive ability between STAB Power Whip and Sacred Fire, and thanks to Necturna's famed unpredictability, can often force out threats by her mere presence alone. For example, a Dragonite that had set up a Dragon Dance in expectation of a sweep may switch out rather than risk the possibility of Necturna being able to OHKO. On the subject of bluffing, you could even run an Expert Belt with the above set in order to maximize Necturna's potential as a lure, though you lack the main benefits and utility that the Choice items grant. In terms of teammates, Necturna's ability to apply consistent offensive pressure will generally make her more suitable on balanced or offensive teams, which will appreciate the presence of a spinblocker with greater bulk than Gengar, as well as the significant potential for passive damage through forcing switches and potential burns. As such, you will want to include entry hazard setters to make the most of both the spinblocking and the forcing of switches - on offensive teams, Deoxys-S is really the only Pokemon you should be considering, with access to Spikes, Stealth Rock, Taunt, and that all-important 180 base Speed, though on balanced or semi-balanced teams, Skarmory, Heatran, and Forretress are all worth experimenting with. Lastly, you will want cleaners that can take advantage of all of this damage dealt - these include sweepers such as Volcarona, Dragonite, and Terrakion, as well as fast attackers such as Alakazam and Latios.</p>

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set.move[4] = ["Pain Split", "Recover"];
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<p>On most Pokemon with access to every single move in the game, you would be justified in assuming that offensive sets would take precedence over more defensive ones. Necturna, however, is an entirely different cookie. While it is generally true that any one support move is not as amazing as any one set-up or coverage move, Necturna already has a fairly stellar support movepool regardless, which includes such gems as Toxic Spikes and Will-O-Wisp, and here, the Sketch move serves to augment this natural ability. Necturna is also a fairly competent special wall, capable of even surviving an offensive Air Balloon Heatran's Fire Blast (though admittedly unable to do anything back at all), and acting as a decent response to Pokemon such as Celebi, Latias, and most Water-types.</p>

<p>Toxic Spikes is an excellent support move, and is only made better by Necturna's ability to block Rapid Spin. Bulky Necturna is one of the very best spinblockers in the game; the standard Timid Life Orb Starmie cannot even 2HKO with Ice Beam, factoring in Leftovers, while Necturna can easily 2HKO back with Shadow Claw or OHKO with Power Whip. In fact, Necturna can fairly easily beat all of OU's common Rapid Spinners, with the exception of Substitute + Toxic Tentacruel, Payback Forretress, and the rare Cloyster. As such, this Necturna can be a valuable piece in any team that likes its entry hazards where they are, such as stall or balanced teams. Unfortunately, Necturna cannot prevent Tentacruel or Roserade from simply switching in to absorb the Toxic Spikes, so you may want to find some way of removing them before setting up, as well as making use of other entry hazards as well as Toxic Spikes. As far as the Sketch slot goes, you will want to find a way to complement these already desirable traits. One of the best ways to do this is by turning Necturna into a spinner herself – indeed, the fear of Necturna's Choice and set-up sets means that the opponent will generally immediately switch to a Steel-type, which means that Necturna can often get off a free Rapid Spin. And of course, if the opponent cottons on to this and decides to send in their Ghost-type, Shadow Claw will generally make quick work of them, though it cannot 2HKO defensive Jellicent. If you do decide to run Rapid Spin, then Necturna will generally appreciate a recovery move more than anything else. Sadly, the most reliable recovery she gets naturally is Pain Split. You may prefer to use your Sketch slot on Recover, which greatly increases Necturna's lifespan as well as her special walling capabilities. This eliminates the need for Pain Split entirely; however, it also eliminates Necturna's ability to use Rapid Spin. In this case, Will-O-Wisp is a useful move to put the last slot, and rather helpfully patches up Necturna's somewhat sub-par Defense stat, but on the other hand tends to overlap somewhat with Toxic Spikes. If you do not want to go for the support option, you can go for the "destroy all" option with Power Whip, which allows you to OHKO Starmie as well as 2HKO Donphan, Cloyster, Jellicent, and Tentacruel.</p>

<p>While the number of support moves that Necturna could theoretically use is vast indeed, the number that ought to be used is fairly small. While Necturna's spinblocking ability may suggest that Spikes or Stealth Rock would be a useful complement, in reality this brings Necturna further into conflict with the similar Ferrothorn, who arguably performs better in the role of hazard setter and specially defensive Grass-type – thus, if you are using Necturna, it is typically better to try to emphasize her advantages over Ferrothorn, which are reliable recovery, spinblocking, and access to Rapid Spin. One move that could see use is Dragon Tail, to take greater advantage of the entry hazards and switches that Necturna creates by shuffling the opponent's team and racking up the damage. Aside from this, though, generally the given options will be superior in most cases. Maximum Special Defense is necessary in order to make the most use of Necturna's impressive defensive ability on the special side, as well as to make Starmie as easy to deal with as possible, as a large part of Necturna's charm comes from her ability to beat the common spinners of OU. Hence, 252 EVs in both HP and Special Defense along with a Careful nature are strongly recommended. This also improves Necturna's ability to come in on Pokemon such as Vaporeon and Rotom-W and start setting up entry hazards, as well as taking on dangerous, specially inclined Pokemon such as Virizion, Celebi, and Latias. This leaves only 4 EVs unallocated – while it matters little where they go, generally Attack is the best option for the minor added punch. Alternatively, you could put them in Speed in order to outpace other Necturna who don't invest in Speed, as well as defensive Gyarados.</p>

<p>As a spinblocker and a Toxic Spiker, Necturna's manner of support naturally favours those that wish to stall out their opponents as well as those that require passive damage in order to sweep the opponent's team. Such a manner of support is deeply helpful to set-up sweepers, such as Lucario and Terrakion, who will no doubt find it quite easy to rampage through the opposing team given sufficient weakening. As previously mentioned, Necturna's spinblocking ability lends a great deal less risk to putting your faith in entry hazards, so making the most of this is important. Skarmory is an excellent choice to set up either Spikes or Stealth Rock, and can also deal with the Dragon-types that Necturna cannot handle, although admittedly they share a weakness to Fire-types. Deoxys-S is another, but shares a weakness to Dark- and Ghost-type attacks, though its high Speed and suicidal nature renders this point somewhat null. Finally, if carrying Rapid Spin, then Necturna is an excellent partner to Pokemon that fear Stealth Rock, such as Volcarona and Dragonite. Volcarona no longer has 50% of its health stripped every time it switches in, and Dragonite gets to keep its Multiscale intact, thus greatly increasing their effectiveness. It's also helpful in general for Choice users, Volt-turn teams, and any other category of Pokemon that is required to switch in and out often. Even though Necturna is a strong special wall, her five weaknesses to common attacking types render her somewhat vulnerable to a large number of opposing Pokemon. Her typing would tend to favour a physical wall, but her stats favour a special wall – in this way, Necturna has something along the lines of "Claydol syndrome" to contend with. While an excellent stop to most Water-type attackers, such as Starmie and Rotom-W, these Pokemon are frequently paired with Pokemon that Necturna will struggle with, such as Tornadus and Dragonite on rain teams. To best these Flying-type fiends, a Steel-type such as specially defensive Jirachi is advised, and can be beneficial in other ways as well, as they can also combat Tyranitar and Scizor to an extent. However, Jirachi should watch out for Crunch and U-turn. respectively. Also, most Steel-types will be unable to deal with Heatran, who is a very great threat, so a bulky Water-type may be advisable. If running Rapid Spin, then Vaporeon is typically a good choice for its access to Wish, somewhat covering the problem of healing, and if running Recover, then a rapid spinner such as Starmie or Tentacruel may be more advisable. Latias is also a good option to deal with Heatran as well as other threatening Pokemon such as Venusaur, Jirachi, and Dragon-types, though it does share Ghost- and Dark-type weaknesses with Necturna.</p>

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set.move[3] = "Shadow Ball";
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set.item = ["Leftovers", "Life Orb"];
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<p>Don't be fooled, my dears; that isn't fear that Necturna is quivering with. Rather, if you happen to see our leafy little damsel shaking like, well, a leaf, you ought to be prepared for a fair amount of fright on your own part. This is Necturna's Quiver Dance set, the special sweeper's answer to the physical sweeper's Shell Smash, and while she certainly doesn't have the raw destructive power of the Shell Smash variant, she more than makes up for it with a surprising amount of survivability and an enviable ability to set up quickly and without fuss.</p>

<p>Surely she can't be that bad, I hear you cry. Well, certainly Necturna's miserable base 85 Special Attack stat and lack of any reliable offensive moves over 80 BP somewhat hurt her capabilities, but the applications of Quiver Dance extend far beyond mere brute force. Unlike most Quiver Dancers in the game, Necturna does not possess a weakness to Stealth Rock, and while she does not have the higher Special Attack, Speed, Chlorophyll, and access to Sleep Powder and Petal Dance of her spiritual sister, Lilligant, she does have her own advantages in her access to STAB Shadow Ball, and significantly higher defensive stats. With Quiver Dance boosting her already stellar Special Defense, Necturna can set up on most weaker special attackers, and even on some things that, ordinarily, would threaten her. In addition, Giga Drain is a useful tool that can restore Necturna's HP every time she inflicts damage with it, which is immensely helpful to offset the HP lost while setting up. Shadow Ball is Necturna's second STAB attack, and achieves fairly good coverage alongside Giga Drain on almost everything in OU, save for those pesky Steel-types. To deal with them, as ever, Necturna has her standard special coverage attack in Hidden Power, the fact that she doesn't actually have any other coverage moves notwithstanding. Hidden Power Fire is generally the more useful, as it hits Jirachi, Scizor, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, and Metagross for super effective damage, but is greatly weakened in the rain and necessitates a 30 Speed IV. Hidden Power Fighting gets a stronger hit on Heatran and Hydreigon, but does not hit the above threats for quite so much damage.</p>

<p>The EV spread is subject to a good amount of alterations to hit different targets, but the given spread is designed with Quiver Dance boosts in mind. Notably, after a single Quiver Dance you can outrun all unboosted Pokemon of base 115 Speed or lower, as well as Choice Scarf Tyranitar. It also means that Necturna beats most Scizor, Tyranitar, and Breloom without a boost. Offensive ability is maximised with a Modest nature and 252 EVs in Special Attack, and the remaining EVs are allocated to HP to enable Necturna to take hits more easily. It is important to note that the extra 4 EVs in Speed are due to Hidden Power – since you are forced to use a 30 Speed IV for both Hidden Power types, an extra 4 EVs are necessary to make up the difference. If you want, it is entirely possible to make inroads on Necturna's Speed or Special Attack in order to run a more bulky spread – while the loss in power is significant, the ability to garner more Quiver Dance boosts may be more appealing to you, as Necturna's ability to set up on opponents and to stay alive after having set up is increased. As a note, Necturna would require 252 HP and 84 Defense EVs minimum in order to avoid the 2HKO from Choice Band Scizor's Bullet Punch, factoring in Leftovers, though this is not necessary if you are carrying Hidden Power Fire. A simple 252 / 252 spread may also appeal in order to outrun Modest Heatran and Adamant Dragonite unboosted, or even a Timid nature if you are seriously worried about being outrun. As far as the item is concerned, Leftovers is typically the more convenient choice as without any reliable recovery, Necturna may find herself getting worn down quite quickly as she sets up, and thus Leftovers provides the passive healing necessary to facilitate boosting up to respectable levels. It also helps to supplement Giga Drain's healing. On the other hand, it does leave a Pokemon that already suffers from chronic power shortage somewhat on the ineffective side until she gets a chance to boost her stats, and as such, Life Orb may be preferred to give Necturna a little extra power. Do be careful, however, as the recoil from Life Orb can seriously impact on Necturna's ability to set up successfully, and you may find yourself relying more on Giga Drain than you would be comfortable with – thus exchanging survivability for raw power. The power difference is notable – Pokemon such as Heatran and Tyranitar can be 2HKOed after a boost with the appropriate move where they would otherwise be 3HKOed, but then Necturna may not survive for long enough to get the two hits in.</p>

<p>Generally speaking, the biggest threats to Quiver Dance Necturna are strong physical attackers that can take a hit, as well as specially defensive Steel-types. Examples of the former include Scrafty and Dragonite, while examples of the latter include Jirachi and Heatran. Strong physical attackers are hard to get rid of as an entire group, so your best bet may be to set up Reflect with something like Latias to stall them, or even to prepare for Pokemon such as Scizor with Magnezone in the wings. A Reflect would also help with Necturna's weakness to priority attacks, such as those from Mamoswine and Scizor. In the case of Jirachi and Heatran, you may want to include a Dugtrio to be sure of getting rid of them. Dugtrio can also rather helpfully get rid of Tyranitar, Chansey, and Blissey, all of whom will present a challenge to surpass – while Chansey and Blissey cannot threaten Necturna directly, Chansey is not even guaranteed to be 2HKOed after six Quiver Dances and a Life Orb, so can theoretically stall Necturna out with Toxic and Protect. If Dugtrio is not your ideal Pokemon, you may want to consider a Rotom-W or Politoed to deal with Jirachi and Heatran – The rain that Politoed brings is a double-edged sword, however, as although it is immensely helpful in weakening Fire-type attacks, enabling you to set up more easily on weak Hidden Power Fires, and even on some powerful Fire-types, it does weaken the power of your own Hidden Power Fire, so should only be used if you are using Hidden Power Fighting. Note that physical Jirachi sets are far more threatening to Necturna than special ones – indeed, you may even be able to use a special Jirachi as set-up fodder if you carry Leftovers. Also, Wobbuffet can be helpful in order to get rid of Chansey and Blissey, by using Tickle repeatedly until they are weak enough to be finished off by a Pursuit user, and can also secure a turn for Necturna to set up, thanks to Encore.</p>

<p>As a final note, if you happen to be running a Tail Glow set, then this is the ideal set to use, though with Tail Glow in place of Quiver Dance, obviously. Of course, as you do not receive any Speed boosts from Tail Glow, it is generally better to run Timid and 252 Speed EVs, as you will want to outrun as much as you are able to, and should not be short on power thanks to the three-stage boost of Tail Glow. Note that Necturna is much more susceptible to revenge killing with this set, however.</p>

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<p>Quiver Dance Necturna is remarkably potent, but is held back by a number of factors. While there is not much that can be done about limited coverage and a lack of power, this set attempts to solve two of Necturna's most pressing issues – firstly, her weakness to status effects, and secondly, her weakness to priority attacks. This is achieved through the use of the move Substitute, thought of by some as the best move in the game, and an excellent tool both for scouting and for protection. While Chansey would ordinarily be a fairly impassable stop to Quiver Dance Necturna, with Substitute in tow, Necturna blocks Toxic and is immune to Seismic Toss, so Chansey is pretty much helpless. Substitute also helps by blocking Jirachi's Thunder Wave and Toxic from Politoed, as well as scouting, just in case the opponent attempts to switch a Timid Choice Scarf Heatran in on a Quiver Dance, thus enabling you to see the opponent's immediate response to the danger of Necturna without fear. The inevitable downside to this is, of course, that Necturna is further limited in her coverage, with only two slots available for attacking moves.</p>

<p>Happily, Necturna happens to have perfect two-move coverage available to her in STAB Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting. Unhappily, of course, perfect coverage is not always enough for a sweeper that ideally wants to be doing as much damage as is possible, and even more unhappily, the loss of Giga Drain renders Necturna greatly susceptible to passive damage and being worn down, and thus making her somewhat more vulnerable to revenge killing if she doesn't have that all-important Substitute up. The lack of a Fire-type move, too, hurts her ability to take on powerful Steel-types such as Jirachi and Scizor, thus meaning that the list of Pokemon she can take down without a significant number of boosts is greatly reduced.</p>

