Simisage (Revamp)

http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/simisage

[Overview]

<p>At first glance, it may seem like Simisage has almost no advantages over other NU Grass-types, being less powerful than some, such as Exeggutor, and slower than others such as Serperior. However, Simisage has useful tools that help it preform in the NU tier and make it worth using over other Grass-types. A useful 101 base Speed and access to Nasty Plot make it an effective sweeper, and a fast Leaf Storm backed up by its decent Special Attack can really put the hurt on the opponent. It also has access to Focus Blast, which helps it get past Steel-type Pokemon, as well as destroying Sap Sipper Sawsbuck and Miltank, which are immune to Grass-type moves.</p>

<p>Despite this, Simisage has very notable flaws beyond simply having competition. Grass is a bad STAB to have in a metagame filled with Pokemon that resist it such as Braviary, Amoonguss, and Skuntank. In addition, Simisage will not be taking hits very well, as it is pretty frail and has a mediocre defensive typing. However, despite these drawbacks, if you have the right support, Simisage is a Pokemon to consider for your team.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Nasty Plot / Leaf Storm
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Rock
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[Set Comments]

<p>With a plethora of special attacks, Simisage is a good candidate for a special sweeper. This set either does one of two things depending on the first move choice. With Nasty Plot, it can increase its Special Attack and get the chance to sweep the foe, while with Leaf Storm, it can fire off a very powerful move and then run. Note that a Leaf Storm hits nearly as hard as a +2 Giga Drain without requiring any set up, but the choice is primarily up to the user.</p>

<p>Giga Drain is your main STAB with Nasty Plot or your alternative STAB with Leaf Storm. Despite its relatively low Base Power, the ability to heal Life Orb damage while also dealing a decent amount of damage makes it a useful move regardless. While Grass isn't a great STAB within the NU tier, Simisage has useful coverage moves to hit what its STAB cannot. Steel-types are easily taken down with Focus Blast, especially if they have a 4x weakness to the move like Probopass and Bastiodon. It also steamrolls Sawsbuck and Miltank, OHKOing Sawsbuck easily and doing a minimum of 70.56% to even the bulkiest of Miltank. Hidden Power Ice is the recommended choice for the final slot as it gets past Amoonguss, which otherwise almost completely walls Simisage. It also hits Altaria harder than any other move Simisage has. Hidden Power Rock is a solid alternative to hit Fire-type Pokemon, most notably Charizard, hard. Note that both options hit Flying-types like Braviary for super effective damage.</p>

[Additional Comments]

<p>A Timid nature outspeeds positive base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Charizard. Life Orb boosts its usually modest base 98 Special Attack and allows it to switch moves and utilize its movepool. However, Choice Specs is an OK alternative to increase Leaf Storm's damage output, but as was said before, Grass-type moves are not the best to spam. While Overgrow may seem like the clear choice as an ability for Simisage, it is worth noting that Simisage only gets its ability from an event giving away male Pansage and therefore cannot have Nasty Plot and Overgrow at the same time due to Nasty Plot being an Egg move. As such, Nasty Plot will always have to go with Gluttony despite the ability being fairly useless; if Leaf Storm is used over Nasty Plot, however, Overgrow should always be used in order to make its moves far more powerful when it is below 33% health.</p>

