Xatu (B2W2 Revamp) [QC: 2/3]

[Cygnis]

QC: 2/3
GP: 0/2
Uploaded: No
Sets in Question: None

[Overview]

<p>With the departure of Deoxys-D leaving OU, Xatu's niche may have fallen but that still doesn't mean it is useless. Magic Bounce is still effective as ever by bouncing back entry hazards, status, and also being a nuisance to stall teams. The transition to BW2 brought Technician Breloom and the bird is one of the best checks to it by bouncing back Spore and resistance to both of its STAB moves. Unlike other flying-types, Xatu's stealth rock weakness is alleviated as well with correct prediction. However, it is still forced out by a couple of offensive stealth rock users such as Terrakion and Landorus-T. Even with max investment, Xatu still has mediocre defenses and is simultaneously weak to Pursuit. It even suffers competition with Espeon who is one tier above it. After hearing all these flaws, it looks like you're saying, "Xatu stinks and Espeon is way better". Well, to say that would be an overstatement. Unlike Espeon, Xatu actually has reliable recovery in Roost unlike that weather-dependent morning sun and actually doesn't slow down the team's momentum. Xatu also can take down the majority of steels in the metagame with Heat Wave. It may seem Xatu is the new soul of hyper-offense. Although Xatu has these flaws, it shall not disappoint.</p>

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Toxic
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heat Wave / Night Shade
move 4: U-turn
item: Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
ability: Magic Bounce
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This is Xatu's peanut butter and jelly. The main role of this set is to bounce back hazards, scatter status, prevent hazards from going on your side, healing, and gaining momentum. Toxic is the main move on the set that lets it break down walls like Hippowdon, Chansey, Donphan. Toxic is very useful move for Xatu because all it will be doing will be sitting there and having stalemate without it. Roost is for healing off damage you may have taken. Roost also lets you stall PP from move such as Stone Edge, Gyro Ball, and Extremespeed. The attacking move is a hard pick. Heat Wave lets you take down steels who are immune to Toxic, but Night shade allows you to cause consistent damage. Remember to run Impish nature when using Night Shade. On a sun team, Heat Wave is preferred because it gets a pseudo-STAB boost. U-turn is that last move and is very useful to gain momentum and helping take less hit points from Scarf Tyranitar's Pursuit.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p> The following speed EVs let it out speed neutral-natured base 70s like Breloom and also retain maximum physical bulk as possible. Most of these pokemon are hitted with super-effective damage by Heat Wave. Xatu is mainly viable on offensive teams because it allows no momentum loss while also providing entry hazard support. Thunder Wave is an option over Toxic because it lets you slow down some fast paced pokemon but note that some are immune to Thunder Wave namely Garchomp and Landorus. Psychic is an option over Heat Wave or Night Shade because it has STAB and can hurt fighting-types and poison-types. If outspeeding Adamant Breloom isn't a priority, you can use 16 IVs and Relaxed nature to be slower than Heatran to make sure your U-turn goes last. Leftovers provides short-term recovery but Rocky Helmet is always an option as well. Rocky Helmet breaks down Dragonite's Multiscale, break focus sashes, and is useful when sacking Xatu which is very helpful to sun teams. Pursuit can be avoided by using Reflect instead of U-turn in the last slot.</p>

<p>Good teammates are Dugtrio and Scarf Rotom-W. Dugtrio traps all of Xatu's counter bar Landorus-T and can retaliate back with Earthquake or Reversal. Because Xatu like to spam U-turn, it is pretty easy to get Dugtrio in battle. Dugtrio is pretty much mandatory for sun teams regardless because it traps Politoed and Tyranitar which sun teams struggle with. Choice Scarf Rotom-W is another option. While it doesn't trap Xatu's counters, it still hits all of the for super-effective damage forcing to switch or faint. It also can check rain teams that aim mostly at Xatu's special defense. Terrakion is a good teammate with it to as it can beat most of Xatu's counter one on one. Ninetales is a good teammate because it gives Xatu pseudo-STAB Heat Wave.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Xatu honestly have any other good viable options. A dual screens set with tailwind can work but is outclassed by Tornadus and Espeon. Xatu has wish but you are only giving your teammates 166 HP and is not a lot. Haze can stop set-up sweepers from setting up on you and stop baton pass chains. Hidden Power Ice is a move you can try to attack dragon-types hard and prevnt them from setting-up on you. However, it is outclassed by Heat Wave. You can try the annoying Parfusion combo by using confuse ray, but Xatu has little room for it and is one of those pokemon that seriously suffer from four move slots and is better off ran by using Jirachi. Sunny Day is an interesting option same with Rain Dance because it help you to win the weather wars. Trick and a choice item is the last option you can try but after that it has no use.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>While Xatu is hard for walls to take down, there are several stealth rock users that force Xatu out. Examples are Terrakion, Heatran, and Tyranitar. However, they must watch out for Dugtrio as it can trap and KO all of them. Scizor can check Xatu with Pursuit, but will be fried with Heat Wave. Landorus-T also 2HKOes Xatu with Stone Edge and isn't trapped by Dugtrio. The miraculous power of a choice item can knock Xatu off the map. Xatu's special bulk isn't impressive at all and a rain-boosted Surf or sun-boosted Flamethrower can easily OHKO to 2HKO Xatu. Gengar is immune to Toxic and can OHKO Xatu with Shadow Ball. Lucario can use its coverage moves to hurt it badly. Volt Switch users like Thundurus-T and Jolteon can take a Toxic and Volt Switch and won't lose any health from poison because they switch out immediately. Specially Defensive Jirachi is also a good counter because it can take any of Xatu's attacks and flinch the bird to death. If Xatu uses Night Shade, steel-types can counter but the fight will be stalemate most of the time.</p>