<p>The EV spread has not changed from that of the standard Quiver Dancer – the same EVs are necessary to outrun the same targets, and the same power is needed more than ever. The given EV spread allows you to outrun positive base 115 Speed Pokemon after a boost, as well as Jolly Choice Scarf Tyranitar, while enabling Necturna to outrun most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom when unboosted, while maximising offensive potential and dumping the remaining EVs in HP. Note that you may want to increase your defensive investment in order to hit specific targets – for example, 168 HP EVs ensures that your Substitutes cannot be broken by standard 0 SpA Tentacruel's Ice Beam after a Quiver Dance boost. The extra HP may well be helpful, as this set potentially suffers even more from a lack of power than the standard Quiver Dancer, as Leftovers is the primary item, since Life Orb, on top of Substitute and possibly sandstorm damage, without the presence of Giga Drain to mitigate it, would mean that Necturna is worn down very quickly indeed. Hence, the extra HP to make Substitutes that much more sturdy could be worthwhile in order to grab those vital extra Quiver Dances, but beware of compromising Necturna's ability to perform when unboosted. Thus, Leftovers is the primary item, as without Giga Drain to fall back on, Necturna needs all the healing she can get.</p>

<p>This Necturna variant does not carry Fire-type attacks, and as such benefits greatly from rain support, which dampens the power of the Fire-type attacks that many special sweepers would otherwise attempt to use to put an end to her. With the protective blanket of rain, Necturna is free to set up with relative impunity – until, of course, the opponent switches in a physical attacker. Thus, Politoed makes a fairly good partner, and again aids in being able to take on Heatran and other problem Pokemon. Thanks to Substitute, this variant of Necturna will generally be able to easily overcome Chansey and Blissey, and can even set up on some Heatran and Hydreigon, but will struggle far more against the specially defensive Steel-types that Hidden Power Fighting does not hit for super effective damage, such as Skarmory, Jirachi, and Scizor. Thus, a Magnezone or Rotom-W is advised in order to defeat these foes – Heatran, while strong against them, will have its Fire-type attacks weakened in rain, so if you are running Politoed, is an unwise choice.</p>

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<p>Now, I know what you're thinking. Why would you ever want to give Necturna, a Pokemon who has access to every set-up move in the game, Calm Mind as a set-up move, rather than the considerably more frightening Quiver Dance? Well, there's only one reason why you would, and that's to save your Sketch slot. Unlike Quiver Dance, Necturna learns Calm Mind naturally, meaning that she can afford to run a big, powerful coverage move, or even an extra utility move, which can solve the problem of staying alive as well as partially helping with the issue of power and coverage; however, this is not to say that these great improvements come problem-free. Without the boost to Speed provided by Quiver Dance, it is far more difficult for Necturna to straight-up sweep the opponent, as she is far more susceptible to revenge killing. Hence, this Necturna would seem to have greater merit on a team that is prepared to invest as great an effort as possible into taking out fast, physical threats.</p>

<p>As Quiver Dance Necturna's biggest problem is with Steel-types, you will naturally want a coverage move that can make it easier to break them. Blue Flare is given here for its somewhat ridiculous power and decent accuracy, and its ability to hit every Steel-type in OU, bar Heatran, for super effective damage. As an illustration of its power, Blue Flare will do a minimum of 64% to specially defensive Jirachi after a Calm Mind boost, and even has a small chance to OHKO other variants. Interestingly enough, Blue Flare is stronger than STAB Shadow Ball against neutral opponents. As for the other two moves, a STAB move is fairly necessary, with Giga Drain getting the nod here for its healing effect, which is more or less necessary in order to allow Necturna to maintain her HP at a reasonable level. Finally, you will want to find a coverage move that adequately complements Grass- and Fire-type coverage. Hidden Power Ice is your best bet to take out Dragonite, Latios, and other dangerous Dragons, but cannot touch Fire-types at all. On the other hand, Hidden Power Ground allows you to fare better against Heatran and Ninetales, amongst other things, but leaves you helpless against nearly all Dragon-types in OU. Shadow Ball is a decent alternative if you prefer, as it is at least a STAB move, so has greater power against neutral opponents, but Heatran and Dragonite will still walk all over you. Its most important application is its ability to hit other Calm Mind sweepers, such as Latios, Latias, and Reuniclus, for super effective damage, so they cannot set up alongside you. Interestingly, though, the combination of Shadow Ball / Blue Flare / Giga Drain hits everything in OU bar Heatran and Hydreigon for at least neutral damage, so there is that. Lastly, Hidden Power Fighting can act as a halfway house between Hidden Power Ice and Hidden Power Ground, enabling you to at least damage Heatran and Hydreigon, but can't do anything besides that.</p>

<p>As far as other options for your Sketch slot go, there are very few that are worth talking about. You could always try going for a more powerful STAB attack, but the only one over 100 Base Power without a drawback is Seed Flare, and the extra power you get from it really isn't enough to justify using it over Blue Flare, or even using it over Giga Drain, the healing effect of which is invaluable to any set lacking reliable recovery. There are very few other options you could use at all, unless of course you happened to be running a rain team and wanted to annoy the opponent with a boosted Hydro Pump, or Hurricane or Thunder, but really there are so many better Pokemon for doing this that it isn't even funny. On the non-attacking side, you could try running Spore to incapacitate a difficult opponent, but it can only really be used once, owing to Sleep Clause. The EVs are designed to give the maximum possible attacking prowess while at the same time compromising between Necturna's bulk and her ability to outrun things – hence Modest and 252 EVs in Special Attack pushes her to the limit of her offensive ability, while 184 Speed EVs allows her to outrun most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom, while also tying with bulky Rotom-W, and the remainder are dunked in HP. As ever, you can always run 252 EVs in order to outrun Modest Heatran and Adamant Dragonite if that appeals to you. The reason for the discrepancy between this set's Speed EVs and the others' is because Hidden Power Ice and Hidden Power Ground enable you to run a 31 Speed IV, so the extra 4 EVs are not needed; of course, if you are running Hidden Power Fighting, you would need to add another 4 EVs on to outrun the same targets. For the item, Leftovers is preferred, as if Necturna cannot survive long enough to get enough boosts, she is dead meat, and unlike Quiver Dance Necturna, cannot rely on outrunning opponents to get away with using Life Orb, either.</p>

<p>If running Hidden Power Ice, you are extremely vulnerable to Heatran, Ninetales, and others of an inflammable nature – hence, you may be advised to call upon the services of Dugtrio to remove them. Dugtrio is also useful for its ability to take out Chansey and Blissey, both of whom are greatly threatening to this set, as well as Tyranitar, who can survive a Giga Drain and attack back with Crunch. In addition, Dugtrio can also ensure the destruction of a weakened Liquid Ooze Tentacruel in a pinch, who while extremely rare, can present rather a prickly problem for our dear little shrine maiden. Water-types, such as Vaporeon, Rotom-W, and Starmie, also work well for this purpose, but you should not run Politoed on account of Blue Flare. On that note, it may even be worth running an alternative weather inducer to preserve Blue Flare's power by countering an opposing Politoed's efforts. On the other hand, running Hidden Power Ground leaves you particularly vulnerable to Salamence, Dragonite, and all their little draconic friends. The previously mentioned Water-types work fairly well against them, and specially defensive Steel-types such as Jirachi and Heatran do a pretty good job as well. If all else fails, you may have to rely on a revenge killer such as Choice Scarf Terrakion to get rid of them. If you are not running Shadow Ball, you will find yourself in trouble against other Calm Mind users. Latias, Latios, and Reuniclus can be removed using a Pursuit user, or something that threatens them, such as Scizor or Tyranitar. Calm Mind Jirachi can be got rid of using the aforementioned Dugtrio or Water-types if weakened, or a Latias of one's own can set up Calm Minds before Roaring it out, though two Calm Mind users on the same team is generally a bad idea.</p>

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<p>While tearing through the opponent's team with super-powerful legendary exclusive moves is all very well and fun, this strategy is certainly not the only trick up Calm Mind Necturna's rather bulging sleeves. Necturna can, for example, follow the path of Calm Mind Reuniclus and use Recover, solving nearly all of her problems with being worn down over time. With it, Giga Drain is no longer necessary, and so Shadow Ball can replace it, with Hidden Power Fighting as coverage, giving Necturna her well-loved perfect coverage in a mere two moveslots. The downside to this tactic is, as was mentioned in the Substitute + Quiver Dance set, that Necturna suffers from a rather severe power shortage, as well as a significant loss in super effective coverage, and as such will need to accrue many more Calm Mind boosts to present a credible threat.</p>

<p>The combination of Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting is unresisted, and this is one advantage that Necturna has as a Calm Mind user over Pokemon such as Reuniclus and Jirachi. One must question, however, why you would ever use Necturna over a Pokemon such as Reuniclus, who has Magic Guard, so cannot be Toxic-stalled, 125 base Special Attack, a full forty points above Necturna's, and Psyshock, so is unlikely to lose a Calm Mind war. So what advantages does Necturna have? Well, for one, it's a wholly different typing, so is less susceptible to Scizor, and can block Rapid Spin, so is not wholly limited to the Calm Mind sweeper role, as well as having arguably better two-move coverage, so is not wholly stopped by Latias, Celebi, and others of that nature. Even so, it's a question you should think very carefully about before deciding which of these Pokemon you would want to include in your team.</p>

<p>As with nearly all of Necturna's sets, her EV spread is as customizable as a depressed bacterium, only this time, defensive options are the order of the day. In order to present a credible threat, Necturna needs time to grab as many Calm Mind boosts as possible, and as such, defensive EV spreads are the order of the day to take maximum advantage of the benefits afforded by Recover. The spread given in the set is the most basic - a simple 252/252+ spread that maximises Necturna's capacity to take physical hits, while relying on Calm Mind to make her nigh-on impenetrable on the special side. With a resistance to Ground and an immunity to Fighting, Necturna is more capable of taking physical hits than one would think - though boosted physical hits, such as Choice Band Haxorus Outrage, will still leave her barely holding on for dear life. For reference, Scizor's Choice Band Bullet Punch will do a maximum of 40% with that spread. However, you may want to take EVs out of Defense in order to allow you to outspeed certain key threats - in this case, 128 Speed EVs beats Offensive Swords Dance Scizor and 172 EVs beats Adamant Breloom and Modest Politoed, though you may want to run an extra point to beat other Pokemon trying to hit these targets. In general, there is little between these targets and 4 EVs that it is worth investing in to outrun. Naturally, this spread relies on the team's ability to take out physically powerful threats - if you are absolutely certain of your ability to do so, then a specially defensive spread might not be a bad idea either. Finally, running a spread akin to the other Calm Mind set, with 252 EVs in Special Attack and a boosting nature, can also work if you want more immediate power - you could even hypothetically use Life Orb, while relying on Recover to offset passive damage.</p>

<p>As for the Recover variant, just like the Substitute + Quiver Dance set and any other that relies on pure Ghost + Fighting coverage, Necturna will run into issues with power, particularly against specially defensive Steel-types, or indeed any Steel-types at all. Scizor, Skarmory, Jirachi, and Heatran are the main offenders, and each is more than capable of reducing Necturna to tears before a single punch is thrown, although Necturna can actually set up on specially defensive Heatran, as if Heatran switches in on her, she can get two boosts before Heatran can throw a Lava Plume its way. Life Orb Heatran, however, will OHKO right through the Calm Mind boost. To deal with them all, the standard emergency procedure is to go immediately to Magnezone in the case of Scizor and Skarmory, though Jirachi and Heatran may need different checks, depending on the variant. Rotom-W or another similar Water-type would be a useful investment, and again, Dugtrio is always your friend should you be truly desperate. Politoed is also a pretty useful friend, as the rain it brings dampens Fire-type attacks and as such gives Necturna far more Pokemon it can potentially set up on, though obviously Life Orb Heatran is still a bit beyond its capabilities. These Pokemon are all helpful as well against Tyranitar, who is a major obstacle for any Necturna that hasn't got enough boosts to smash straight through it or fails to outrun it.</p>

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<p>When Necturna isn't boosting her stats, one of the biggest problems she has is that in order to significantly damage the opponent, she will have to predict the opponent fairly well. There are a lot of Pokemon that are faster than her, and plenty that have the ability to seriously damage her, and her STAB moves are resisted by a not inconsiderable number of Pokemon. Now, ask any self-respecting Hydreigon, Alakazam, or Terrakion how one deals with the problem of having plenty of power and coverage but having to predict to be effective, and they will reply, "If all else fails, go with Substitute". The number of applications of this one move is truly colossal – one can use it to block out damaging status, prevent stat reductions, and most importantly, can use it as the opponent switches out to gather a free turn, in which the momentum is undoubtedly on the user's side. If Necturna uses Substitute, then she is protected for at least one turn, and can use the appropriate move to eliminate whatever is in her way.</p>

<p>As ever, Necturna has her excellent STAB Power Whip to make use of, not to mention Shadow Claw, both of which are strong enough to deal with the majority of opponents she should face. Wait, hold on… aren't we forgetting something here? Ah yes, the Sketch move! As this variant of Necturna is physical, there is nothing to stop her from going the route of the Choice Band set and using Sacred Fire, and arguably Sacred Fire is even more viable here than on the Choice set, as the presence of Substitute means that you are less likely to waste your precious Sacred Fire PP on ineffective match-ups, and can plan ahead accordingly. However, this is not to say that Sacred Fire is the only option available. With Substitute, Necturna is able to get a free hit on Heatran, but with a moveset of Power Whip / Shadow Claw / Sacred Fire, she can barely touch it. Close Combat remedies this with aplomb, handily dispatching even defensive Heatran with Stealth Rock support. While you may wonder why one wouldn't use Hi Jump Kick for the same purpose, the negative effect of Hi Jump Kick, even if it occurs far less often, is far more severe than that of Close Combat, and an assured KO on Heatran is far more valuable than the additional power. Even so, while Sacred Fire and Close Combat are really the best options for that all-important Sketch slot, a nod must be given at this point to Focus Punch, that move so often combined with Substitute. Focus Punch's power is tremendous, and Substitute prevents its drawback from being too onerous, as when Necturna is behind a Substitute, she cannot be flinched, and thus, the opponent will find themselves on the receiving end of a 150 Base Power Fighting-type attack. Even with this much power, it is a lesser option as Close Combat is easily adequate enough to OHKO all its important targets, chiefly Heatran and Hydreigon, and Focus Punch is not advisable unless you are safely behind a Substitute, so cannot be used to revenge kill. In addition, you may like to use Horn Leech in place of Power Whip in order to recover HP lost using Substitute, but the loss in power from Power Whip is not inconsiderable.</p>

<p>A casual observer may wonder why, here, a Life Orb is the item given, where it has been impressed upon them in the remainder of the analysis that Life Orb, on top of Substitute damage, without a form of healing, constitutes an unacceptable amount of passive damage, resulting in Necturna being worn down far too quickly. The answer is that, owing to the nature of this set, Necturna really needs to be doing as much damage as she can with a single attack, as once her Substitute is gone, she is vulnerable. Life Orb is necessary, for example, to 2HKO Skarmory with Sacred Fire, and OHKO Heatran with Close Combat, both with Stealth Rock damage. The healing that Leftovers provides is simply not enough to offset the loss in power from Life Orb. This means that Necturna will be worn down pretty quickly, so a user of Wish, such as Vaporeon, is strongly advised to keep Necturna healthy. Following along this theme, an Adamant nature is suggested over a Jolly one; while the loss in Speed means that deadly foes such as Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite outrun you, without the extra power of Adamant, a lot of the assured KOs mentioned above suddenly look a lot less sure of themselves. Of course, if you are not carrying any moves that can hurt Dragonite or Heatran anyway, then not being able to outrun them is irrelevant, and even if you are faster, if you are behind a Substitute then you can KO Heatran with Close Combat and possibly burn Dragonite with Sacred Fire regardless of whether or not they are faster than you. With that said, being able to hit them before they hit you still has its merits, by way of Necturna actually being able to function as a revenge killer if need be, as well as being able to keep your Substitute should they switch in as you place your Substitute up. As far as the EVs are concerned, maximum Attack and maximum Speed are absolutely necessary in order to hit as hard as possible and to outrun same-natured Heatran and Dragonite, respectively, with the remaining EVs thrown into Defense in order to allow Necturna to form 5 Substitutes at most.</p>

