Pikachu (Update) [QC 2/2]

QC Koffing: FB & BA




<:3>

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/pikachu

[OVERVIEW]
Oglemi said he'd do this.

[SET]
name: Substitute
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: HP Ice / Grass Knot
move 4: Encore / Focus Punch
item: Light Ball
nature: Timid / Naive
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[Set Comments]
-substitute and thunderbolt is a must for all pikachu sets (durpa durp)
-HP Ice hits grassers, GK hits grounds harder generally (HP Ice loses to Rhyperior and Water/Ground like Gastrodon/ Quagsire, GK loses to Venusaur and all other grass types)
-encore can also earn free turns for other sweepers by encoring EQ's--also avoiding loss of momentum against dedicated special walls.
-focus punch can be unexpected, luring and killing special walls reliably. Naive nature with 12 Attack EVs will 2HKO lanturn.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
-prediction is a must
-u-turn support
-spikes / SR support as encore causes switches
-ground-immune sweepers as to gain further momentum when pikachu is forced out if running encore
-Clefable/ Registeel are not OHKO'd by focus punch but thunderbolt after (or switching in) will always KO w/o SR for clefable. for regi i still have to do the calcs but am too lazy
-If you opt not to choose HP Ice on the third moveslot, it can be taken on the fourth moveslot over Encore / Focus Punch

[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Encore / Substitute
move 2: Nasty Plot
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Light Ball
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[Set Comments]

<p>Pikachu can utilize Nasty Plot to double her already scary Special Attack stat. After this boost, Pikachu reaches Special Attack of 796, more than enough to obliterate the rest of UU. This firepower coupled with Pikachu’s decent speed allows her to sweep given the chance.</p>



[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]




[TEAM OPTIONS]
depends on what your 4th moveslot is
-if running 3 special attacks, KILL CHANSEY and other special walls too (fighting-types or dugtrio are welcome)
-if running encore, levitating / flying sweepers are awesome as it abuses those turns pika earns
-if running focus punch, another special sweeper will appreciate chansey gone


[OPTIONAL CHANGES]
-Surf hits Steelix, Aggron, the Nidos, and Camerupt.
-Volt tackle, but pika hates residual damage as is (as in, those damages are the only damages pika should be taking anyways)
-Brick break can 2HKO chansey, but not enough damage for clefable/registeel/lanturn. Really, just choose the gutsier move in focus punch if you go for pika anyways
-Agility, but Pika is already fast enough, and priority still kills him
-Quick Attack if so desperate for a priority
-Reversal + Flail with endure could work
-wish, teeter dance, knock off, t-wave, toxic--all good moves but honestly, pika doesn't have the defensive stats at all
-magnet rise is super useless because even resisted attacks can 2HKO pikachu--so no point in using SE attacks the first place.


[COUNTERS]
-prediction. bad prediction can kill pika before he makes a move
-everything with 90+ base speed, or priority is a check. Dugtrio can trap pika and kill
-special walls are usually safe (clefable, chansey, registeel) but focus punch is a world of pain
-specially defensive venusaur and lanturn can act as a hard counter

^ I'd say leave it, but make mention of how each one gets around certain Special walls (Encore set uses Encore to lock them before switching, Special Attacker can't do anything, Mixed set Focus Punches).

Couple of things missing in OC. Knock Off, Thunder Wave, and Toxic should all be mentioned as supporting options for the Encore set, just that there isn't a place to fit them. Wish should be given a mention as it's Pika's only recovery move. Teeter Dance and Yawn should be given mentions as well, as they're useful status options, but Pika doesn't have the stats to carry them. Finally, Magnet Rise should be mentioned, as it gives Pika a gimmicky way to avoid its only weakness.

On the Mixed and Encore sets, make mention of what Pika loses to if it has HP Ice or Grass Knot. (HP Ice loses to Rhyperior and Water+Ground-types, Grass Knot loses to all grass types, especially Venusaur).

Surf also hits Nidoking harder than anything else Pikachu has.

Brick Break can 2HKO Chansey after SR on the Mixed set. Worth an OC Mention, I guess.

Clefable can act as a counter to everything but the Mixed set, and even the Mixed set can't OHKO it with Focus Punch. Make sure to mention that.

Registeel also stymies specially-based Pika, only thing that can 2HKO is Focus Punch from the Mixed set.

Lanturn doesn't take much from anything Pikachu can throw at it (thanks to its low weight (for Grass Knot), solid bulk, and typing that lets it resist the BoltBeam combination) and can switch freely into/heal from Thunderbolt. It's Pikachu's best UU counter.

Specially Defensive Venusaur comes in a close second. It only takes 30.8% - 36.3% from HP Ice from the Mixed set, and only 34.1% - 40.1% from the Special set. Add to that its ability to resist the rest of Pikachu's movepool and healing from Synthesis, and Pikachu can't deal with it effectively. Vileplume too, although its far less common.

On the Mixed mascot set, mention that you should make sure Dugtrio is eliminated or you have a Substitute up before you start "spamming Thunderbolt", otherwise you're screwed.

Pretty good for your first update.