[Meru]

Just a nitpick, but Magic Bounce doesn't eliminate SR weakness. It just alleviates it.

[Cygnis]

Don't really think this analysis needs any more sets.

CM SET: Espeon > Xatu
Dual Screens: Expeon > Xatu
Tailwind: Tornadus > Xatu (both are in same tier as well)

EDIT: Meru, I added that thx

[TheStriker]

stallbreaker is a btr name

good job

[tehy]

Why not just call that set general utility or whatnot?

That set doesn't really break stall so much as piss it the hell off. Granted, Xatu fucks my stall team immensely, but it doesn't single-handedly break it. It breaks it by rejecting its entry hazards, and none of the moves except roost have much to do with that.

[jonathanrp]

I really wouldn't say that Xatu is much of a threat to breloom, because an intelligent breloom user could still play around it, and some breloom run Stone Edge, which severely damages Xatu if not koing it outright.

SD Loom beats you with +2 bullet seed as well if the user gets lucky with the number of hits

edit: holy shit that's a terrible runon sentence but i'm too tired to fix it

[Princess Bri]

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Toxic
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heat Wave / Night Shade
move 4: U-turn
item: Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
ability: Magic Bounce
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 Spe

is what i'll accept. any other moves are ac / oo options. despite the popular belief, toxic is practically mandatory imo since you don't have a shot in hell to defeat hippowdon otherwise. toxic'ing things like landorus and garchomp on the switch is satisfying as well. rocky helmet is easily a slashable choice. for starters, you can scout for lead garchomp and then sack xatu as they dragon claw / outrage etc. and you break their sash. from there you can proceed to ohko it and not get rammed by the sash. if you're using xatu, hazards are obviously a big deal for your team so knocking off a sash from chomp is huge. it doesn't even end there. knocking down tyranitar's health is clutch in the weather war since you can weaken it to the point where dugtrio can OHKO (can't ohko 100% tyranitar..) and you can even do 99% to forretress and if they try to spin they won't pull one off due to the rocky helmet. i think you're overselling how crucial it is to use in sun.. i mean it's nice to have, but in all honesty it works in practically any weather. you mention how terrakion "counters all xatu's counters" but it's not getting past opposing terrakion, landorus-t, and garchomp any time soon. u-turn is just too good of a move to give up on xatu since it gives you free momentum and voltturn shiz. i can't imagine running a xatu without it, so that needs a slash by itself. Heat Wave smashes steels, but if you're not using it in a weather (or rain) then night shade is a good option for decent dmg as well. also, you need to flesh out the ac + checks and counters since it seems relatively vague.

[Cygnis]

Originally Posted by Fat Princess Bri

[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Toxic
move 2: Roost
move 3: Heat Wave / Night Shade
move 4: U-turn
item: Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
ability: Magic Bounce
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 Spe

is what i'll accept. any other moves are ac / oo options. despite the popular belief, toxic is practically mandatory imo since you don't have a shot in hell to defeat hippowdon otherwise. toxic'ing things like landorus and garchomp on the switch is satisfying as well. rocky helmet is easily a slashable choice. for starters, you can scout for lead garchomp and then sack xatu as they dragon claw / outrage etc. and you break their sash. from there you can proceed to ohko it and not get rammed by the sash. if you're using xatu, hazards are obviously a big deal for your team so knocking off a sash from chomp is huge. it doesn't even end there. knocking down tyranitar's health is clutch in the weather war since you can weaken it to the point where dugtrio can OHKO (can't ohko 100% tyranitar..) and you can even do 99% to forretress and if they try to spin they won't pull one off due to the rocky helmet. i think you're overselling how crucial it is to use in sun.. i mean it's nice to have, but in all honesty it works in practically any weather. you mention how terrakion "counters all xatu's counters" but it's not getting past opposing terrakion, landorus-t, and garchomp any time soon. u-turn is just too good of a move to give up on xatu since it gives you free momentum and voltturn shiz. i can't imagine running a xatu without it, so that needs a slash by itself. Heat Wave smashes steels, but if you're not using it in a weather (or rain) then night shade is a good option for decent dmg as well. also, you need to flesh out the ac + checks and counters since it seems relatively vague.