<p>As with Necturna's other hard-hitting sets, this one primarily acts as a lure in order to take out Pokemon that would ordinarily threaten it, and hence open up gaps in the opponent's team for other Pokemon that are threatened by the same Pokemon to take advantage of. While this set is weaker than the Choice Band set and does not have the indiscriminate killing power of the Soak set, it does have the advantage of being able to easily predict an opponent's moves – Necturna's versatility is so threatening that even switching in will almost always cause a switch, and as such it is fairly easy to set up a Substitute and hence gain an immediate advantage over the opponent. As such, the most valuable partners to this set are, of course, those that gain the most from the gaps that Necturna creates. If using Sacred Fire, your best bet for teammates are generally those that would find trouble with Ferrothorn, Scizor, Forretress, Skarmory, Metagross, and Jirachi. For example, Starmie would ordinarily have trouble with Ferrothorn, Gengar would have trouble with Scizor, Gliscor would have difficulties with Skarmory, and Alakazam would have great trouble with Jirachi. In general, strong physical attackers that are also troubled by Steel-types, such as Haxorus, Tyranitar, and some Gyarados, make decent partners here. On the other hand, if you have Close Combat, then partners that will appreciate the absence of Heatran become more desirable. Such Pokemon include Scizor, Jirachi, and Celebi lacking Earth Power.</p>

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<p>Can anyone say "limitless diversity"? Yes, indeed, Necturna gets a good many toys to play with, though most of them are rather useless on her. One very notable exception to the rule, however, is exemplified in this set. Soak is a little-known move that is only learned by Water-types (except Azurill, who doesn't count), which turns the opponent into a pure Water-type – which is fairly meaningless to those who learn it, as they aren't much more competent at taking on other Water-types than they are taking on any other type in the game. Thus you would expect Necturna to make the same use of this move as she does of Reflect Type and Splash – however, when this move is given to a Grass-type, it takes on a whole new meaning. By turning the switch-in into a Water-type, not only do they likely no longer possess STAB on their moves, but they are also made weak to Grass-type attacks – and let us not forget that Necturna happens to have the strongest Power Whip in the game. As such, when played correctly, this set can actually beat most of Necturna's ordinary counters. With a Life Orb, even physically defensive Skarmory, usually one of Necturna's deadliest enemies, has a small chance to be OHKOed by Power Whip, factoring in Stealth Rock and one round of Leftovers recovery, and other common Steel-types don't stand a chance against it.</p>

<p>Of course, using Soak on the first turn will telegraph that you are about to use a Grass-type attack, and as there are seven types in total that resist Grass, it will not be hard for the opponent to recover from the initial surprise, especially as they will then know that you do not carry a Fire-type attack. As such, you cannot simply rely only on Soak and Power Whip to carry you through. In the last two slots, Stone Edge and Shadow Claw provide you with any coverage that you may need against un-soaked opponents, and Shadow Claw also doubles as a reliable, accurate weapon to use against weakened opponents. Of course, you may decide that you want to take further advantage of Soak in other ways, and can exchange the generally useless Stone Edge for something a little more interesting. Substitute is a nifty choice, as it helps with prediction immensely, something that will be perpetually needed on such a set as this, especially for deciding whether to use Soak or not. Unfortunately, it can result in Necturna getting worn down very quickly indeed with Life Orb, so is only advisable with Leftovers. On the other hand, Soak will force plenty of switches, so Toxic Spikes, which Necturna learns naturally, can be helpful to take maximum advantage of this fact, and also to deter non-Steel-types from switching in. Regrettably, however, although Soak removes the immunities of Steel-types and Poison-types to poison, Toxic Spikes cannot be used to poison them, as you can only Soak them after they have already switched in.</p>

<p>Alternative moves that have some degree of merit on this set include Shadow Sneak, Horn Leech, and Leaf Blade. Shadow Sneak gets the nod for its priority, which can be useful to finish off a foe that Power Whip just failed to KO, and is particularly useful as Necturna is not terribly fast, despite the maximum Speed investment given. On the other hand, owing to Power Whip's inaccuracy, you may want to have a second Grass-type STAB move, either to finish off weakened Pokemon that you want to be sure of killing, or simply to attack foes where Power Whip's added bite makes no difference. For example, while Power Whip is easily capable of OHKOing 248 HP Scizor after a Soak, Leaf Blade will do the job 100% of the time, rather than 85% of the time, and likewise, Horn Leech will also OHKO 100% of the time with Stealth Rock support. While Leaf Blade's extra power can be very helpful, notably in the above case, Horn Leech can also be very helpful to regain HP lost by Substitute or Life Orb, and the threat of a super effective attack means that a good deal of HP can be gained back. However, generally the given options will be sufficient. A Jolly nature and 252 Speed EVs are necessary in order to outrun two of Necturna's biggest threats, Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite, and thus can attack them before they have a chance to move. Although an Adamant nature, when paired with Life Orb, would allow you to OHKO just about every single Steel-type in OU, including Skarmory, a Jolly nature will more than suffice when paired with Stealth Rock, and the extra Speed will generally aid you far more than the extra Attack. There is little else to say about the EV spread, other than that the last 4 EVs are placed in Defense rather than HP in order to allow the creation of a maximum of 5 Substitutes, but this rarely comes into play owing to the presence of Life Orb or, indeed, Leftovers. Speaking of items, Life Orb is typically the best choice for the added power, which can make the difference between an OHKO and a 2HKO on many of the targets you want to be hitting, but Leftovers increases survivability and can offset the passive damage from Substitute, if you are carrying it, and Necturna can still OHKO defensive Heatran after a Soak, but misses out on more bulky Pokemon, such as Skarmory.</p>

<p>Thanks to Soak, Necturna is capable of taking on almost any Pokemon in existence, so in terms of partners, it is less a case of what you can do for Necturna, but what Necturna can do for you. As this Necturna set will be forcing plenty of switches, Spikes and Stealth Rock are a good idea to take advantage, racking up the passive damage on the opponent. In addition, as this Necturna set will be functioning as a lure more than anything else, and will be able to take down or severely damage most Steel-types, teammates who can take advantage of their absence are recommended. These include Psychic-type cleaners such as Alakazam and Latios, as well as set-up sweepers such as Dragonite and Scizor. Lastly, since this Necturna has no way to recover her health, you may want to include a Wish passer such as Vaporeon or Blissey, especially if you also happen to be carrying Substitute.</p>

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<p>Necturna certainly isn't short on set-up options, but one which you won't generally see bandied about on the competitive stage is Belly Drum, a curious move which, in exchange for half of Necturna's HP, maximises her Attack and sends any sensible Pokemon with a semblance of respect for its own mortality running and hiding under the nearest futon. Well, that's what would happen in a perfect world. Unfortunately, the same reasons for the non-existence of Belly Drum Charizard and Linoone still apply here – on just 50% of her health, or less if she is attacked as she sets up, she almost screams "Scizor bait". That's not to say that this set is entirely useless, though. It needs a great deal of support, prediction, and above all luck to be successful, but when it does work, there is nothing more satisfying that Necturna can produce. Well, competitively speaking, anyway.</p>

<p>Necturna has all the right tools to make a successful Belly Drum sweeper. A decently strong STAB move that also happens to restore HP, a good STAB priority move, and a decent if totally inaccurate coverage move are all needed in some capacity, and Horn Leech, Shadow Sneak, and Stone Edge fill these roles admirably. Unfortunately, there is one piece of the shortbread missing – by using up her Sketch slot on Belly Drum, Necturna cannot hit Steel-types. And that's a problem. A big problem. Couple that to the fact that Shadow Sneak will not usually be doing enough to crush revenge killers before they can get a hit in, and the problem gets worse. However, this is not really the way to approach this set. Necturna can still perform competently as a 3-attack Pokemon and answer to Water-types, and can provide a vital utility or pivot role on the team. Shadow Sneak is a useful tool for revenge killing troublesome opponents, even if it is very weak without the aid of Life Orb or even an Adamant nature, and Horn Leech and Leftovers ensure that Necturna will likely stay above 50% HP for the majority of the battle. However, when times get tough, as they always do, Necturna can pull out a Belly Drum in the late-game, and perhaps this gambit will be enough to break the opponent's team. And even if it isn't, at least you can say you tried.</p>

<p>Given that this is a set that relies even more highly on being able to KO the opponent before they have a chance to act than the Shell Smash set, you would wonder why damage output is not maximised first – why, exactly, one uses Jolly and Leftovers, as opposed to Adamant and Life Orb? Well, it's really a case of high-risk, high-reward versus conservative play. With Adamant and a Life Orb, you will be losing 50% of your health on a Belly Drum, and 10% every subsequent turn, meaning that along with hazards and other passive damage, if you cannot get a Horn Leech off quickly enough, Necturna is likely to die very quickly indeed. Leftovers healing, by contrast, supplements that of Horn Leech and makes it easier to get off a Belly Drum in the first place, but makes Necturna a bit less capable once it's all set up. As for why a Jolly nature would be used over an Adamant nature, Necturna really wants to be outrunning as much as she can, especially as Stone Edge is capable of OHKOing all variants of Heatran after a boost. However, given that there are many KOs that Necturna will find far more comfortable with an Adamant nature than a Jolly nature, such as the OHKO on specially defensive Skarmory with Stone Edge, so an Adamant nature is usually preferred.</p>

<p>In general, there are two things that need removing in order for this set to successfully sweep an opposing team – firstly, opposing Steel-types, and secondly, opposing fast things that can tank a +6 Shadow Sneak, such as Hydreigon. Scizor is a particularly menacing foe – Bullet Punch will destroy Necturna if she just used Belly Drum – but Ferrothorn, Metagross, and physically defensive Skarmory are all troublesome as well. Rotom-W is an excellent stop to Scizor, Skarmory, and Metagross, but has big problems with Ferrothorn; as such, you may want to employ a Heatran of your own to take them on. Opposing fast things simply need to be identified and removed quickly – generally, anything fast that resists Ghost-type attacks will give Necturna a very hard time.</p>

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<p>Baton Pass may seem a strange choice for Necturna's Sketch move, as Necturna does not happen to learn any boosting moves naturally, besides the rather vanilla Calm Mind, and in any case, Espeon can pull off a Calm Mind Baton pass set so much better, thanks to Magic Bounce and higher Speed, that it does not merit even discussing. However, Necturna does learn one move that makes her almost unique as a Baton Passer – Ingrain. This move prevents Necturna from being forced out, and more importantly, prevents any Pokemon she Baton Passes to from being forced out either, thus rendering one of most teams' common responses to Baton Pass chains almost entirely void. Necturna is, indeed, the only Pokemon besides Smeargle to get the Baton Pass + Ingrain combination, meaning that Baton Pass chain teams have a rather more formidable weapon than Smeargle to start them off.</p>

<p>Necturna is, indeed, the only fully-evolved Ghost-type besides Drifblim to get Baton Pass, which gives her a significant niche on Baton Pass teams that may require her resistances. Generally, due to Necturna's lack of any meaningful boosts she can pass on, she works better in a full Baton Pass chain team, as opposed to as a standalone Baton Passer – though that's not to say that she cannot be used as such if the mood takes you. Baton Pass and Ingrain are, as mentioned, the core moves of the set – it is generally useful to delegate one other slot to passing something useful, and one for you to do something with when you inevitably end up getting Taunted. One would think that Calm Mind could slot in here if it were ever needed, but as a rule, Substitute is generally more effective, even though Necturna can only pass 83 HP Substitutes, as they can protect another teammate along the chain should the need arise. As for the attacking move, Horn Leech is more useful for the healing effect, which can help in keeping you healthy, while Shadow Claw has arguably better neutral coverage and a higher critical hit rate. Take your pick.</p>

<p>While one would think that Speed would be of the essence, in truth, Necturna is not ever going to be really fast enough regardless of how much Speed she runs, so running a specially defensive spread is typically more rewarding, as it enables Necturna to capitalise on her best stats, stay around for longer, and likely survive for long enough to get a Baton Pass away, as being able to take most special attacks comfortably is a large advantage. Maximum HP and Special Defense with a Careful nature are thus givens, while the remaining EVs are placed in Defense. The boosted HP also means that your Substitutes are a little meatier, and will help the team a little bit more. If you do want to run some Speed, however, 184 Speed EVs are a good benchmark in order to outrun Tyranitar, Breloom, and Scizor. Even so, you should always make sure to maximise HP first, and then invest from there. Leftovers is always a useful item in order to recover your HP, but Mental Herb has advantages to its use in order to recover from Taunt and get a Baton Pass away.</p>

<p>As previously mentioned, this set will typically work best in a Baton Pass chain – since Necturna is not passing any useful boosts, she will require other partners to help pick up the slack. Such useful Baton Passers to choose from include Gliscor, Vaporeon, Espeon, Celebi, and Scizor. If you are passing to a physical sweeper, Scizor and Gliscor are typically more useful as they can both pass Speed and Attack boosts, and Scizor is capable of passing Defense boosts as well. On the other hand, if passing to a special sweeper, then Celebi can pass Nasty Plot boosts and Espeon can pass Calm Mind boosts. Generally you will want to include as many boosts as you can in the chain, not simply Attack and Speed, so that your final recipient, upon whose shoulders the success of your entire strategy rests, can have the utmost chances of success – though if your opponent has Haze, you were doomed before you began. Typically the best recipients are those that are both powerful and immune to Toxic Spikes, such as Heatran or Lucario, but any Pokemon that is slow and powerful can work well, such as Metagross, Marowak, or Heracross. And of course, if you want to annoy your opponent to the utmost extent, you can always use Sunkern or Kakuna.</p>

<h2>Other Options</h2>

<p>To be perfectly honest, it would probably be quicker and easier to list all the things that Necturna can't do. With one use of Sketch to her name, literally every move in the game is open to her – the limit, indeed, is only as far as your imagination sees fit. And, of course, what her stats permit. Trawl about a bit, through her kit, and you'll have to admit, there's very little that's unfit. Well, all the same, I'll have a go, but don't be a bit split if there's something I omit.</p>

<p>We have already discussed some of Necturna's other set-up options in some of the above sets – Swords Dance and Shift Gear in Shell Smash, and Tail Glow alongside Quiver Dance. But one last set-up move that has not been discussed as of yet is Coil. On paper at least, it seems like a fantastic idea. Boosting Necturna's beefy Attack stat, while at the same time patching up her lacklustre Defense stat, as well as improving her accuracy such that Stone Edge and Power Whip go to 100% accuracy after one boost is all very good, and somewhat reminiscent of Curse Snorlax. However, it runs into the same problems as Curse Snorlax in that it is worn down very quickly indeed, and more to the point, is made short work of by Heatran, Skarmory, and a far greater number of Pokemon than her other sets. In short, it really isn't worth using. In terms of other complete sets that are theoretically usable, Choice Specs is one of them, and indeed, a set of Leaf Storm / Blue Flare / Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Ice looks promising. However, Necturna's 85 base Special Attack really lets her down here, and more to the point, nearly any Grass-type you could care to name can do it better. Not even Blue Flare and Necturna's Ghost typing can save it. Another interesting idea for a set is a non-boosting Life Orb variant with Power Whip / Stone Edge / Sacred Fire / Shadow Sneak, as a useful utility Pokemon. It could, indeed, also use Hi Jump Kick over Sacred Fire, or even use Pain Split for recovery. However, such a set is generally forgotten in favour of either the Choice or the Substitute sets, depending on what you are seeking to accomplish. It is by no means outclassed, however, and can be a force to be reckoned with in its own right, not least because of its own unexpectedness.</p>