You know what's an excellent counter to Pikachu? Good prediction. Because Pikachu, with the worst (bar Shedinja) defenses in the tier (35/30/40) dies to any attack by an offensive Pokemon. Hell, my 0 Atk Uxie's Zen Headbutt did 75%. Find me a weaker attack than that. Thus you should always stress that Pikachu is more frail than paper and cannot switch into.. anything? LOL. Which means Encore is quite screwed as it is quite based on prediction..

^Yam: Shuckle knock off, for one. But you can't even switch into that anyways cuz that's gonna cripple you hard.

Yeah... I already have that excellent prediction is a must for all pikachu sets. But I'll also list that on the counters part as well.

EDIT: and all the things Eon said. How the hell did I miss that?

I seriously think these three sets can be merged into one:

[SET]
name: *Insert name here*
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Grass Knot
move 4: Encore / Grass Knot / Focus Punch
item: Light Ball
nature: Timid / Naive
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

I mean, you have a bit of slashitis, but the main moves in all three sets is Substitute and Thunderbolt. There's no need to put in extra Attack EVs and what not to power Focus Punch, even with no investment and Light Ball, you OHKO standard Chansey after SR anyway.

shrang said:

I seriously think these three sets can be merged into one:

I mean, you have a bit of slashitis, but the main moves in all three sets is Substitute and Thunderbolt. There's no need to put in extra Attack EVs and what not to power Focus Punch, even with no investment and Light Ball, you OHKO standard Chansey after SR anyway.

Click to expand...

Finally, a practical solution! I mean, the attack EV's can be addressed in AC perhaps if it really needs to stay

i definitely think there needs to be an encore plot set. you can come in on a lot of non-attacking moves, like registeel stealth rock, milotic recover, venusaur synthesis, and then grab a nasty plot and sweep. it should look like

[set]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Encore
move 2: Nasty Plot
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Light Ball
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

the reason there is no slash for grass knot is because venusaur is everywhere, and i'd really appreciate being able to ohko it after a plot boost [calcs needed]. it differentiates itself from the sub set enough to warrant its own set.

^ Except that anything that's faster than you or has priority fucks you over. And you still lose to Chansey. You'll get one Pokemon at most.

EDIT: and Max/Max Venusaur takes 67% - 79.1% from +2 Timid Light Ball Pika. SubSeeder takes 74.7% - 88.5%. So there's no way to OHKO any defensive Venusaur without SR, and even then it'll rarely work.

Agreed with Bad Ass, this needs a Nasty Plot set, and the set he posted is fine. I'd actually slash in Substitute alongside Encore on it, both can be useful (encore for locking things into support moves, like Registeel, sub for getting a free turn on things that you'll ohko, like Slowbro).

I think you should remove HP Ice as a slash from the last slot on the Sub set and merely make it Encore/Focus Punch. Looks much prettier. Mention in AC that if HP Ice isn't chosen in the third slot it can work in the last slot.

Do those things, or sufficiently explain why you won't, and consider this approved.

EonADS said:

^ Except that anything that's faster than you or has priority fucks you over. And you still lose to Chansey. You'll get one Pokemon at most.

EDIT: and Max/Max Venusaur takes 67% - 79.1% from +2 Timid Light Ball Pika. SubSeeder takes 74.7% - 88.5%. So there's no way to OHKO any defensive Venusaur without SR, and even then it'll rarely work.

Click to expand...

sorry, but almost nobody uses defensive venusaur. and i can apply the priority / revenging arguement to any frail sweeper.

"np houndoom gets revenged by tauros / technitop, lets disclude it"
"sd scyther loses to tauros / technitop, lets disclude it"
"mismagius loses to tauros / absol, lets disclude it"

you get the point.

-if running encore, levitating sweepers are awesome as it abuses those turns pika earns

Click to expand...

Levitating sweepers are good anyway, 'cause they resist Ground. But Flying-types are better, because Pikachu resists Electric.

Pikachu needs 16 evs and a neutral nature to 2HKO Lanturn with Focus Punch, factoring SR and Lefties. Standard Registeel is always 2HKOed with SR and a neutral nature, even with Lefties. Chansey's always OHKOed with SR and a neutral nature.

...unless I'm doing it wrong?

Cause if I'm not...yeah, no need for that much attack on the mixed ev set.

Just a small thing, I think Naive is a better option if Pikachu happens to be running Focus Punch, since most priority attacks are physical (Vacuum Wave is considerably rarer). While priority is nowhere near the only thing that revenges Pikachu, but everything else virtually OHKOes Pikachu anyway while some some priority doesn't (I think), so being able to survive some forms of priority would be better than not.

Whoa... totally forgot about this.

@Darkamber: The EVs were just there (it's currently on analysis) and I thought it must have reached some damage output worth noting. If he was just putting random number out there =.=. Also, Pikachu resisting electric doesn't mean jack, really. I'm too lazy to run calcs as you can guess from the attack EVs but I'm pretty sure strong STAB thunderbolts would still 2HKO. Unstabbed might be a different issue, but still, you don't want to lose 2 Substitutes' worth of health just for switching in.

@Shrang: point taken

stamping this, go ahead and write it up.

Got permission from Oglemi to take over this. Will have new thread posted soon.