<p>The bane of Simisage's existence are Poison-type Pokemon, which are omnipresent in NU. Psychic-types, such as Musharna, or Ground-types, such as Golem, can hit these Pokemon hard, but note that Ground- and Psychic-types struggle against Amoonguss and Skuntank, respectively, which are the most common Poison-types in the tier. For Amoonguss, Magmar is the closest you can get to as counter, as it can roast Amoonguss with a STAB Fire Blast while also being immune to Spore. In return, Simisage covers Magmar's Water-, Ground-, and Rock-type weaknesses since it can hit these Pokemon for super effective damage. Flying-types, including Swellow and Braviary, among others, also threaten to destroy Simisage. Rock-types like Regirock can handle these Pokemon well, and Simisage can take on Ground-types that Regirock can struggle against. All Rock-types can also set up Stealth Rock, which lets Simisage secure a OHKO on Regice, Mantine, and Amoonguss with a +2 Focus Blast, +2 Hidden Power Rock, and +2 Hidden Power Ice, respectively. On that note, Spikes support alongside Stealth Rock helps get OHKOs on offensive Ludicolo and Gardevoir with Leaf Storm. Garbodor is a good option because of this, and it resists Poison-type moves that may be aimed at Simisage.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Simisage has a good amount of other options to consider. A set consisting of Substitute over Leaf Storm and Nasty Plot can be used with Overgrow, similarly to Sceptile in RU. Another similarity between it and Sceptile is that Simisage has Leech Seed, which can be used for a SubSeed set. However, Exeggutor is usually a better choice, as with Harvest, it will usually heal a lot more than Simisage, and its additional Psychic-typing puts more pressure on the opponent to allow it to set up. Synthesis is useful for free healing, and with Taunt it can make Simisage an effective stallbreaker, but most of the time Simisage will find itself far too frail to accomplish this. Since it has Gluttony, a Petaya or Salac Berry is an acceptable option since they will activate early on. Simisage has a surprisingly large physical movepool, containing goodies such as Seed Bomb, Low Kick, Superpower, Rock Slide, Acrobatics, and Crunch. However, with only Work Up to boost its average Attack stat and with a mediocre STAB, you are usually better off finding something else to function as a physical attacker.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>If Simisage gets a Nasty Plot boost, it can be a pain to take down, but usually defeating it isn't that difficult. Poison-types such as Skuntank, Muk, and Garbodor are among the best options, as they have good bulk and other than Skuntank resist all its moves besides Hidden Power. From there, all of them can either OHKO Simisage with their Poison STABs, or Garbodor can set up Spikes against it. Amoonguss can be OHKOed by a Hidden Power Ice at +2 after Stealth Rock, but is otherwise an even better option than other Poison-types due to its 4x resistance to Grass. Specially defensive Ludicolo can take on Simisage's onslaughts well and do massive damage with an Ice Beam. Emboar can easily OHKO and isn't weak to either Hidden Power, but note that a +2 Focus Blast OHKOes. Substitute + Bulk Up Braviary can use Simisage as setup fodder if Simisage has a Special Attack drop due to Leaf Storm. If Simisage is running Hidden Power Ice, Flareon and Charizard can take hits from it well and retaliate with their Fire STAB. Choice Scarf Rotom-S can switch into a Grass-type move and retaliate with Air Slash. There are many, many revenge killers that cannot switch in, such as Cinccino and Swellow, which easily OHKO Simisage due to its frailty.</p>
 

Sweet Jesus

Neal and Jack and me, absent lovers...
In checkers and counters you can add sub BU braviary.

Looks outclassed at first by other more powerful Grass-types at first glance
You can specify serperior, say it's only advantages over it are better special attack, nasty plot (focus blast really isn't a big plus).

Not using synthesis is more about simi being too frail more than 4 mss since focus blast is really niche (+2 giga drain is doing huge damage to probo and bastio, is more reliable heals you, you aren't hitting metang and mawile and klang and others are pretty uncommmon).

Add pinch berries with gluttony in other options
 
In checkers and counters you can add sub BU braviary.

You can specify serperior, say it's only advantages over it are better special attack, nasty plot (focus blast really isn't a big plus).

Not using synthesis is more about simi being too frail more than 4 mss since focus blast is really niche (+2 giga drain is doing huge damage to probo and bastio, is more reliable heals you, you aren't hitting metang and mawile, klang and others are pretty uncommmon).

Add pinch berries with gluttony in other options
Specially Defensive Probopasses can actually take a +2 Giga Drain moderately well. If it lives it can paralyze Simisage, which is horrible for it.

252 +2 SpAtk Life Orb Simisage Giga Drain vs 252 HP/252 SpDef Probopass (+SpDef) : 43.83% - 51.23% (3 hits to KO)

Simisage is notable since it can avoid the need to set up and just Focus Blast immediatley in case it has Leaf Storm.

252 SpAtk Life Orb Simisage Focus Blast vs 252 HP/252 SpDef Probopass (+SpDef) : 93.83% - 109.88% (62.5% chance to OHKO)

I implemented everything else though.
 
In checkers and counters you can add sub BU braviary.