<p>Some might wonder why, when Necturna has every coverage move in the entire game available to it, the only coverage moves that will ever be Sketched are Sacred Fire, possibly Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick, maybe V-create, and if you are going special, then Blue Flare. One may wonder, indeed, why all of these moves are Fire- or Fighting-type, and the simple answer is that these are the highest-powered moves in the game with the best coverage alongside Necturna's Grass- and Ghost-type moves. As far as other moves go, there are few that are of significant note, but plenty that are worth mentioning in passing. Eruption is an alternative to Blue Flare, but is weaker than the latter if Necturna falls under 87% of her maximum HP. On the physical side, Bolt Strike is an immensely strong option that can hit Flying-types for good damage, but as the only one worth hitting is Dragonite, and Necturna can hit Water-types with her STAB moves anyway, it is hardly worth the bother. On the special side, Blizzard and Focus Blast are options to hit Dragonite and Heatran with, respectively, but are extraordinarily inaccurate and will ruin you as often as they save you. Blizzard may be of more note if you are using Necturna on a hail team, but as Necturna is quite solidly beaten by just about every threat to hail teams already, she is not the most advantageous Pokemon to place in that situation. Staying with the weather theme, it is worth noting that Hydro Pump, Thunder, and Hurricane are all useful moves to take advantage of the rain that a partner Politoed brings, but only Hydro Pump gets the boost from rain, and indeed only Hydro Pump will really hit targets that you couldn't hit already. If using Necturna on a sun team, SolarBeam becomes an option, as it works well in tandem with sun-boosted Blue Flare, but if your opponent switches in a Politoed or Tyranitar then you're a bit stuffed. Secret Sword is an option on Calm Mind sets to beat Chansey, Blissey, and specially defensive Heatran with, but if you're that worried about these threats, then maybe the Substitute + Quiver Dance set is a better bet. Lastly, if you are still lacking a move of an odd type, you can always equip a Plate item and use Judgment, though even Arceus's holy rain of death is somewhat pathetic when given to a Necturna. Oh, and you pretty much lose your item slot.</p>

<p>Most of Necturna's other offensive options are outclassed by what has already been given, but all those irritating little non-attacking moves are still very much around. Spore is the big one, and can be helpful in order to allow Necturna to more or less totally remove a Steel-type from the game, or else allow Dugtrio to come in for free and remove it. However, the loss of your Sketch slot can be crippling, especially as Spore is essentially a one-use move if you can't catch the Pokemon you put to sleep, thanks to Sleep Clause. Final Gambit can be a useful move despite Necturna's pathetic base 64 HP stat, but stripping 236 HP off an opponent can be a useful way of carving a path for another sweeper to clean up, especially if you manage to catch Heatran or Jirachi. Final Gambit is also useful in that no Ghost-type in their right mind would want to switch in, for fear of Shadow Claw. Indeed, it is more useful than Explosion, as Necturna will often draw in Steel-types, and Explosion will generally do very little to them. Trick can be a useful and unexpected tool for the Choice sets, but since you are likely to get Scizor, Heatran, or Jirachi switching in, they are unlikely to be bothered by the item swap too much, unless you manage to catch Skarmory or Forretress. Necturna learns Gravity naturally, so can be a vital player on a Gravity team, if of course you are the sort of person who enjoys making life difficult for themselves. Finally, Spikes and Stealth Rock are available as an accompaniment to Toxic Spikes, a la Forretress or Cloyster. Necturna makes an excellent hazard setter, as previously mentioned, since she also doubles as a spinblocker; however, as was also previously mentioned, there are far better options for that all-important Sketch slot on support sets in the shape of Rapid Spin and Recover.</p>

<p>Is this all that Necturna can do? Of course not. She can annoy the opponent with a SubSeed strategy composed of Substitute and Leech Seed, she can shuffle the opponent's team with Roar or Dragon Tail, she can ruin the opponent's Calm Mind Reuniclus with Heart Swap, she can trap the opponent with Spider Web or Magma Storm and break them with Perish Song. Lunar Dance? Transform? Tailwind? Acid Spray? Trick Room? You name it, and Necturna can do it.</p>

<h2>Checks and Counters</h2>

<p>How does one beat the most versatile Pokemon in OU, if not the game? Well, in the case of Necturna, the answer is apparently "Steel-types". But we'll get to that later. In order for Necturna to be able to defeat Steel-types, to a great extent she has to rely on Fire-type attacks, which are greatly weakened by the presence of rain, so if you happen to have both Politoed and a Steel-type on your team, Necturna is going to have her work cut out. Remember that Necturna is at her most dangerous when you do not know her set – once you have identified that, as well as her Sketch move, then crushing the poor little miko into vegetable oil becomes a much easier feat.</p>

<p>As far as most sets are concerned, their reliance on Fire-type attacks, particularly those that can use Sacred Fire, makes them vulnerable to Heatran. In fact, even a Shell Smash-boosted Life Orb Hidden Power Fighting cannot OHKO offensive Heatran, and defensive variants are not even 2HKOed without Stealth Rock support. In return, Heatran offers a fairly solid OHKO on most variants with Fire Blast or a 2HKO with Lava Plume, though this may change depending on whether the Necturna in question is under the rain, or has Quiver Dance or Calm Mind boosts. Specially defensive Heatran will typically struggle more with the special sets, contrary to what you would expect, and offensive Heatran must watch out for Shell Smash-boosted Stone Edge as well as Close Combat from the lure sets, as well as the rare Hidden Power Ground.</p>

<p>One Pokemon that deserves its own individual mention as a near flawless counter is specially defensive Jirachi, who can take nearly any special attack that Necturna can dish out, as well as most physical ones barring Sacred Fire, especially in the rain, and cripple her with Thunder Wave or simply end her with Iron Head. Note that most special variants may actually struggle against Quiver Dance and Calm Mind Necturna, thanks to Necturna's excellent Special Defense stat, unless of course they have Calm Mind themselves, in which case Necturna cannot really win unless she has Shadow Ball. Note, however, that a Shell Smash-boosted Shadow Claw can 2HKO defensive Jirachi, so be careful. Metagross deserves a mention as being in a similar boat, but with an emphasis on the physical side as opposed to the special side. As for other Steel-types, Skarmory is an excellent stop to nearly all Necturna under the rain, as physically defensive variants are not even 2HKOed by Choice Band Sacred Fire under the rain, while Skarmory can easily OHKO back with Brave Bird. In fact, the only move Necturna has that can KO Skarmory is a Choice Band V-create. Hidden Power Fire is also doing pitiful damage, and Fighting-type moves are no threat to Skarmory's defensive stats. It can also Whirlwind Necturna away if she is behind a Substitute. While Ferrothorn and Forretress cannot take a Fire-type attack at all, they can take just about everything else perfectly well. Ferrothorn can then hit back with Gyro Ball, and Forretress has Payback. However, all of these Pokemon can have difficulty with special variants. Magnezone probably also deserves a mention here, though the most it can muster against Necturna is Flash Cannon or Hidden Power.</p>

<p>Necturna's other big foe is Dragonite, who can take a Shadow Claw from Shell Smash Necturna if its Multiscale is unbroken and attack back with a STAB Dragon-type attack or Fire Punch; rain variants can easily OHKO with STAB Hurricane, and defensive variants can set up Dragon Dance on Necturna that have nothing to hit them with. It can also recover with Roost if need be. However, Stone Edge and Shadow Claw from Shell Smash Necturna will OHKO with Stealth Rock support, hence breaking Multiscale, and unless Dragonite has Substitute or Lum Berry, it must fear the burn from Sacred Fire, as if it is burned, it becomes more or less useless. Alongside Dragonite, other Dragon-types are worth mentioning. Hydreigon, like Heatran, resists everything Necturna commonly carries and can fry her with Fire Blast, but is beaten by any Fighting-type move and cannot switch repeatedly into strong Grass-type attacks. Latias and Latios work well against special sets that do not carry Ghost-type moves, but will be crushed by any other set. Salamence deserves special mention for Intimidate, as well as access to Fire Blast and powerful STAB Dragon-type attacks. Gyarados works for the same reasons, but does not resist Grass-type attacks, so can die quite quickly. Finally, if you don't have Stone Edge or a Ghost-type move, Volcarona can easily beat Necturna with its STAB Fire-type attacks, or even set up Quiver Dance against special variants.</p>

<p>Chansey and Blissey can beat pretty much all special sets by Toxic stalling them to oblivion while Necturna can do barely anything back, but if Necturna runs Substitute and Quiver Dance, she can dodge the initial Toxic and use them as set-up fodder, and physical sets laugh at the fat pink blobs. Tentacruel can also annoy Necturna hoping to set up on it with a Substitute + Toxic set, and can also frustrate Necturna's attempts to drain its HP with Liquid Ooze, though most Tentacruel will prefer Rain Dish.</p>

<p>When all's said and done, though, the easiest way to get rid of Necturna for good is to revenge kill her by preying on her weaker defensive side. Scizor is the poster ant-mantis-thing for this, and can easily get rid of a Shell Smash or Belly Drum Necturna with Bullet Punch, and can down any other Necturna lacking a Fire-type move in two hits as well, though it must beware of Magnezone lurking in the wings. Mamoswine does a similar job with Ice Shard. If all else fails, though, any strong physical attacker will work relatively well. Haxorus, Terrakion, Metagross, and the like are all fully capable of taking down Necturna given the correct opportunity – assuming, of course, that she does not outrun them. Remember that Necturna is immune to Fake Out, Quick Attack, ExtremeSpeed, Mach Punch, and Vacuum Wave, and resists Aqua Jet, so be careful about which priority moves you use.</p>

[Birkal*]

Looks great to me. Thanks for giving this a much-needed consolidation while still maintaining the integrity of the original analysis. As I said on IRC, I still think QD is better than the defensive sets, but I think I'm in the minority there, so don't make any changes there. Let's leave this sit for about a day to see if anyone else has comments to make. If not, I'll grab some GP members tomorrow to help us out. Thanks again for doing this, Korski.

[Arcticblast]

Just reading your overview, I noticed you're inconsistent with "her" and "it." Picking one is probably best.

[Oglemi*]

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<h2>Overview</h2>

<p>This is Necturna, the adorable little flower with the ability to learn Sketch once, and only once, to obtain any one move that she could not learn otherwise. Shell Smash? Spore? Necturna can do it all, making her one of the most feared Pokemon in existence. Her base 120 Attack stat gives her the strongest Power Whip in the game and allows her to take advantage of powerful physical coverage moves such as Close Combat or Sacred Fire. Defensively, Necturna's 64/100/120 defenses make a difficult task of OHKOing her, especially when invested, making Necturna a capable special wall and spinblocker, with access to Horn Leech, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Toxic Spikes, and moves like Rapid Spin or Recover via Sketch.</p>

<p>While the power of a single Sketch move is incredible, Necturna can still run into real problems depending on her set; her Grass/Ghost typing and shallow non-Sketch offensive movepool are walled by many common Steel-types like Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, along with bulky Dragon-types like Dragonite and Salamence who can take an unboosted Shadow Claw fairly easily. Her low base 81 Speed puts her at a disadvantage in the fast BW OU metagame, so setting up can be difficult, especially considering her Dark, Ghost, Fire, Flying, Ice, and Poison weaknesses and susceptibility to all forms of status and passive damage. With coverage options limited to Hidden Power and Stone Edge, offensive Necturna are defined by their "move of choice," making them easier to deal with once an opponent discovers the Sketch move.</p>

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<p>Shell Smash is the single most powerful set-up move in the game, able to boost Necturna's Attack stat to frighteningly high levels, while at the same time raising her Speed and Special Attack stats. Power Whip is a devastating STAB attack at +2 with its high Base Power, while Horn Leech is a decent alternative for its superior accuracy and for offsetting Life Orb recoil. Shadow Claw is her strongest Ghost-type STAB attack, but at only 70 Base Power, it is primarily used to take care of weakened opponents or to OHKO Celebi, Latias, and Latios, 2HKO Jirachi and Metagross, and OHKO Dragonite and Salamence after Stealth Rock. Hidden Power Fire is the ideal choice for the fourth slot, as with the boosts provided by Shell Smash and Life Orb, it can OHKO Ferrothorn, Forretress, Scizor, and physically defensive Skarmory. However, the move is laughably weak under rain and leaves Necturna open to Hydreigon and Heatran, so Hidden Power Fighting can be used instead, as it retains neutral or better coverage against all Steel-types.</p>

<p>The given EVs, along with a Naughty nature and Life Orb allow Necturna to OHKO Ferrothorn and Gliscor and 2HKO Jirachi after a Shell Smash. The Speed EVs enable Necturna to outpace Modest Heatran before a boost, and Modest Chlorophyll Venusaur and Jolly Choice Scarf Terrakion after a boost. Alternatively, a White Herb may be used to restore Necturna's defenses after a boost, but the drop in power from Life Orb is significant, as you lose out on the aforementioned KOs.</p>

<p>The omnipresence of Steel-types, along with Necturna's weakness to passive damage and disappointing coverage moves, prevent her from reliably sweeping without the right kind of support. Dugtrio and Magnezone can trap and remove these threats; where Dugtrio can revenge kill Heatran, weakened Jirachi, and weakened Metagross lacking Bullet Punch, Magnezone has a fairly easy time against Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Scizor. Heatran itself is a good teammate, as it can quite easily force out nearly all Steel-types in OU who would threaten Necturna while luring in bulky Water-types that Necturna can switch in on and threaten or set up on. Other good teammates include Vaporeon, as it can counter Heatran fairly well and pass huge Wishes to heal Necturna. Finally, this build appreciates entry hazards for netting key KOs, so teammates like Deoxys-D and Skarmory are good choices as well.</p>

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<p>While Sketch grants Necturna access to such powerful setup moves as Shell Smash or Quiver Dance, it can also be used to access incredibly powerful coverage moves such as Sacred Fire or V-create. With a Choice Band equipped, Necturna reaches a 508 Attack stat with a Jolly nature, and with tricky Grass/Ghost/Fire/Rock coverage, she can be very difficult to switch into. Power Whip is the STAB move of choice, capable of 2HKOing Latios and Hydreigon with Stealth Rock support. Shadow Sneak is a useful priority move which lets Necturna double as a revenge killer, picking off weakened Pokemon and frail sweepers like Alakazam. Sacred Fire is not only a powerful attacking move that hits Steel-types, but it is also an excellent utility move for its 50% chance to burn the opponent. Alternatively, V-create has much more immediate power, enough to OHKO Skarmory, but its side-effects are crippling compared to Sacred Fire. Lastly, Stone Edge is Necturna's only real extra physical coverage, catching threats such as Dragonite and Salamence off-guard.</p>

<p>Necturna's base 81 Speed is middling, to say the least, so maximum Speed and Attack are both essential. A Jolly nature and 252 EVs are required for Necturna to outrun Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite. An alternative spread of 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe with an Adamant nature grants greater bulk and offensive presence while outrunning most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom, although for the most part the given EV spread is superior.</p>