I changed I think this is good, extended AC and checks + counters

Originally Posted by Fat jonathanrp

I really wouldn't say that Xatu is much of a threat to breloom, because an intelligent breloom user could still play around it, and some breloom run Stone Edge, which severely damages Xatu if not koing it outright.

SD Loom beats you with +2 bullet seed as well if the user gets lucky with the number of hits

edit: holy shit that's a terrible run on sentence but i'm too tired to fix it

Stone Edge is only common on LO Breloom, even then it won't OHKO and you can attack with Heat Wave for the KO after suffering LO +rocks damage but thats a lot, Gengar still suffers from the Breloom Stone Edge so its not only Xatu's counter

Bullet Seed has to hit 4 times for a 50% chance to OHKO, Mach Punch doesn't do crap and you can switch in on Spore anyways

Originally Posted by Fat tehy

Why not just call that set general utility or whatnot?

That set doesn't really break stall so much as piss it the hell off. Granted, Xatu fucks my stall team immensely, but it doesn't single-handedly break it. It breaks it by rejecting its entry hazards, and none of the moves except roost have much to do with that.

Changed to utility

EDIT:Ready for QC Checks

[Icecream]

I don't understand, didn't Xatu already receive a BW2 revamp? Thunderus-t is in the analysis and the set isn't changing besides the addition of night shade, so what's the point?

[ginganinja]

because the on site analysis had heavy mentions of Deoxys-D, in fact the entire analysis was basically built around Deoxys-D so it wasn't something you could simply scms out. It was decided (iirc) Xatu needed a full rewrite to reflect its changing niche in a metagame without Deoxys-D so here we are.

[alexwolf]

Overview

• The overview is really vague, so try and focus on Xatu's selling points
• His most important role is on offensive teams that are particularly hurt by hazards, as Magic Bounce + U-turn is an amazing combo at preventing hazards and keeping momentum
• Remove the bit about Landorus-T and just mention that several Stealth Rock users can seriously threaten it (Terrakion, Jirachi, Landorus-T, Tyranitar)
• It's not a good check to Fighting-types so remove this. The only Fighting-type that Xatu should be switching into is Breloom

Set Comments

• It's not one of the best stallbreakers as Tentacruel, Starmie, Heatran, SpD Jirachi, RestTalk Gyarados, common Pokemon on defensive teams, all easily counter it. Just say that it can be a nuisance for stall teams, as it will make it really hard for them to set-up their hazards
• Focus on what is the set's main role, and describe it with a few words. For example: ''bouncing back hazards, beating hazard setters, healing, spreading status, and U-turning out from dangerous situations'' is a pretty accurate and informing sentence of what is Xatu's role in general

• Xatu isn't hurt by rocks most of the time because of Magic Bounce

  Remove this as it isn't so accurate and is pretty meaningless anyway
• When talking about U-turn add that it helps Xatu escape from Pursuit users if it cathes them on the switch or if they are faster (Scarf Tyranitar)

Additional Comments

• Xatu is not good in all types of teams. I already explained on what kinds of teams it is good so check the overview and act accordingly
• Replace Psyshock with Psychic. Psyshock can't OHKO 4 HP Breloom even after SR, while Psychic OHKOes unconditionally
• T-Wave goes here not in OO
• When talking about Volt Switch, specifiy that Scarf Rotom-W is a nice partner for Xatu, forming a Volt-turn chain and beating most of its counters. Not for sun teams obviously
• Add Reflect to better deal with Pursuit users
• Xatu can use a Relaxed nature and 16 Speed IVs, in order to be slower than uninvested Heatran. By being slower, Xatu can switch into Heatran, prevent any attempt to set up Stealth Rock, take another hit, and use U-turn to bring in safely a teammate that can deal with Heatran
• Remove the mention of specially defensive spread

Other Options

• Tailwind, especially for the Dual Screens set
• Don't even mention Calm Mind, Xatu has neither good SpA and Spe nor the ability to Baton Pass the boosts
• Wish
• Confuse Ray in conjuction with T-Wave will make it much harder for the opponet to set-up on Xatu but is an unreliable strategy and Xatu usually doesn't have the moveslots for it

Checks and Counters

• Any Pokemon that doesn't fear status moves and Heat Wave and can either hit hard or set up with stat boosting moves is a good counter
• Heatran
• Scizor and Tyranitar
• Remove Venusaur and Victreebel
• Mention that many of the checks and counters of Xatu should be careful of a Dugtrio partnership

[tehy]

So how much are we going to mention "stalemate counters"? By this I mean something like, say, Heal Bell Blissey, which can't do much but doesn't really mind anything either.