You can specify serperior, say it's only advantages over it are better special attack, nasty plot (focus blast really isn't a big plus).

Not using synthesis is more about simi being too frail more than 4 mss since focus blast is really niche (+2 giga drain is doing huge damage to probo and bastio, is more reliable heals you, you aren't hitting metang and mawile, klang and others are pretty uncommmon).

Add pinch berries with gluttony in other options
Also having a mention that Sap Sipper mons can't really harm Simisage all that much unless they run odd sets (the only legit mon is Zebstrika from my experience). Sawsbuck is outsped unless scarfed, which is extremely uncommon. Miltank can take one unboosted focus blast if invested, but fails to OHKO with a +1 Body Slam providing Max Attack, positive nature, and no boosting item (82-96%). So basically the ability to beat other mons that can nab a free boost and beat other grasses is a pretty key niche that very few other grass-STAB mons can do.
 
In checks and counters I would state that a +2 Focus Blast / two Focus Blasts on the switch OHKO Emboar. Offensive Ludicolo takes on Simisage extremely poorly so specify Specially Defensive Ludicolo as a counter. Also add that Absol's Sucker Punch will be able to easily revenge Simisage in CC. Mention a gimmicky, but viable mixed Work Up set in OO.

Give a mention of how hazards help Simisage sweep/break through walls. Here are some calcs so you can mention some Pokemon that Stealth Rock help against. Spikes wear down Amoonguss and Skuntank to the point where Simisage can deal with them. (Just mention the ones that you think are the most important)

252 +2 SpAtk Life Orb Simisage Hidden Power Rock vs 252 HP/0 SpDef Mantine: 73.05% - 86.23%

252 +2 SpAtk Life Orb Simisage Focus Blast vs 252 HP/0 SpDef Regice: 83.52% - 98.35%

252 +2 SpAtk Life Orb Simisage Hidden Power Ice vs 252 HP/0 SpDef Amoonguss: 91.2% - 107.41%

252 SpAtk Life Orb Simisage Leaf Storm vs 0 HP/0 SpDef Ludicolo: 81.73% - 96.01%

252 SpAtk Life Orb Simisage Leaf Storm vs 0 HP/0 SpDef Gardevoir: 78.34% - 92.42%


will qc this later after seeing what other qc members have to say
 

ebeast

she's probably sexting nprtprt
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Add Taunt in OO and mention how it can be used with Synthesis to make a sort of stallbreaker capable of beating common Stealth Rock users such as Golem, Regirock, and Miltank with moves like Giga Drain and Focus Blast. Add in how its lack of good defenses make playing this role not as effective as it could be as even though it can prevent their Stealth Rock it cannot take the hits they dish out very well.

For Check and Counters make sure that you bring up the consequences of being walled by Muk and Garbodor; giving them an opportunity to get up a Curse or Spikes, respectively. Also mention Rotom-F alongside Rotom-S as being capable of revenge killing it.

In Unreleased DW ability mention the usability of a Substitute + 3 Attacks set a lá RU Sceptile that takes advantage of its good Speed to get into Overgrow range to fire off strong Giga Drains. Add in that this set's advantage over Serperior would be more immediate power and Focus Blast.

Other than that looks good to me!

[QC]2/3[/QC]
 
QC Checks implemented

However, before I start writing this up, Simisage's DW ability will be released on November 15th, but it is incompatible with Nasty Plot. However, there are two things that still exist - the Leaf Storm variants and the Substitute + 3 Attacks variant that EBeast talked about are still usable. Should I make Overgrow a different option for the main set, should I make Overgrow confined to OO, should I create the Substitute + 3 Attacks set, or should I make that set stay in OO too? I want this to get discussed before I write it up...
 

jake

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Before we make any significant changes, where are you getting this information from? Are you sure that it is correct? I'm not particularly well-versed in DW, so pardon me if it's obvious.

Anyway, Overgrow is easily the better ability and should be first on all sets. I would simply slash it in front of Gluttony on the first set and explain the intricacies around NP vs Leaf Storm (and probably flip them as Overgrow is better) and how the abilities affect that. Substitute + 3 Attacks sounds plausible too, I'd be okay with that being a set if Overgrow is indeed coming out.
 