<p>Necturna is a decent spinblocker and Steel-type lure, drawing in the likes of Forretress, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Jirachi, all of whom are O-2HKOed with Choice Band Sacred Fire. And while rain support may be ideal for other Necturna sets, it will ruin her chances of getting these crucial KOs, so weather starters like Tyranitar or Ninetales make good teammates. Sun in particular boosts V-create and Sacred Fire to even more absurd levels of power but also makes defensive Heatran even more threatening (Timid Heatran is 2HKOed by Stone Edge), so Water-types make good teammates. Starmie is a useful Pokemon to bring along thanks to its access to Rapid Spin and Natural Cure, which can soak up status that could otherwise cripple this set. Vaporeon is also helpful, particularly as it can heal Necturna with Wish, and Rotom-W is another notable partner. All three of these can also combat Salamence and Gyarados, should they attempt to take advantage of a Necturna locked into an ineffective attack.</p>

<p>Necturna is capable of running a Choice Scarf set with these same moves and can catch a few opponents off-guard with its Speed, although the lack of immediate power is noticeable. Shadow Claw should be considered over Shadow Sneak here, as the Choice Scarf reduces the desire for priority, and the higher Base Power allows it to OHKO Latios, Gengar, and Alakazam. Additionally, Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick can be used over a Fire move for the surprise jump on Heatran and Tyranitar, but the utility and coverage of Sacred Fire will most often be preferred.</p>

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<p>While it is generally true that any one support move is not as amazing as any one set-up or coverage move, Necturna already has a fairly stellar non-Sketch support movepool, including Toxic Spikes, Will-O-Wisp, and Pain Split, giving the player more freedom with the Sketch slot. Necturna is also a fairly competent special wall with its impressive base 120 Special Defense stat, acting as a decent response to Pokemon such as Celebi, Latias, and most Water-types. Bulky Necturna is one of the best spinblockers in the game; the standard Timid Life Orb Starmie cannot even 2HKO with Ice Beam, factoring in Leftovers. In fact, Necturna performs well against all of OU's common Rapid Spin users, with the exception of Substitute + Toxic Tentacruel. As such, this Necturna can be a valuable Pokemon for stall or balanced teams alike.</p>

<p>Toxic Spikes is a good support move, and is only made better by Necturna's ability to block Rapid Spin. Power Whip is a good STAB attack, capable of 2HKOing Donphan, Cloyster, Jellicent, and Tentacruel, while Shadow Claw has more reliable accuracy and better generic coverage. As far as the Sketch slot goes, Rapid Spin gives Necturna incredible utility, as it can hit Gengar, Jellicent, and Dusclops all with super effective attacks, making spinning easy to accomplish. Pain Split is an unreliable form of recovery, so Recover may be the preferred option, greatly increasing Necturna's lifespan and special walling capabilities. When using Recover, the third moveslot can be used for a secondary STAB or for Will-O-Wisp, which is useful for patching up Necturna's lower Defense stat and hitting Pokemon immune to Toxic Spikes, notably Salamence, Dragonite, and Gyarados.</p>

<p>Maximum Special Defense is necessary in order to make the most use of Necturna's impressive stats and to hold Life Orb Starmie at bay. This also improves Necturna's ability to come in on Pokemon such as Vaporeon and Rotom-W and start setting up entry hazards, as well as taking on dangerous, specially inclined Pokemon such as Virizion, Celebi, and Latias. The 4 leftover EVs can go either into Attack or Speed to outpace defensive Gyarados.</p>

<p>As a spinblocker and a Toxic Spiker, this Necturna fits best on stall or bulky offense teams that depend on residual damage. Skarmory is an excellent choice to set up either Spikes or Stealth Rock, and can also deal with the Dragon-types that Necturna cannot handle. Deoxys-D is another good choice, able to quickly and efficiently layer hazards. Finally, if carrying Rapid Spin, then Necturna is an excellent partner to Pokemon that fear Stealth Rock, such as Volcarona, Dragonite, Choice users, VoltTurn teams, etc. Even though Necturna is a strong special wall, her five weaknesses to common attacking types render her somewhat vulnerable to a large number of opposing Pokemon. Starmie and Rotom-W are frequently paired with Pokemon that Necturna will struggle with, such as Tornadus and Dragonite on rain teams. So, a Steel-type such as specially defensive Jirachi can make a great teammate. Also, most Steel-types will be unable to deal with Heatran, who is a very great threat, so a bulky Water-type may be advisable. If running Rapid Spin, then Vaporeon is typically a good choice for its access to Wish, and if running Recover, then a Rapid Spin user such as Starmie or Tentacruel may be the better choice. Latias is also a good option to deal with Heatran as well as other threatening Pokemon such as Venusaur, Jirachi, and Dragon-types, though it does share Ghost- and Dark-type weaknesses with Necturna.</p>

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<p>While Necturna's base 85 Special Attack stat and lack of any reliable offensive moves over 80 Base Power somewhat hurt her capabilities, her advantages over OU's existing Quiver Dance users are noticeable. Unlike Volcarona, Necturna does not require Rapid Spin support, and unlike Lilligant, Necturna has a secondary STAB, notable immunities to switch into, and better overall stats. Additionally, a high Special Defense stat gives Necturna greater longevity and an easier time setting up against special threats. Giga Drain is a useful STAB for restoring HP lost during setup, while Shadow Ball is Necturna's second STAB attack and achieves fairly good coverage alongside Giga Drain. To deal with Steel-types, Necturna has Hidden Power Fire to hit Jirachi, Scizor, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, and Metagross for super effective damage, although it is greatly weakened in the rain. For that reason, Hidden Power Fighting is a decent alternative as it gets a stronger hit on Heatran and Hydreigon and is unaffected by weather. Necturna can also run Substitute and the unresisted Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fighting combination to combat her weaknesses to status effects and priority attacks. Substitute can block status from Chansey or Blissey, who cannot otherwise touch Necturna thanks to her immunity to Seismic Toss. Substitute also blocks Jirachi's Thunder Wave and Politoed's Toxic and can give Necturna free turns to set up; however, this will mean no recovery from Giga Drain, and so Leftovers is recommended to cover the damage from opponents' attacks as well as lost HP from Substitute.</p>

<p>The EV spread allows Necturna to outrun all unboosted base 115 Speed Pokemon after a Quiver Dance. Offensive ability is maximized with a Modest nature and 252 EVs in Special Attack, and the remaining EVs are allocated to HP to enable Necturna to take hits more easily. A simple 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe spread with a Modest or Timid nature may also be used to outrun Heatran and Dragonite without a boost. For the item, Leftovers is typically the better choice, supplementing Giga Drain's healing effect for garnering additional boosts. Life Orb may be preferred to give Necturna more immediate power and the ability to 2HKO Heatran and Tyranitar after a boost; however, this cuts down on her longevity greatly.</p>

<p>Generally speaking, the biggest threats to Quiver Dance Necturna are strong physical attackers that can take a hit, such as Dragonite, as well as specially defensive Steel-types like Jirachi and Heatran. A Reflect user would help with Necturna's weakness to priority attacks, especially from Mamoswine and Scizor, while Dugtrio can easily trap and remove both Jirachi and Heatran, as well as Tyranitar, Chansey, and Blissey. Rotom-W and Politoed can both also deal with Jirachi and Heatran, with Politoed's Drizzle support weakening incoming Fire-type attacks for Necturna using Hidden Power Fighting.</p>

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<p>Unlike Quiver Dance, Necturna learns Calm Mind naturally, freeing up her Sketch slot for powerful coverage moves like Blue Flare, which is actually stronger than STAB Shadow Ball against neutral opponents, hitting specially defensive Jirachi for a minimum of 64% after a Calm Mind and OHKOing offensive variants. Giga Drain is this set's primary STAB, helping Necturna maintain her HP while setting up. For coverage, Hidden Power Ice hits Dragon-types like Hydreigon and Latios while Hidden Power Ground allows you to fare better against Fire-types like Heatran and Ninetales. Shadow Ball is a decent alternative for hitting other Calm Mind sweepers like Latias and Reuniclus, and in conjunction with Giga Drain and Blue Flare hits everything in OU bar Heatran and Hydreigon for at least neutral damage.</p>

<p>The EVs are designed to give the maximum possible attacking prowess while at the same time compromising between Necturna's bulk and her ability to outrun things. 184 Speed EVs allow her to outrun most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom, while also tying with bulky Rotom-W. For the item, Leftovers is preferred, as unlike Quiver Dance Necturna, she cannot rely on outrunning opponents enough to get away with using Life Orb.</p>

<p>Without the Speed boost provided by Quiver Dance, it is far more difficult for Necturna to sweep and far easier to be revenge killed. This set has problems with Chansey and Blissey, and, if running Hidden Power Ice, Fire-types like Heatran and Ninetales, so Dugtrio can be relied upon to remove them. Running Hidden Power Ground leaves you particularly vulnerable to Salamence, Dragonite, and other Dragon-types, so bulky Steel- and Water-types like Jirachi, Heatran, Vaporeon, Rotom-W, and Starmie or revenge killers like Choice Scarf Terrakion also make good teammates for Calm Mind Necturna.</p>

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<p>This set is the hallmark example of Sketch's immense versatility. Soak is a seemingly worthless move that turns the target into a pure Water-type, which to Necturna means she can hit just about any switch-in with a super effective Power Whip, even her greatest nemesis, Heatran. Additionally, Soaked opponents lose their typical STAB, greatly reducing their offensive potential against this set. With a Life Orb, even physically defensive Skarmory, usually one of Necturna's deadliest enemies, has a small chance to be OHKOed by Power Whip, factoring in Stealth Rock and one round of Leftovers recovery, and other common Steel-types don't stand a chance. This set may also run Horn Leech for help recovering from Life Orb recoil, or Leaf Blade for its 100% accuracy. Of course, using Soak will telegraph that you are about to use a Grass-type attack, so it will not be hard for the opponent to simply switch out again, especially as they will then know Necturna is not carrying a Fire-type attack. That said, you cannot simply rely only on Soak and Power Whip to carry the set. In the last two slots, STAB Shadow Claw and Stone Edge provide you with any coverage that you may need against un-Soaked opponents. Substitute is a nifty choice for the fourth slot, as it helps with prediction immensely and preserves Soak's surprise value, but should be run with Leftovers for survivability. Toxic Spikes can also be helpful to take advantage of the numerous switches this set can force.</p>

<p>A Jolly nature and 252 Speed EVs are necessary in order to outrun Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite, although an Adamant nature with Life Orb would allow you to OHKO just about every single Steel-type in OU after a Soak, including Skarmory. The last 4 EVs are placed in Defense rather than HP in order to allow the creation of a maximum of 5 Substitutes. Life Orb is typically the best choice for the item, as the added power can be the difference between a OHKO and a 2HKO on many of the targets you want to be hitting. Leftovers increases survivability and can offset the passive damage from Substitute but misses out on key OHKOs, so it is recommended for use with Horn Leech or Leaf Blade.</p>

<p>Thanks to Soak, Necturna is capable of taking on almost any Pokemon in existence, so in terms of partners, it is less a case of what you can do for Necturna, but what Necturna can do for you. As this Necturna set will be forcing plenty of switches, Spikes and Stealth Rock are a huge advantage. In addition, this set functions well as a Steel-type lure, so teammates who can take advantage of their absence are recommended, such as Psychic-type cleaners Alakazam and Latios, as well as set-up sweepers such as Dragonite and Scizor. Lastly, since this Necturna has no way to recover her health, a Wish passer like Vaporeon or Blissey makes a good teammate.</p>

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<p>Another example of Necturna's vast sea of options is Belly Drum, which exchanges 50% of Necturna's HP for +6 Attack, which Necturna can then utilize with priority STAB Shadow Sneak and the HP-draining STAB Horn Leech to devastating effect. Stone Edge rounds out the coverage, able to hit Scizor, Forretress, and Skarmory for neutral damage amongst the Steel-types that completely wall this set. Even without a boost, Shadow Sneak is a useful priority attack, even if it is very weak, and Horn Leech and Leftovers ensure that Necturna will likely stay above 50% HP for the majority of the battle.</p>

<p>Leftovers is the item of choice for this set, as Necturna is extremely vulnerable to priority and revenge killing at merely 50% HP, so the passive healing is crucial. Leftovers also takes some of the pressure off Horn Leech and makes it easier to get off a Belly Drum in the first place, despite making it a bit less capable once it's set up. A Jolly nature can be used over Adamant, as Necturna really wants to be outrunning as much as she can, especially Heatran, who is OHKOed by Stone Edge after a Belly Drum. However, the power of an Adamant nature at +6 is enormous compared to Jolly, so an Adamant nature is usually preferred.</p>

<p>In general, Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Skarmory will wall this set indiscriminately, and fast Pokemon that can tank a +6 Shadow Sneak, such as Hydreigon, will be able to KO a Necturna with 50% HP easily. Scizor is a particularly menacing foe as well, as Bullet Punch will destroy Necturna. Rotom-W makes a good teammate as a check to Scizor, Skarmory, and Heatran, while a Heatran of your own can generally solve the big problems with other Steel-types like Ferrothorn.</p>

<h2>Other Options</h2>

<p>With the freedom that Sketch provides, it would be impossible to cover all of its possible applications. In terms of setup moves, Coil can be used to boost the unfortunate accuracy of Power Whip, as well as its power. Shift Gear can provide a physical sweep without the defense drops of Shell Smash. Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick could replace any Fire-type move in order to hit Heatran and Hydreigon. Spore is always available as a 100% accurate sleep-inducing move, and can be helpful for putting a crucial opponent out of commission. Finally, Spikes and Stealth Rock are available as an accompaniment to Toxic Spikes, a la Forretress or Cloyster. In terms of Necturna's natural movepool, Trick can be a useful and unexpected tool for the Choice sets. A simple non-boosting Life Orb set with Power Whip / Stone Edge / Sacred Fire / Shadow Sneak is also viable as an offensive pivot. The options are more or less limitless thanks to Sketch, so creative sets are always available.</p>

<h2>Checks and Counters</h2>

<p>Most often, Steel-types can give Necturna a lot of trouble, especially Heatran and Skarmory, who cannot both be covered by the same Hidden Power or Sketched coverage move. Rain, while inhibiting incoming Fire-type attacks, also neuters the Fire-type attacks Necturna relies upon to hit those Steels, so rain + Steel-types is solid enough general preparation for opposing Necturna.</p>

<p>Heatran is probably the easiest stop to Necturna in OU; even a Shell Smash-boosted Life Orb Hidden Power Fighting cannot OHKO offensive Heatran, and defensive variants are not even 2HKOed without Stealth Rock support. In return, Heatran can OHKO most variants with Fire Blast or 2HKO with Lava Plume, absent rain or Special Defense boosts from Quiver Dance or Calm Mind. Offensive Heatran must watch out for Shell Smash-boosted Stone Edge though, as well as Close Combat from the lure sets and the rare Hidden Power Ground.</p>

<p>Specially defensive Jirachi is another capable Steel-type, as it can take nearly any special attack that Necturna can dish out, as well as most physical ones barring Sacred Fire, especially in the rain, and cripple her with Thunder Wave or wear her down with Iron Head. Calm Mind Jirachi can set up on defensive Necturna with impunity. Skarmory is an excellent stop to nearly all Necturna, as physically defensive variants are not even 2HKOed by Choice Band Sacred Fire under the rain, while Skarmory can easily OHKO back with Brave Bird. Hidden Power Fire is also doing pitiful damage, and Fighting-type moves are no threat to Skarmory's defensive stats. It can also Whirlwind Necturna away if she is behind a Substitute. While Ferrothorn and Forretress cannot take a Fire-type attack at all, they can take just about everything else perfectly well and respond with Gyro Ball. However, all of these Pokemon can have difficulty with special variants.</p>

<p>Necturna's other big foe is Dragonite, who can take a Shadow Claw from Shell Smash Necturna if its Multiscale is unbroken and attack back with a STAB Dragon-type attack or Fire Punch. Rain Dragonite can easily OHKO with STAB Hurricane or set up a Substitute or Roost in Necturna's face, while offensive variants can set up Dragon Dance on defensive Necturna that lack Will-O-Wisp. However, Dragonite must always be wary of Stone Edge and burns from Sacred Fire, and it relies on Multiscale to take +2 Shadow Claws. Hydreigon, like Heatran, resists everything Necturna commonly carries and can fry her with Fire Blast, but is beaten by any Fighting-type move and cannot switch repeatedly into strong Grass-type attacks. Intimidate Salamence can check physical Necturna and has access to Fire Blast and powerful STAB Dragon-type attacks. Volcarona can easily beat Necturna with its STAB Fire-type attacks, or easily set up Quiver Dance against special variants. Finally, Chansey and Blissey deserve special mention for beating pretty much all special sets by Toxic stalling alone, fearing only Substitute. Substitute + Toxic Tentacruel can also annoy Necturna hoping to set up.</p>

<p>Typically, the easiest way to get rid of Necturna for good is to revenge kill her by preying on her weaker defensive side. Scizor can easily get rid of a Shell Smash or Belly Drum Necturna with Bullet Punch, and can 2HKO any other Necturna lacking a Fire-type move. Mamoswine does a similar job with Ice Shard, as Necturna resists or is immune to just about every other priority move in the metagame, save for Sucker Punch. In general, strong neutral hits from Haxorus, Terrakion, Metagross, and the like are all fully capable of taking down Necturna given the correct opportunity.</p>

GP Approved 1/2

[Birkal*]

Korski implemented this; waiting on a second GP check!