[Cygnis]

Originally Posted by Fat alexwolf

Overview

• The overview is really vague, so try and focus on Xatu's selling points
• His most important role is on offensive teams that are particularly hurt by hazards, as Magic Bounce + U-turn is an amazing combo at preventing hazards and keeping momentum
• Remove the bit about Landorus-T and just mention that several Stealth Rock users can seriously threaten it (Terrakion, Jirachi, Landorus-T, Tyranitar)
• It's not a good check to Fighting-types so remove this. The only Fighting-type that Xatu should be switching into is Breloom

Set Comments

• It's not one of the best stallbreakers as Tentacruel, Starmie, Heatran, SpD Jirachi, RestTalk Gyarados, common Pokemon on defensive teams, all easily counter it. Just say that it can be a nuisance for stall teams, as it will make it really hard for them to set-up their hazards
• Focus on what is the set's main role, and describe it with a few words. For example: ''bouncing back hazards, beating hazard setters, healing, spreading status, and U-turning out from dangerous situations'' is a pretty accurate and informing sentence of what is Xatu's role in general
• Remove this as it isn't so accurate and is pretty meaningless anyway
• When talking about U-turn add that it helps Xatu escape from Pursuit users if it cathes them on the switch or if they are faster (Scarf Tyranitar)

Additional Comments

• Xatu is not good in all types of teams. I already explained on what kinds of teams it is good so check the overview and act accordingly
• Replace Psyshock with Psychic. Psyshock can't OHKO 4 HP Breloom even after SR, while Psychic OHKOes unconditionally
• T-Wave goes here not in OO
• When talking about Volt Switch, specifiy that Scarf Rotom-W is a nice partner for Xatu, forming a Volt-turn chain and beating most of its counters. Not for sun teams obviously
• Add Reflect to better deal with Pursuit users
• Xatu can use a Relaxed nature and 16 Speed IVs, in order to be slower than uninvested Heatran. By being slower, Xatu can switch into Heatran, prevent any attempt to set up Stealth Rock, take another hit, and use U-turn to bring in safely a teammate that can deal with Heatran
• Remove the mention of specially defensive spread

Other Options

• Tailwind, especially for the Dual Screens set
• Don't even mention Calm Mind, Xatu has neither good SpA and Spe nor the ability to Baton Pass the boosts
• Wish
• Confuse Ray in conjuction with T-Wave will make it much harder for the opponet to set-up on Xatu but is an unreliable strategy and Xatu usually doesn't have the moveslots for it

Checks and Counters

• Any Pokemon that doesn't fear status moves and Heat Wave and can either hit hard or set up with stat boosting moves is a good counter
• Heatran
• Scizor and Tyranitar
• Remove Venusaur and Victreebel
• Mention that many of the checks and counters of Xatu should be careful of a Dugtrio partnership

All in analysis

Originally Posted by Fat tehy

So how much are we going to mention "stalemate counters"? By this I mean something like, say, Heal Bell Blissey, which can't do much but doesn't really mind anything either.

stalemate counters will be mentioned when i write it down

[alexwolf]

You had Ninetales and Terrakion as teammates, why you removed them? Put them back pls.

Also be a bit more specific in checks and counters and mention examples of choice users and Pokemon in general that can switch into Xatu and threaten it.

[Cygnis]

Made checks+counters more specific and i acciddently removed the ninetales and terra part cuz i pressed backspace or something

[alexwolf]

When talking about Ninetales mention that Xatu does a lot for sun teams, and this is why the partnership should be mentioned.




QC Approved 1/3

[Cygnis]

Originally Posted by Fat alexwolf

When talking about Ninetales mention that Xatu does a lot for sun teams, and this is why the partnership should be mentioned.




QC Approved 1/3

ok no problem

wait do i start typing after 2 QCs?

[alexwolf]

Yeah.

[Princess Bri]

Ok wutevz


QC Approved 2/3

[Cygnis]

finished writing this sucker

[alexwolf]

Please be more formal! You are not writing a letter to your friends, you are writing a competitive analysis that thousands of players will see, so you need to fix the attitude. Check this thread for a little help: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102407

After you make the writing less sloppy we will talk about the content as well...

[alexwolf]

Seeing as 14 days have passed since i told you to make this more formal and you haven't, i am giving you 3 days time to make it or someone else will write it.

[tehy]

I'm not entirely sure what Alex is talking about besides one pretty bad overview sentence but:

can you get someone to proofread this? You have a bunch of bad pokegrammar, bad grammar in general, etc.

[BKC]

i think the writing is fine. i'll let the gp team take a look at it though.

qc approved 3/3

[Pocket]

Cygnis isn't working on Xatu anymore, so I'll see this through completion. AG / PKG / SDS lock this plz