In my opinion, I would just keep it to Rotom-S revenging and remove Rotom-F since Rotom-S can switch in on Simisages main moves more reliably while Rotom-F can't. I get that it can still revenge but there's no point to add Rotom-F tbh.

I don't really know what to do about the Overgrow/DW thing. Although, I agree with what zeb said once Overgrow comes out.
 
Before we make any significant changes, where are you getting this information from? Are you sure that it is correct? I'm not particularly well-versed in DW, so pardon me if it's obvious.
The Japanese versions of Global Link are giving away Male Pansages, Pansears, and Panpours all equipped with their hidden abilities as a promotional gift starting on Nov. 15th. according to Serebii as of last friday, hence the Nasty Plot incompatibility. I would add a Sub+3 Attack set, but would it need to go through QC a second time? This isn't a high priority analysis and I'd be fine with if I could put it on hold until then (its in only 2 days anyway)
 

jake

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The Japanese versions of Global Link are giving away Male Pansages, Pansears, and Panpours all equipped with their hidden abilities as a promotional gift starting on Nov. 15th. according to Serebii as of last friday, hence the Nasty Plot incompatibility. I would add a Sub+3 Attack set, but would it need to go through QC a second time? This isn't a high priority analysis and I'd be fine with if I could put it on hold until then (its in only 2 days anyway)
That set alone would need to go through QC, yes, but it shouldn't be that difficult to push it through or anything. Feel free to start writing up whatever ya need (taking Overgrow into account), and we can QC the set when it becomes available.
 
GP check. Good job on writing this. Most of my changes are small things like spelling, typos, and capitalization. Only real comment is don't refer to something as infamous just because its good. Infamous means something has "a reputation of the worst kind : notoriously evil," which is different from just being very effective in the right circumstances. Anyway,
Additions in Blue
Subtractions in Red
Comments in Purple

[Overview]

<p>At first glance, it may seem like Simisage has almost no advantages over the other NU Grass-types, being less powerful than some, such as Exeggutor, and slower than others, such as Serperior that are either more powerful such as Exeggutor or faster such as Serperioer. However, Simisage has useful tools that help it preform in the NU tier and make it worth using over other Grass-types. A useful 101 base speed Speed and access to Nasty Plot make it an effective sweeper, and a fast Leaf Storm backed up by its decent Special Attack also hurts. It also gets has access to Focus Blast, which helps it get past Steel-type Pokemon, as well as destroy destroying Sap Sipper Sawsbuck and Miltank, which are immune to Grass-type moves.</p>

<p>Despite this, however, Simisage has very notable flaws, and they aren't just that it gets beyond simply having competition. Grass is a bad STAB to have in a metagame filled with Pokemon that resist it such as Braviary, Amoonguss, and Skuntank - these omnipresent Pokemon can be difficult to get past. In addition to that, Simisage will not be taking hits very well, as it is pretty frail and has a mediocre defensive typing. Despite However, despite these things holding it back drawbacks, with if you have the right support, Simisage is a Pokemon to consider on for your team.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Nasty Plot / Leaf Storm
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Rock
item: Life Orb
ability: Overgrow / Gluttony
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[Set Comments]

<p>With a plethora of special attacks, Simisage is a good candidate for a special sweeper. This set either does one of two things depending on the first move choice. With Nasty Plot, you it can increase your special attack its Special Attack and get the chance to sweep the foe, and while with Leaf Storm, you it can fire off a very powerful move and then run. Note that a Leaf Storm hits nearly as hard as a +2 Giga Drain except it doesn't require without requiring any set up, but the choice is primarily up to the user.</p>

<p>Giga Drain is your main STAB with Nasty Plot or your alternative STAB with Leaf Storm. Despite its relatively low base power Base Power, the ability to heal Life Orb damage while also dealing a decent amount of damage makes it a useful move regardless. While Grass isn't a great STAB within the NU tier, Simisage has useful coverage moves to hit what its STAB cannot. Steel-types are easily taken down with Focus Blast, especially if they have a 4x weakness to the move such as like Probopass or and Bastiodon. It also gets the advantage of getting to steamroll past steamrolls Sawsbuck and Miltank, OHKOing Sawsbuck easily and doing a minimum of 70.56% to even the bulkiest of Miltank. Hidden Power Ice is the recommended choice for the final slot as it gets past Amoonguss, which otherwise almost completely walls Simisage. It also hits Altaria harder than any other move Simisage has. Hidden Power Rock is a solid alternative to hit Fire-type Pokemon, most notably Charizard, hard. Note that both options hit Flying-types like Braviary for Super Effective super effective damage.</p>