[Woodchuck]

BOOM

...

---

<h2>Overview</h2>

<p>This is Necturna, the adorable little flower with the ability to learn Sketch once, and only once, to obtain any one move that she could not learn otherwise. Shell Smash? Spore? Necturna can do it all, making her one of the most feared Pokemon in existence. Her base 120 Attack stat gives her the strongest Power Whip in the game and allows her to take advantage of powerful physical coverage moves such as Close Combat orand Sacred Fire. Defensively, Necturna's 64/100/120 defenses make OHKOing her a difficult task of OHKOing herest, especially withen invested defenses, making Necturna a capable special wall and spinblocker, with access to Horn Leech, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Toxic Spikes, and moves like Rapid Spin or Recover via Sketch.</p>

<p>While the power of a single Sketch move is incredible, Necturna can still run into real problems depending on her set; her Grass/Ghost typing and shallow non-Sketch offensive movepool are walled by many common Steel-types like Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, along with bulky Dragon-types like Dragonite and Salamence who can take an unboosted Shadow Claw fairly easily. Her low base 81 Speed puts her at a disadvantage in the fast BW OU metagame, so setting up can be difficult, especially considering her Dark, Ghost, Fire, Flying, Ice, and Poison weaknesses and susceptibility to all forms of status and passive damage. With coverage options limited to Hidden Power and Stone Edge, offensive Necturna are defined by their "move of choice," making them easier to deal with once an opponent discovers the Sketch move.</p>

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<p>Shell Smash is the single most powerful set-up move in the game, able to boost Necturna's Attack stat to frighteningly high levels, while at the same time raising her Speed and Special Attack stats. Power Whip is a devastating STAB attack at +2 with its high Base Power, while Horn Leech is a decent alternative for its superior accuracy and for offsetting Life Orb recoil. Shadow Claw is her strongest Ghost-type STAB attack, but at only 70 Base Power, it is primarily used to take care of weakened opponents or to OHKO Celebi, Latias, and Latios, 2HKO Jirachi and Metagross, and OHKO Dragonite and Salamence after Stealth Rock. Hidden Power Fire is the ideal choice for the fourth slot, as with the boosts provided by Shell Smash and Life Orb, it can OHKO Ferrothorn, Forretress, Scizor, and physically defensive Skarmory. However, the move is laughably weak under rain and leaves Necturna open to Hydreigon and Heatran, so Hidden Power Fighting can be used instead, as it retains neutral or better coverage against all Steel-types.</p>

<p>The given EVs, along with a Naughty nature and Life Orb, allow Necturna to OHKO Ferrothorn and Gliscor and 2HKO Jirachi after a Shell Smash. The Speed EVs enable Necturna to outpace Modest Heatran before a boost, and Modest Chlorophyll Venusaur and Jolly Choice Scarf Terrakion after a boost. Alternatively, a White Herb may be used to restore Necturna's defenses after a boost, but the drop in power fromwithout Life Orb is significant, as you lose out on the aforementioned KOs.</p>

<p>The omnipresence of Steel-types, along with Necturna's weakness to passive damage and disappointing coverage moves, prevents her from reliably sweeping without the right kind of support. Dugtrio and Magnezone can trap and remove these threats; where Dugtrio can revenge kill Heatran, weakened Jirachi, and weakened Metagross lacking Bullet Punch, while Magnezone has a fairly easy time against Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Scizor. Heatran itself is a good teammate, as it can quite easily force out nearly all Steel-types in OU who would threaten Necturna while luring in bulky Water-types that Necturna can switch in on and threaten to KO or set up on. Other good teammates include Vaporeon, as it can counter Heatran fairly well and pass huge Wishes to heal Necturna. Finally, this build appreciates entry hazards for netting key KOs, so teammates like Deoxys-D and Skarmory are good choices as well.</p>

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<p>While Sketch grants Necturna access to such powerful setup moves as Shell Smash or Quiver Dance, it can also be used to access incredibly powerful coverage moves such as Sacred Fire or V-create. With a Choice Band equipped, Necturna reaches a 508 Attack stat with a Jolly nature, and with tricky Grass/Ghost/Fire/Rock coverage, she can be very difficult to switch into. Power Whip is the STAB move of choice, capable of 2HKOing Latios and Hydreigon with Stealth Rock support. Shadow Sneak is a useful priority move which lets Necturna double as a revenge killer, picking off weakened Pokemon and frail sweepers like Alakazam. Sacred Fire is not only a powerful attacking move that hits Steel-types, but it i that doubles also an excellent utility move for its 50% chance to burn the opponent. Alternatively, V-create has much more immediate power, &mdash;enough to OHKO Skarmory, &mdash;but its side-effects are crippling compared to Sacred Fire. Lastly, Stone Edge is Necturna's only real extra physical coverage, catching threats such as Dragonite and Salamence off-guard.</p>

<p>Necturna's base 81 Speed is middling, to say the least, so maximum Speed and Attack are both essential. A Jolly nature and 252 EVs are required for Necturna to outrun Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite. An alternative spread of 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe with an Adamant nature grants greater bulk and offensive presence while outrunning most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom, although for the most part the given EV spread is superior.</p>

<p>Necturna is a decent spinblocker and Steel-type lure, drawing in the likes of Forretress, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Jirachi, all of whom are O-2HKOed with Choice Band Sacred Fire. And wWhile rain support may be ideal for other Necturna sets, it will ruin her chances of getting these crucial KOs, so weather starters like Tyranitar or Ninetales that can remove the rain make good teammates. Sun in particular boosts V-create and Sacred Fire to even more absurd levels of power but also makes defensive Heatran even more threatening (Timid Heatran is 2HKOed by Stone Edge), so Water-types make good teammates. Starmie is a useful Pokemon to bring along thanks to its access to Rapid Spin and Natural Cure, which can soak up status that could otherwise cripple this set. Vaporeon is also helpful, particularly helpful, as it can heal Necturna with Wish, and; Rotom-W is another notable partner. All three of these can also combat Salamence and Gyarados, should they attempt to take advantage of a Necturna locked into an ineffective attack.</p>

<p>Necturna is capable of running a Choice Scarf set with these same moves and can catch a few opponents off-guard with its Speed, although the lack of immediate power is noticeable. Shadow Claw should be considered over Shadow Sneak here, as the Choice Scarf reduces the desire for priority, and the higher Base Power allows it to OHKO Latios, Gengar, and Alakazam. Additionally, Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick can be used over a Fire-type move for the surprise jump on Heatran and Tyranitar, but the utility and coverage of Sacred Fire will most often be preferred.</p>

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<p>While it is generally true that any one support move is not as amazing as any one set-up or coverage move, Necturna already has a fairly stellar non-Sketch support movepool, including Toxic Spikes, Will-O-Wisp, and Pain Split, giving the player more freedom with the Sketch slot. Necturna is also a fairly competent special wall with its impressive base 120 Special Defense stat, acting as a decent response to Pokemon such as Celebi, Latias, and most Water-types. Bulky Necturna is one of the best spinblockers in the game; the standard Timid Life Orb Starmie cannot even 2HKO with Ice Beam, factoring in Leftovers. In fact, Necturna performs well against all of OU's common Rapid Spin users, with the exception of Substitute + Toxic Tentacruel. As such, this Necturna can be a valuable Pokemon for stall orand balanced teams alike.</p>

<p>Toxic Spikes is a good support move, and is only made better by Necturna's ability to block Rapid Spin. Power Whip is a good STAB attack, capable of 2HKOing Donphan, Cloyster, Jellicent, and Tentacruel, while Shadow Claw has more reliable accuracy and better generic coverage. As far as the Sketch slot goes, Rapid Spin gives Necturna incredible utility, as it can hit Gengar, Jellicent, and Dusclops all with super effective attacks, making spinning easy to accomplish. Pain Split is an unreliable form of recovery, so Recover may be the preferred option, greatly increasing Necturna's lifespan and special walling capabilities. When using Recover, the third moveslot can be used for a secondary STAB or for Will-O-Wisp, which is useful for patching up Necturna's lower Defense stat and hitting Pokemon immune to Toxic Spikes, notably Salamence, Dragonite, and Gyarados.</p>

<p>Maximum Special Defense is necessary in order to make the most use of Necturna's impressive stats and to hold Life Orb Starmie at bay. This also improves Necturna's ability to come in on Pokemon such as Vaporeon and Rotom-W and start setting up entry hazards, as well as taking on dangerous, specially inclined Pokemon such as Virizion, Celebi, and Latias. The 4 leftover EVs can go either into Attack or Speed to outpace defensive Gyarados.</p>

<p>As a spinblocker and a Toxic Spiker, this Necturna fits best on stall or bulky offense teams that depend on residual damage. Skarmory is an excellent choice to set up either Spikes or Stealth Rock, and can also deal with the Dragon-types that Necturna cannot handle. Deoxys-D is another good choice, able to quickly and efficiently layer hazards. Finally, if carrying Rapid Spin, then Necturna is an excellent partner to Pokemon that fear Stealth Rock, such as Volcarona, Dragonite, Choice item users, VoltTurn teams, etc. Even though Necturna is a strong special wall, her five weaknesses to common attacking types render her somewhat vulnerable to a large number of opposing Pokemon. Starmie and Rotom-W are frequently paired with Pokemon that Necturna will struggle with, such as Tornadus and Dragonite on rain teams. So, aA Steel-type such as specially defensive Jirachi can make a great teammate, as it resists Flying- and Ice-type attacks. Also, most Steel-types will be unable to deal with Heatran, who is a very great threat, so a bulky Water-type may be advisable. If running Rapid Spin, then Vaporeon is typically a good choice for its access to Wish, and if running Recover, then a Rapid Spin user such as Starmie or Tentacruel may be the better choice. Latias is also a good option to deal with Heatran as well as other threatening Pokemon such as Venusaur, Jirachi, and Dragon-types, though it does share Ghost- and Dark-type weaknesses with Necturna.</p>

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<p>While Necturna's base 85 Special Attack stat and lack of any reliable offensive moves over 80 Base Power somewhat hurt her capabilities, her advantages over OU's existing Quiver Dance users are noticeable. Unlike Volcarona, Necturna does not require Rapid Spin support, and unlike Lilligant, Necturna has a secondary STAB, notable immunities to switch into, and better overall stats. Additionally, a high Special Defense stat gives Necturna greater longevity and an easier time setting up against special threats. Giga Drain is a useful STAB for restoring HP lost during setup, while Shadow Ball is Necturna's second STAB attack and achieves fairly good coverage alongside Giga Drain. To deal with Steel-types, Necturna has Hidden Power Fire to hit Jirachi, Scizor, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, and Metagross for super effective damage, although it is greatly weakened in the rain. For that reason, Hidden Power Fighting is a decent alternative as it gets a stronger hit on Heatran and Hydreigon and is unaffected by weather. Necturna can also run Substitute and the unresisted Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fighting combination to combat her weaknesses to status effects and priority attacks. Substitute can block status from Chansey or Blissey, who cannot otherwise cannot touch Necturna thanks to her immunity to Seismic Toss. Substitute also blocks Jirachi's Thunder Wave and Politoed's Toxic and can give Necturna free turns to set up; however, this will mean no recovery from Giga Drain, and so Leftovers is recommended to cover the damage from opponents' attacks as well as lost HP from Substitute.</p>

<p>The EV spread allows Necturna to outrun all unboosted base 115 Speed Pokemon after a Quiver Dance. Offensive ability is maximized with a Modest nature and 252 EVs in Special Attack, and the remaining EVs are allocated to HP to enable Necturna to take hits more easily. A simple 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe spread with a Modest or Timid nature may also be used to outrun Heatran and Dragonite without a boost. For the item, Leftovers is typically the better choice, supplementing Giga Drain's healing effect for garnering additional boosts. Life Orb may be preferred to give Necturna more immediate power and the ability to 2HKO Heatran and Tyranitar after a boost; however, this cuts down on her longevity greatly.</p>

<p>Generally speaking, the biggest threats to Quiver Dance Necturna are strong physical attackers that can take a hit, such as Dragonite, as well as specially defensive Steel-types like Jirachi and Heatran. A Reflect user would help with Necturna's weakness to priority attacks, especially from Mamoswine and Scizor, while Dugtrio can easily trap and remove both Jirachi and Heatran, as well as Tyranitar, Chansey, and Blissey. Rotom-W and Politoed can both also deal with Jirachi and Heatran, with Politoed's Drizzle support weakening incoming Fire-type attacks for Necturna using Hidden Power Fighting.</p>

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<p>Unlike Quiver Dance, Necturna learns Calm Mind naturally, freeing up her Sketch slot for powerful coverage moves like Blue Flare, which is actually stronger than STAB Shadow Ball against neutral opponents, hitting specially defensive Jirachi for a minimum of 64% after a Calm Mind and OHKOing offensive variants. Giga Drain is this set's primary STAB, helping Necturna maintain her HP while setting up. For coverage, Hidden Power Ice hits Dragon-types like Hydreigon and Latios while Hidden Power Ground allows youher to fare better against Fire-types like Heatran and Ninetales. Shadow Ball is a decent alternative for hitting other Calm Mind sweepers like Latias and Reuniclus, and in conjunction with Giga Drain and Blue Flare hits everything in OU bar Heatran and Hydreigon for at least neutral damage.</p>

<p>The EVs are designed to give the maximum possible attacking prowess while at the same time compromising between Necturna's bulk and her ability to outrun things. 184 Speed EVs allow her to outrun most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom, while also tying with bulky Rotom-W. For the item, Leftovers is preferred, as unlike Quiver Dance Necturna, she cannot rely on outrunning opponents enough to get away with using Life Orb.</p>

<p>Without the Speed boost provided by Quiver Dance, it is far more difficult for Necturna to sweep and far easier to be revenge killed. This set has problems with Chansey and Blissey, and, if Necturna is running Hidden Power Ice, Fire-types like Heatran and Ninetales also pose problems, so Dugtrio can be relied upon to remove them. Running Hidden Power Ground leaves you particularly vulnerable to Salamence, Dragonite, and other Dragon-types, so bulky Steel- and Water-types like Jirachi, Heatran, Vaporeon, Rotom-W, and Starmie or revenge killers like Choice Scarf Terrakion also make good teammates for Calm Mind Necturna.</p>