[Additional Comments]

<p>The EVs are self explanitory, as they maximize offensive presence. A Timid nature outspeeds positive base 100 speed Speed Pokemon, such as Charizard. Life Orb boosts its usually modest base 98 Special Attack and alows it to switch moves and utilize its movepool. However, Choice Specs is an OK alternative to increase Leaf Storm's damage output (emphasizing hit and run), but as aformentioned was said before, Grass-type moves are is not the best move to spam. While Overgrow may seem like the clear choice as an ability for Simisage, it is worth noting that Simisage only gets its ability as a from an event giving away male Pansage, (remove comma) and therefore cannot have Nasty Plot and Overgrow at the same time due to Nasty Plot being an egg move. As thus such, Nasty Plot will always have to go with Gluttony despite the ability being fairly useless - (change to semicolon) if Leaf Storm is used over Nasty Plot, however, Overgrow should always be used in order to make its moves far more powerful when it is below 33% health.</p>

<p>The bane of Simisage's existence are Poison-type Pokemon, which are omnipresent in NU. Psychic-types such as Musharna or Ground-types such as Golem can hit these Pokemon hard, but note that Ground- and Psychic- types (remove space) stuggle struggle against Amoonguss and Skuntank, respectively, which are the most common Poison types (add dash between poison and types) in the tier. For Amoonguss, Magmar is the closest you can get to an Amoonguss as counter, since as it can roast Amoonguss with a STAB Fire Blast while also being immune to Spore. In return, Simisage is covers Magmar's Water-, Ground- (add comma) and Rock-type weaknesses since it can hit these Pokemon for super effective damage. Flying-types, including Swellow and Braviary, among others, also threaten to destroy Simisage, and these include Swellow, Braviary, and others. Rock-types like Regirock can handle these Pokemon well, and once again Simisage can take on Ground-types that Regirock can struggle against. All Rock-types can also set up Stealth Rock, which lets Simisage secure a OHKO on Regice, Mantine, and Amoonguss with a +2 Focus Blast, +2 Hidden Power Rock, and +2 Hidden Power Ice, respectively. On that note, spike Spikes support alongside Stealth Rock helps get OHKOs on offensive Ludicolo and Gardevior Gardevoir with Leaf Storm. Garbodor is a good option because of this, and it resists Poison-type moves that may be aimed at Simisage.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Simisage has a good amount of other options to consider. A set consisting of Substitute over Leaf Storm and Nasty Plot can be used with Overgrow, which can be similar to Sceptile's similar set similarly to Sceptile in RU. Another similarity between it and Sceptile is that Simisage has Leech Seed, which can be used for a SubSeed set. However, Exeggutor is usually a better choice, as with Harvest, it will usually heal a lot more than Simisage, and the its additional Psychic-typing adds puts more pressure on the opponent to allow it to set up. Sythesis Synthesis is useful for free healing, and with Taunt (add comma) it can be make Simisage an effective stallbreaker, but most of the time it Simisage will find itself far too frail to accomplish this. Since it has Gluttony, a Petaya or Salac Berry is an acceptable option since they will activate early on. Simisage has a suprisingly surprisingly large physical movepool, which consists of containing goodies such as Seed Bomb, Low Kick, Superpower, Rock Slide, Acrobatics, and Crunch. However, with only Work Up to boost its average attack Attack stat and with a mediocre STAB, you are usually better off finding something else to function as a physical attacker, whether or whether not it is a Grass-type.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>If Simisage gets a Nasty Plot boost (add comma) it can be a pain to take down, but usually defeating it isn't that difficult. Poison types (add dash between poison and types) such as Skuntank, Muk, and Garbodor are among the best options, as they have a good bulk and (add comma) other than Skuntank (add comma) are only hit for neutral damage with a resist all its moves besides Hidden Power. From there, all of them can either OHKO him Simisage with their Poison STABs, or Garbodor can set up Spikes against it. Be warned that Amoonguss can be OHKOed by a Hidden Power Ice at +2 after Stealth Rock, but is otherwise an even better option than other Poison-types due to a its 4x resistance to Grass. Specially Defenive defensive Ludicolo can take on Simisage's onslaughts well and do massive damage with an Ice Beam. Emboar can easily OHKO and isn't weak to either Hidden Power, but note that a +2 Focus Blast OHKOs OHKOes. The infamous Substitute + Bulk Up Braviary can use Simisage as set up setup fodder if Simisage has a Special Attack drop due to Leaf Storm. If it Simisage is running Hidden Power Ice, Flareon and Charizard can take hits from Simisage it well and retaliate with their Fire STAB. Scarfed Rotom-S can switch into a Grass-type move and retailiate retaliate with an Air Slash. There are many, many revenge killers that cannot switch in, such as Cincinno Cinccino and Swellow, which easily OHKO Simisage due to its fraility frailty.</p>


[gp]1/2[/gp]
 
Implemented Melvni's check.

The Substitute variant of Simisage seems to be effective, but I haven't ever tested it nor do I think I would be the best at it. If it warrants a set (which it seems to, definently), then can somebody else write it up?
 

jake

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Implemented Melvni's check.

The Substitute variant of Simisage seems to be effective, but I haven't ever tested it nor do I think I would be the best at it. If it warrants a set (which it seems to, definently), then can somebody else write it up?
I'll do that.
 

Oglemi

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[Overview]

<p>At first glance, it may seem like Simisage has almost no advantages over other NU Grass-types, being less powerful than some, such as Exeggutor, and slower than others such as Serperior. However, Simisage has useful tools that help it preform in the NU tier and make it worth using over other Grass-types. A useful 101 base Speed and access to Nasty Plot make it an effective sweeper, and a fast Leaf Storm backed up by its decent Special Attack can really put the hurt on the opponent. It also has access to Focus Blast, which helps it get past Steel-type Pokemon, as well as destroying Sap Sipper Sawsbuck and Miltank, which are immune to Grass-type moves.</p>

<p>Despite this, Simisage has very notable flaws beyond simply having competition. Grass is a bad STAB to have in a metagame filled with Pokemon that resist it such as Braviary, Amoonguss, and Skuntank. In addition, Simisage will not be taking hits very well, as it is pretty frail and has a mediocre defensive typing. However, despite these drawbacks, if you have the right support, Simisage is a Pokemon to consider for your team.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Nasty Plot / Leaf Storm
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Rock
item: Life Orb
ability: Overgrow / Gluttony
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[Set Comments]

<p>With a plethora of special attacks, Simisage is a good candidate for a special sweeper. This set either does one of two things depending on the first move choice. With Nasty Plot, it can increase its Special Attack and get the chance to sweep the foe, while with Leaf Storm, it can fire off a very powerful move and then run. Note that a Leaf Storm hits nearly as hard as a +2 Giga Drain without requiring any set up, but the choice is primarily up to the user.</p>

<p>Giga Drain is your main STAB with Nasty Plot or your alternative STAB with Leaf Storm. Despite its relatively low Base Power, the ability to heal Life Orb damage while also dealing a decent amount of damage makes it a useful move regardless. While Grass isn't a great STAB within the NU tier, Simisage has useful coverage moves to hit what its STAB cannot. Steel-types are easily taken down with Focus Blast, especially if they have a 4x weakness to the move like Probopass and Bastiodon. It also steamrolls Sawsbuck and Miltank, OHKOing Sawsbuck easily and doing a minimum of 70.56% to even the bulkiest of Miltank. Hidden Power Ice is the recommended choice for the final slot as it gets past Amoonguss, which otherwise almost completely walls Simisage. It also hits Altaria harder than any other move Simisage has. Hidden Power Rock is a solid alternative to hit Fire-type Pokemon, most notably Charizard, hard. Note that both options hit Flying-types like Braviary for super effective damage.</p>

[Additional Comments]