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<p>This set is the hallmark example of Sketch's immense versatility. Soak is a seemingly worthless move that turns the target into a pure Water-type, which to Necturna means she can hit just about any switch-in with a super effective Power Whip, &mdash;even her greatest nemesis, Heatran. Additionally, Soaked opponents lose their typical STAB, greatly reducing their offensive potential against this set. With a Life Orb, even physically defensive Skarmory, usually one of Necturna's deadliest enemies, has a small chance to be OHKOed by Power Whip, factoring in Stealth Rock and one round of Leftovers recovery, and other common Steel-types don't stand a chance. This set may also run Horn Leech for help recovering from Life Orb recoil, or Leaf Blade for its 100% accuracy. Of course, using Soak will telegraph that you are about to use a Grass-type attack, so it will not be hard for the opponent to simply switch out again, especially as they will then know Necturna is not carrying a Fire-type attack. That said, you cannot simply rely only on Soak and Power Whip to carry the set. In the last two slots, STAB Shadow Claw and Stone Edge provide you with any coverage that you may need against un-Soaked opponents. Substitute is a nifty choice for the fourth slot, as it helps with prediction immensely and preserves Soak's surprise value, but should be run with Leftovers for survivability. Toxic Spikes can also be helpful to take advantage of the numerous switches this set can force.</p>

<p>A Jolly nature and 252 Speed EVs are necessary in order to outrun Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite, although an Adamant nature with Life Orb would allow you to OHKO just about every single Steel-type in OU after a Soak, including Skarmory. The last 4 EVs are placed in Defense rather than HP in order to allow the creation of a maximum of 5 Substitutes. Life Orb is typically the best choice for the item, as the added power can be the difference between a OHKO and a 2HKO on many of the targets you want to be hitting. Leftovers increases survivability and can offset the passive damage from Substitute but misses out on key OHKOs, so it is recommended for use with Horn Leech or Leaf Blade.</p>

<p>Thanks to Soak, Necturna is capable of taking on almost any Pokemon in existence, so in terms of partners, it is less a case of what you can do for Necturna, but what Necturna can do for you. As this Necturna set will be forcing plenty of switches, Spikes and Stealth Rock are a huge advantage. In addition, this set functions well as a Steel-type lure, so teammates who can take advantage of their absence are recommended, such as Psychic-type cleaners Alakazam and Latios, as well as set-up sweepers such as Dragonite and Scizor. Lastly, since this Necturna has no way to recover her health, a Wish passer like Vaporeon or Blissey makes a good teammate.</p>

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<p>Another example of Necturna's vast sea of options is Belly Drum, which exchanges 50% of Necturna's HP for +6 Attack, which Necturna can then utilize with priority STAB Shadow Sneak and the HP-draining STAB Horn Leech to devastating effect. Stone Edge rounds out the coverage, able to hit Scizor, Forretress, and Skarmory for neutral damage amongst the Steel-types that completely wall this set. Even without a boost, Shadow Sneak is a useful priority attack, even if it is very weak, and Horn Leech and Leftovers ensure that Necturna will likely stay above 50% HP for the majority of the battle.</p>

<p>Leftovers is the item of choice for this set, as Necturna is extremely vulnerable to priority and revenge killing at merely 50% HP, so the passive healing is crucial. Leftovers also takes some of the pressure off Horn Leech and makes it easier to get off a Belly Drum in the first place, despite making it a bit less capable once it's set up. A Jolly nature can be used over Adamant, as Necturna really wants to be outrunning as much as she can, especially Heatran, who is OHKOed by Stone Edge after a Belly Drum. However, the power of an Adamant nature at +6 is enormous compared to Jolly, so an Adamant nature is usually preferred.</p>

<p>In general, Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Skarmory will wall this set indiscriminately, and fast Pokemon that can tank a +6 Shadow Sneak, such as Hydreigon, will be able to KO a Necturna with 50% HP easily. Scizor is a particularly menacing foe as well, as Bullet Punch will destroy Necturna. Rotom-W makes a good teammate as a check to Scizor, Skarmory, and Heatran, while a Heatran of your own can generally solve the big problems with other Steel-types like Ferrothorn.</p>

<h2>Other Options</h2>

<p>With the freedom that Sketch provides, it would be impossible to cover all of its possible applications. In terms of setup moves, Coil can be used to boost the unfortunate accuracy of Power Whip, as well as its power. Shift Gear can provide a physical sweep without the defense drops of Shell Smash. Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick could replace any Fire-type move in order to hit Heatran and Hydreigon. Spore is always available as a 100% accurate sleep-inducing move, and can be helpful for putting a crucial opponent out of commission. Finally, Spikes and Stealth Rock are available as an accompaniment to Toxic Spikes, a la Forretress or Cloyster. In terms of Necturna's natural movepool, Trick can be a useful and unexpected tool for the Choice sets. A simple non-boosting Life Orb set with Power Whip / Stone Edge / Sacred Fire / Shadow Sneak is also viable as an offensive pivot. The options are more or less limitless thanks to Sketch, so creative sets are always available.</p>

<h2>Checks and Counters</h2>

<p>Most often, Steel-types can give Necturna a lot of trouble, especially Heatran and Skarmory, who cannot both be covered by the same Hidden Power or Sketched coverage move. Rain, while inhibiting incoming Fire-type attacks, also neuters the Fire-type attacks Necturna relies upon to hit those Steels, so rain + Steel-types is solid enough general preparation for opposing Necturna.</p>

<p>Heatran is probably the easiest stop to Necturna in OU; even a Shell Smash-boosted Life Orb Hidden Power Fighting cannot OHKO offensive Heatran, and defensive variants are not even 2HKOed without Stealth Rock support. In return, Heatran can OHKO most variants with Fire Blast or 2HKO with Lava Plume, absent rain or Special Defense boosts from Quiver Dance or Calm Mind. Offensive Heatran must watch out for Shell Smash-boosted Stone Edge though, as well as Close Combat from the lure sets and the rare Hidden Power Ground.</p>

<p>Specially defensive Jirachi is another capable Steel-type, as it can take nearly any special attack that Necturna can dish out, as well as most physical ones barring Sacred Fire, especially in the rain, and cripple her with Thunder Wave or wear her down with Iron Head. Calm Mind Jirachi can set up on defensive Necturna with impunity. Skarmory is an excellent stop to nearly all Necturna, as physically defensive variants are not even 2HKOed by Choice Band Sacred Fire under the rain, while Skarmory can easily OHKO back with Brave Bird. Hidden Power Fire is also doing pitiful damage, and Fighting-type moves are no threat to Skarmory's defensive stats. It can also Whirlwind Necturna away if she is behind a Substitute. While Ferrothorn and Forretress cannot take a Fire-type attack at all, they can take just about everything else perfectly well and respond with Gyro Ball. However, all of these Pokemon can have difficulty with special variants.</p>

<p>Necturna's other big foe is Dragonite, who can take a Shadow Claw from Shell Smash Necturna if its Multiscale is unbroken and attack back with a STAB Dragon-type attack or Fire Punch. Rain Dragonite can easily OHKO with STAB Hurricane or set up a Substitute or Roost in Necturna's face, while offensive variants can set up Dragon Dance on defensive Necturna that lack Will-O-Wisp. However, Dragonite must always be wary of Stone Edge and burns from Sacred Fire, and it relies on Multiscale to take +2 Shadow Claws. Hydreigon, like Heatran, resists everything Necturna commonly carries and can fry her with Fire Blast, but is beaten by any Fighting-type move and cannot switch repeatedly into strong Grass-type attacks. Intimidate Salamence can check physical Necturna and has access to Fire Blast and powerful STAB Dragon-type attacks. Volcarona can easily beat Necturna with its STAB Fire-type attacks, or eas well asily set up Quiver Dance against special variants. Finally, Chansey and Blissey deserve special mention for beating pretty much all special sets by Toxic stalling alone, fearing only Substitute. Substitute + Toxic Tentacruel can also annoy Necturna hoping to set up.</p>

<p>Typically, the easiest way to get rid of Necturna for good is to revenge kill her by preying on her weaker physically defensive side. Scizor can easily get rid of a Shell Smash or Belly Drum Necturna with Bullet Punch, and can 2HKO any other Necturna lacking a Fire-type move. Mamoswine does a similar job with Ice Shard, as Necturna resists or is immune to just about every other priority move in the metagame, save for Sucker Punch. In general, strong neutral hits from Haxorus, Terrakion, Metagross, and the like are all fully capable of taking down Necturna given the correct opportunity.</p>

c/p

---

<h2>Overview</h2>

<p>This is Necturna, the adorable little flower with the ability to learn Sketch once, and only once, to obtain any one move that she could not learn otherwise. Shell Smash? Spore? Necturna can do it all, making her one of the most feared Pokemon in existence. Her base 120 Attack stat gives her the strongest Power Whip in the game and allows her to take advantage of powerful physical coverage moves such as Close Combat and Sacred Fire. Defensively, Necturna's 64/100/120 defenses make OHKOing her a difficult test, especially with invested defenses, making Necturna a capable special wall and spinblocker, with access to Horn Leech, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Toxic Spikes, and moves like Rapid Spin or Recover via Sketch.</p>

<p>While the power of a single Sketch move is incredible, Necturna can still run into real problems depending on her set; her Grass/Ghost typing and shallow non-Sketch offensive movepool are walled by many common Steel-types like Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, along with bulky Dragon-types like Dragonite and Salamence who can take an unboosted Shadow Claw fairly easily. Her low base 81 Speed puts her at a disadvantage in the fast BW OU metagame, so setting up can be difficult, especially considering her Dark, Ghost, Fire, Flying, Ice, and Poison weaknesses and susceptibility to all forms of status and passive damage. With coverage options limited to Hidden Power and Stone Edge, offensive Necturna are defined by their "move of choice," making them easier to deal with once an opponent discovers the Sketch move.</p>

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<p>Shell Smash is the single most powerful setup move in the game, able to boost Necturna's Attack stat to frighteningly high levels, while at the same time raising her Speed and Special Attack stats. Power Whip is a devastating STAB attack at +2 with its high Base Power, while Horn Leech is a decent alternative for its superior accuracy and for offsetting Life Orb recoil. Shadow Claw is her strongest Ghost-type STAB attack, but at only 70 Base Power, it is primarily used to take care of weakened opponents or to OHKO Celebi, Latias, and Latios, 2HKO Jirachi and Metagross, and OHKO Dragonite and Salamence after Stealth Rock. Hidden Power Fire is the ideal choice for the fourth slot, as with the boosts provided by Shell Smash and Life Orb, it can OHKO Ferrothorn, Forretress, Scizor, and physically defensive Skarmory. However, the move is laughably weak under rain and leaves Necturna open to Hydreigon and Heatran, so Hidden Power Fighting can be used instead, as it retains neutral or better coverage against all Steel-types.</p>

<p>The given EVs, along with a Naughty nature and Life Orb, allow Necturna to OHKO Ferrothorn and Gliscor and 2HKO Jirachi after a Shell Smash. The Speed EVs enable Necturna to outpace Modest Heatran before a boost, and Modest Chlorophyll Venusaur and Jolly Choice Scarf Terrakion after a boost. Alternatively, a White Herb may be used to restore Necturna's defenses after a boost, but the drop in power without Life Orb is significant, as you lose out on the aforementioned KOs.</p>

<p>The omnipresence of Steel-types, along with Necturna's weakness to passive damage and disappointing coverage moves, prevents her from reliably sweeping without the right kind of support. Dugtrio and Magnezone can trap and remove these threats; Dugtrio can revenge kill Heatran, weakened Jirachi, and weakened Metagross lacking Bullet Punch, while Magnezone has a fairly easy time against Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Scizor. Heatran itself is a good teammate, as it can quite easily force out nearly all Steel-types in OU who would threaten Necturna while luring in bulky Water-types that Necturna can switch in on and threaten to KO or set up. Other good teammates include Vaporeon, as it can counter Heatran fairly well and pass huge Wishes to heal Necturna. Finally, this build appreciates entry hazards for netting key KOs, so teammates like Deoxys-D and Skarmory are good choices as well.</p>

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<p>While Sketch grants Necturna access to such powerful setup moves as Shell Smash or Quiver Dance, it can also be used to access incredibly powerful coverage moves such as Sacred Fire or V-create. With a Choice Band equipped, Necturna reaches a 508 Attack stat with a Jolly nature, and with tricky Grass/Ghost/Fire/Rock coverage, she can be very difficult to switch into. Power Whip is the STAB move of choice, capable of 2HKOing Latios and Hydreigon with Stealth Rock support. Shadow Sneak is a useful priority move which lets Necturna double as a revenge killer, picking off weakened Pokemon and frail sweepers like Alakazam. Sacred Fire is a powerful attacking move that hits Steel-types that doubles as an excellent utility move for its 50% chance to burn the opponent. Alternatively, V-create has much more immediate power&mdash;enough to OHKO Skarmory&mdash;but its side effects are crippling compared to Sacred Fire. Lastly, Stone Edge is Necturna's only real extra physical coverage, catching threats such as Dragonite and Salamence off-guard.</p>

<p>Necturna's base 81 Speed is middling, to say the least, so maximum Speed and Attack are both essential. A Jolly nature and 252 EVs are required for Necturna to outrun Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite. An alternative spread of 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe with an Adamant nature grants greater bulk and offensive presence while outrunning most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom, although for the most part the given EV spread is superior.</p>

<p>Necturna is a decent spinblocker and Steel-type lure, drawing in the likes of Forretress, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Jirachi, all of whom are O-2HKOed with Choice Band Sacred Fire. While rain support may be ideal for other Necturna sets, it will ruin her chances of getting these crucial KOs, so weather starters like Tyranitar or Ninetales that can remove the rain make good teammates. Sun in particular boosts V-create and Sacred Fire to even more absurd levels of power but also makes defensive Heatran even more threatening (Timid Heatran is 2HKOed by Stone Edge), so Water-types make good teammates. Starmie is a useful Pokemon to bring along thanks to its access to Rapid Spin and Natural Cure, which can soak up status that could otherwise cripple this set. Vaporeon is also particularly helpful, as it can heal Necturna with Wish; Rotom-W is another notable partner. All three of these can also combat Salamence and Gyarados, should they attempt to take advantage of a Necturna locked into an ineffective attack.</p>

<p>Necturna is capable of running a Choice Scarf set with these same moves and can catch a few opponents off-guard with its Speed, although the lack of immediate power is noticeable. Shadow Claw should be considered over Shadow Sneak here, as the Choice Scarf reduces the desire for priority, and the higher Base Power allows it to OHKO Latios, Gengar, and Alakazam. Additionally, Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick can be used over a Fire-type move for the surprise jump on Heatran and Tyranitar, but the utility and coverage of Sacred Fire will most often be preferred.</p>

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<p>While it is generally true that any one support move is not as amazing as any one set-up or coverage move, Necturna already has a fairly stellar non-Sketch support movepool, including Toxic Spikes, Will-O-Wisp, and Pain Split, giving the player more freedom with the Sketch slot. Necturna is also a fairly competent special wall with its impressive base 120 Special Defense stat, acting as a decent response to Pokemon such as Celebi, Latias, and most Water-types. Bulky Necturna is one of the best spinblockers in the game; the standard Timid Life Orb Starmie cannot even 2HKO with Ice Beam, factoring in Leftovers. In fact, Necturna performs well against all of OU's common Rapid Spin users, with the exception of Substitute + Toxic Tentacruel. As such, this Necturna can be a valuable Pokemon for stall and balanced teams alike.</p>