<p>A Timid nature outspeeds positive base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Charizard. Life Orb boosts its usually modest base 98 Special Attack and allows it to switch moves and utilize its movepool. However, Choice Specs is an OK alternative to increase Leaf Storm's damage output, but as was said before, Grass-type moves are not the best to spam. While Overgrow may seem like the clear choice as an ability for Simisage, it is worth noting that Simisage only gets its ability from an event giving away male Pansage and therefore cannot have Nasty Plot and Overgrow at the same time due to Nasty Plot being an Egg move. As such, Nasty Plot will always have to go with Gluttony despite the ability being fairly useless; if Leaf Storm is used over Nasty Plot, however, Overgrow should always be used in order to make its moves far more powerful when it is below 33% health.</p>

<p>The bane of Simisage's existence are Poison-type Pokemon, which are omnipresent in NU. Psychic-types, such as Musharna, or Ground-types, such as Golem, can hit these Pokemon hard, but note that Ground- and Psychic-types struggle against Amoonguss and Skuntank, respectively, which are the most common Poison-types in the tier. For Amoonguss, Magmar is the closest you can get to as counter, as it can roast Amoonguss with a STAB Fire Blast while also being immune to Spore. In return, Simisage covers Magmar's Water-, Ground-, and Rock-type weaknesses since it can hit these Pokemon for super effective damage. Flying-types, including Swellow and Braviary, among others, also threaten to destroy Simisage. Rock-types like Regirock can handle these Pokemon well, and Simisage can take on Ground-types that Regirock can struggle against. All Rock-types can also set up Stealth Rock, which lets Simisage secure a OHKO on Regice, Mantine, and Amoonguss with a +2 Focus Blast, +2 Hidden Power Rock, and +2 Hidden Power Ice, respectively. On that note, Spikes support alongside Stealth Rock helps get OHKOs on offensive Ludicolo and Gardevoir with Leaf Storm. Garbodor is a good option because of this, and it resists Poison-type moves that may be aimed at Simisage.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Simisage has a good amount of other options to consider. A set consisting of Substitute over Leaf Storm and Nasty Plot can be used with Overgrow, similarly to Sceptile in RU. Another similarity between it and Sceptile is that Simisage has Leech Seed, which can be used for a SubSeed set. However, Exeggutor is usually a better choice, as with Harvest, it will usually heal a lot more than Simisage, and its additional Psychic typing puts more pressure on the opponent to allow it to set up. Synthesis is useful for free healing, and with Taunt it can make Simisage an effective stallbreaker, but most of the time Simisage will find itself far too frail to accomplish this. Since it has Gluttony, a Petaya or Salac Berry is an acceptable option since they will activate early on. Simisage has a surprisingly large physical movepool, containing goodies such as Seed Bomb, Low Kick, Superpower, Rock Slide, Acrobatics, and Crunch. However, with only Work Up to boost its average Attack stat and with a mediocre STAB, you are usually better off finding something else to function as a physical attacker.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>If Simisage gets a Nasty Plot boost, it can be a pain to take down, but usually defeating it isn't that difficult. Poison-types such as Skuntank, Muk, and Garbodor are among the best options, as they have good bulk and other than Skuntank resist all its moves besides Hidden Power. From there, all of them can either OHKO Simisage with their Poison STABs, or Garbodor can set up Spikes against it. Amoonguss can be OHKOed by a Hidden Power Ice at +2 after Stealth Rock, but is otherwise an even better option than other Poison-types due to its 4x resistance to Grass. Specially defensive Ludicolo can take on Simisage's onslaughts well and do massive damage with an Ice Beam. Emboar can easily OHKO and isn't weak to either Hidden Power, but note that a +2 Focus Blast OHKOes. Substitute + Bulk Up Braviary can use Simisage as setup fodder if Simisage has a Special Attack drop due to Leaf Storm. If Simisage is running Hidden Power Ice, Flareon and Charizard can take hits from it well and retaliate with their Fire STAB. Choice Scarf Rotom-S can switch into a Grass-type move and retaliate with Air Slash. There are many, many revenge killers that cannot switch in, such as Cinccino and Swellow, which easily OHKO Simisage due to its frailty.</p>


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