<p>Toxic Spikes is a good support move, and is only made better by Necturna's ability to block Rapid Spin. Power Whip is a good STAB attack, capable of 2HKOing Donphan, Cloyster, Jellicent, and Tentacruel, while Shadow Claw has more reliable accuracy and better generic coverage. As far as the Sketch slot goes, Rapid Spin gives Necturna incredible utility, as it can hit Gengar, Jellicent, and Dusclops with super effective attacks, making spinning easy to accomplish. Pain Split is an unreliable form of recovery, so Recover may be the preferred option, greatly increasing Necturna's lifespan and special walling capabilities. When using Recover, the third moveslot can be used for a secondary STAB or for Will-O-Wisp, which is useful for patching up Necturna's lower Defense stat and hitting Pokemon immune to Toxic Spikes, notably Salamence, Dragonite, and Gyarados.</p>

<p>Maximum Special Defense is necessary in order to make the most use of Necturna's impressive stats and to hold Life Orb Starmie at bay. This also improves Necturna's ability to come in on Pokemon such as Vaporeon and Rotom-W and start setting up entry hazards, as well as taking on dangerous, specially inclined Pokemon such as Virizion, Celebi, and Latias.</p>

<p>As a spinblocker and a Toxic Spiker, this Necturna fits best on stall or bulky offense teams that depend on residual damage. Skarmory is an excellent choice to set up either Spikes or Stealth Rock, and can also deal with the Dragon-types that Necturna cannot handle. Deoxys-D is another good choice, able to quickly and efficiently layer hazards. Finally, if carrying Rapid Spin, Necturna is an excellent partner to Pokemon that fear Stealth Rock, such as Volcarona, Dragonite, Choice item users, VoltTurn teams, etc. Even though Necturna is a strong special wall, her five weaknesses to common attacking types render her somewhat vulnerable to a large number of opposing Pokemon. Starmie and Rotom-W are frequently paired with Pokemon that Necturna will struggle with, such as Tornadus and Dragonite on rain teams. A Steel-type such as specially defensive Jirachi can make a great teammate, as it resists Flying- and Ice-type attacks. Also, most Steel-types will be unable to deal with Heatran, who is a very great threat, so a bulky Water-type may be advisable. If running Rapid Spin, then Vaporeon is typically a good choice for its access to Wish, and if running Recover, then a Rapid Spin user such as Starmie or Tentacruel may be the better choice. Latias is also a good option to deal with Heatran as well as other threatening Pokemon such as Venusaur, Jirachi, and Dragon-types, though it does share Ghost- and Dark-type weaknesses with Necturna.</p>

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<p>While Necturna's base 85 Special Attack stat and lack of any reliable offensive moves over 80 Base Power somewhat hurt her capabilities, her advantages over OU's existing Quiver Dance users are noticeable. Unlike Volcarona, Necturna does not require Rapid Spin support, and unlike Lilligant, Necturna has a secondary STAB, notable immunities to switch into, and better overall stats. Additionally, a high Special Defense stat gives Necturna greater longevity and an easier time setting up against special threats. Giga Drain is a useful STAB for restoring HP lost during setup, while Shadow Ball is Necturna's second STAB attack and achieves fairly good coverage alongside Giga Drain. To deal with Steel-types, Necturna has Hidden Power Fire to hit Jirachi, Scizor, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, and Metagross for super effective damage, although it is greatly weakened in the rain. For that reason, Hidden Power Fighting is a decent alternative as it gets a stronger hit on Heatran and Hydreigon and is unaffected by weather. Necturna can also run Substitute and the unresisted Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fighting combination to combat her weaknesses to status effects and priority attacks. Substitute can block status from Chansey or Blissey, who otherwise cannot touch Necturna thanks to her immunity to Seismic Toss. Substitute also blocks Jirachi's Thunder Wave and Politoed's Toxic and can give Necturna free turns to set up; however, this will mean no recovery from Giga Drain, so Leftovers is recommended to cover the damage from opponents' attacks as well as lost HP from Substitute.</p>

<p>The EV spread allows Necturna to outrun all unboosted base 115 Speed Pokemon after a Quiver Dance. Offensive ability is maximized with a Modest nature and 252 EVs in Special Attack, and the remaining EVs are allocated to HP to enable Necturna to take hits more easily. A simple 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe spread with a Modest or Timid nature may also be used to outrun Heatran and Dragonite without a boost. For the item, Leftovers is typically the better choice, supplementing Giga Drain's healing effect for garnering additional boosts. Life Orb may be preferred to give Necturna more immediate power and the ability to 2HKO Heatran and Tyranitar after a boost; however, this cuts down on her longevity greatly.</p>

<p>Generally speaking, the biggest threats to Quiver Dance Necturna are strong physical attackers that can take a hit, such as Dragonite, as well as specially defensive Steel-types like Jirachi and Heatran. A Reflect user would help with Necturna's weakness to priority attacks, especially from Mamoswine and Scizor, while Dugtrio can easily trap and remove both Jirachi and Heatran, as well as Tyranitar, Chansey, and Blissey. Rotom-W and Politoed can both also deal with Jirachi and Heatran, with Politoed's Drizzle support weakening incoming Fire-type attacks for Necturna using Hidden Power Fighting.</p>

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<p>Unlike Quiver Dance, Necturna learns Calm Mind naturally, freeing up her Sketch slot for powerful coverage moves like Blue Flare, which is actually stronger than STAB Shadow Ball against neutral opponents, hitting specially defensive Jirachi for a minimum of 64% after a Calm Mind and OHKOing offensive variants. Giga Drain is this set's primary STAB, helping Necturna maintain her HP while setting up. For coverage, Hidden Power Ice hits Dragon-types like Hydreigon and Latios while Hidden Power Ground allows her to fare better against Fire-types like Heatran and Ninetales. Shadow Ball is a decent alternative for hitting other Calm Mind sweepers like Latias and Reuniclus, and in conjunction with Giga Drain and Blue Flare hits everything in OU bar Heatran and Hydreigon for at least neutral damage.</p>

<p>The EVs are designed to give the maximum possible attacking prowess while at the same time compromising between Necturna's bulk and her ability to outrun things. 184 Speed EVs allow her to outrun most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom, while also tying with bulky Rotom-W. For the item, Leftovers is preferred, as unlike Quiver Dance Necturna, she cannot rely on outrunning opponents enough to get away with using Life Orb.</p>

<p>Without the Speed boost provided by Quiver Dance, it is far more difficult for Necturna to sweep and far easier to be revenge killed. This set has problems with Chansey and Blissey, and if Necturna is running Hidden Power Ice, Fire-types like Heatran and Ninetales also pose problems, so Dugtrio can be relied upon to remove them. Running Hidden Power Ground leaves you particularly vulnerable to Salamence, Dragonite, and other Dragon-types, so bulky Steel- and Water-types like Jirachi, Heatran, Vaporeon, Rotom-W, and Starmie or revenge killers like Choice Scarf Terrakion also make good teammates for Calm Mind Necturna.</p>

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<p>This set is the hallmark example of Sketch's immense versatility. Soak is a seemingly worthless move that turns the target into a pure Water-type, which to Necturna means she can hit just about any switch-in with a super effective Power Whip&mdash;even her greatest nemesis, Heatran. Additionally, Soaked opponents lose their typical STAB, greatly reducing their offensive potential against this set. With a Life Orb, even physically defensive Skarmory, usually one of Necturna's deadliest enemies, has a small chance to be OHKOed by Power Whip, factoring in Stealth Rock and one round of Leftovers recovery, and other common Steel-types don't stand a chance. This set may also run Horn Leech for help recovering from Life Orb recoil, or Leaf Blade for its 100% accuracy. Of course, using Soak will telegraph that you are about to use a Grass-type attack, so it will not be hard for the opponent to simply switch out again, especially as they will then know Necturna is not carrying a Fire-type attack. That said, you cannot simply rely only on Soak and Power Whip to carry the set. In the last two slots, STAB Shadow Claw and Stone Edge provide you with any coverage that you may need against un-Soaked opponents. Substitute is a nifty choice for the fourth slot, as it helps with prediction immensely and preserves Soak's surprise value, but should be run with Leftovers for survivability. Toxic Spikes can also be helpful to take advantage of the numerous switches this set can force.</p>

<p>A Jolly nature and 252 Speed EVs are necessary in order to outrun Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite, although an Adamant nature with Life Orb would allow you to OHKO just about every single Steel-type in OU after a Soak, including Skarmory. The last 4 EVs are placed in Defense rather than HP in order to allow the creation of a maximum of 5 Substitutes. Life Orb is typically the best choice for the item, as the added power can be the difference between a OHKO and a 2HKO on many of the targets you want to be hitting. Leftovers increases survivability and can offset the passive damage from Substitute but misses out on key OHKOs, so it is recommended for use with Horn Leech or Leaf Blade.</p>

<p>Thanks to Soak, Necturna is capable of taking on almost any Pokemon in existence, so in terms of partners, it is less a case of what you can do for Necturna, but what Necturna can do for you. As this Necturna set will be forcing plenty of switches, Spikes and Stealth Rock are a huge advantage. In addition, this set functions well as a Steel-type lure, so teammates who can take advantage of their absence are recommended, such as Psychic-type cleaners Alakazam and Latios, as well as set-up sweepers such as Dragonite and Scizor. Lastly, since this Necturna has no way to recover her health, a Wish passer like Vaporeon or Blissey makes a good teammate.</p>

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set.move[3] = "Shadow Sneak;
set.move[4] = "Stone Edge";
set.item = "Leftovers";
set.ability = "Forewarn";
set.nature = ["Adamant", "Jolly"];
set.evs.Atk = 252;
set.evs.Def = 4;
set.evs.Spe = 252;
document.write(composeSet(set));
</script>

<p>Another example of Necturna's vast sea of options is Belly Drum, which exchanges 50% of Necturna's HP for +6 Attack, which Necturna can then utilize with priority STAB Shadow Sneak and the HP-draining STAB Horn Leech to devastating effect. Stone Edge rounds out the coverage, able to hit Scizor, Forretress, and Skarmory for neutral damage amongst the Steel-types that completely wall this set. Even without a boost, Shadow Sneak is a useful priority attack, even if it is very weak, and Horn Leech and Leftovers ensure that Necturna will likely stay above 50% HP for the majority of the battle.</p>

<p>Leftovers is the item of choice for this set, as Necturna is extremely vulnerable to priority and revenge killing at merely 50% HP, so the passive healing is crucial. Leftovers also takes some of the pressure off Horn Leech and makes it easier to get off a Belly Drum in the first place, despite making it a bit less capable once it's set up. A Jolly nature can be used over Adamant, as Necturna really wants to be outrunning as much as she can, especially Heatran, who is OHKOed by Stone Edge after a Belly Drum. However, the power of an Adamant nature at +6 is enormous compared to Jolly, so an Adamant nature is usually preferred.</p>

<p>In general, Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Skarmory will wall this set indiscriminately, and fast Pokemon that can tank a +6 Shadow Sneak, such as Hydreigon, will be able to KO a Necturna with 50% HP easily. Scizor is a particularly menacing foe as well, as Bullet Punch will destroy Necturna. Rotom-W makes a good teammate as a check to Scizor, Skarmory, and Heatran, while a Heatran of your own can generally solve the big problems with other Steel-types like Ferrothorn.</p>

<h2>Other Options</h2>

<p>With the freedom that Sketch provides, it would be impossible to cover all of its possible applications. In terms of setup moves, Coil can be used to boost the unfortunate accuracy of Power Whip, as well as its power. Shift Gear can provide a physical sweep without the defense drops of Shell Smash. Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick could replace any Fire-type move in order to hit Heatran and Hydreigon. Spore is always available as a 100% accurate sleep-inducing move, and can be helpful for putting a crucial opponent out of commission. Finally, Spikes and Stealth Rock are available as an accompaniment to Toxic Spikes, a la Forretress or Cloyster. In terms of Necturna's natural movepool, Trick can be a useful and unexpected tool for the Choice sets. A simple non-boosting Life Orb set with Power Whip / Stone Edge / Sacred Fire / Shadow Sneak is also viable as an offensive pivot. The options are more or less limitless thanks to Sketch, so creative sets are always available.</p>

<h2>Checks and Counters</h2>

<p>Most often, Steel-types can give Necturna a lot of trouble, especially Heatran and Skarmory, who cannot both be covered by the same Hidden Power or Sketched coverage move. Rain, while inhibiting incoming Fire-type attacks, also neuters the Fire-type attacks Necturna relies upon to hit those Steels, so rain + Steel-types is solid enough general preparation for opposing Necturna.</p>

<p>Heatran is probably the easiest stop to Necturna in OU; even a Shell Smash-boosted Life Orb Hidden Power Fighting cannot OHKO offensive Heatran, and defensive variants are not even 2HKOed without Stealth Rock support. In return, Heatran can OHKO most variants with Fire Blast or 2HKO with Lava Plume, absent rain or Special Defense boosts from Quiver Dance or Calm Mind. Offensive Heatran must watch out for Shell Smash-boosted Stone Edge though, as well as Close Combat from the lure sets and the rare Hidden Power Ground.</p>

<p>Specially defensive Jirachi is another capable Steel-type, as it can take nearly any special attack that Necturna can dish out, as well as most physical ones barring Sacred Fire, especially in the rain, and cripple her with Thunder Wave or wear her down with Iron Head. Calm Mind Jirachi can set up on defensive Necturna with impunity. Skarmory is an excellent stop to nearly all Necturna, as physically defensive variants are not even 2HKOed by Choice Band Sacred Fire under the rain, while Skarmory can easily OHKO back with Brave Bird. Hidden Power Fire is also doing pitiful damage, and Fighting-type moves are no threat to Skarmory's defensive stats. It can also Whirlwind Necturna away if she is behind a Substitute. While Ferrothorn and Forretress cannot take a Fire-type attack at all, they can take just about everything else perfectly well and respond with Gyro Ball. However, all of these Pokemon can have difficulty with special variants.</p>

<p>Necturna's other big foe is Dragonite, who can take a Shadow Claw from Shell Smash Necturna if its Multiscale is unbroken and attack back with a STAB Dragon-type attack or Fire Punch. Rain Dragonite can easily OHKO with STAB Hurricane or set up a Substitute or Roost in Necturna's face, while offensive variants can set up Dragon Dance on defensive Necturna that lack Will-O-Wisp. However, Dragonite must always be wary of Stone Edge and burns from Sacred Fire, and it relies on Multiscale to take +2 Shadow Claws. Hydreigon, like Heatran, resists everything Necturna commonly carries and can fry her with Fire Blast, but is beaten by any Fighting-type move and cannot switch repeatedly into strong Grass-type attacks. Intimidate Salamence can check physical Necturna and has access to Fire Blast and powerful STAB Dragon-type attacks. Volcarona can easily beat Necturna with its STAB Fire-type attacks, as well as set up Quiver Dance against special variants. Finally, Chansey and Blissey deserve special mention for beating pretty much all special sets by Toxic stalling alone, fearing only Substitute. Substitute + Toxic Tentacruel can also annoy Necturna hoping to set up.</p>

<p>Typically, the easiest way to get rid of Necturna for good is to revenge kill her by preying on her weaker physically defensive side. Scizor can easily get rid of a Shell Smash or Belly Drum Necturna with Bullet Punch, and can 2HKO any other Necturna lacking a Fire-type move. Mamoswine does a similar job with Ice Shard, as Necturna resists or is immune to just about every other priority move in the metagame, save for Sucker Punch. In general, strong neutral hits from Haxorus, Terrakion, Metagross, and the like are all fully capable of taking down Necturna given the correct opportunity.</p>

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