Gardevoir (Weather Counter)

Oglemi said:

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This Gardevoir set is a little more specialized, and therefore more situational, than the other sets, but it still functions well in the metagame. The basic premise of the set is to use Gardevoir primarily (makes the sentence run on) as an all out attacker, while at the same time becoming one of the best Rain Dance checks in the UU tier. When countering rain teams, the idea is to switch Gardevoir into the opponent's Swift Swimmer sweeper and copy their ability with Trace. After Gardevoir has Traced their ability Swift Swim (this makes it sound repetetive since the next part mentions it), she becomes faster than every Swift Swimmer with the exception of Floatzel and Qwilfish. From there, Gardevoir uses the rain to her advantage and turns the table on the opponent, forcing them on the defensive. The great thing about Gardevoir as a rain check is that she can continue to sweep outside of the rain, thanks to her good Speed stat.</p>

<p>Psychic is the STAB of choice and is a nice, strong, and reliable move, and lets her destroy Venusaur and the multitude of Fighting-types in the tier. The rest of the moves give Gardevoir excellent coverage as well as giving her the best possible moves to counter-sweep a rain team. Thunderbolt combines with Psychic for near perfect neutral coverage in UU, as it smacks Milotic, Moltres, and Slowbro for super effective damage; it also OHKOes the following rain sweepers: Gorebyss, Huntail, Floatzel, Omastar, Kabutops, and Qwilfish. Shadow Ball can be run over Thunderbolt to nail Ghost-types, especially Rotom and Mismagius, for super effective damage. It also hits fellow Psychic-types for super effective damage. As Gardevoir is an attacker first and a rain check second, being walled too easily by Registeel, Chansey, and Clefable is a problem. Focus Blast solves this problem by 2HKOing Registeel, and dealing 74.6% - 88.3% to the standard Clefable, which is a KO combined with Psychic. Unfortunately, Gardevoir remains utterly walled by Chansey. If you find Focus Blast's accuracy is a huge turn off, Signal Beam is a good substitute, allowing Gardevoir to hit Ludicolo, the most popular rain sweeper in UU, fellow Psychic-types, such as Uxie, Mesprit, and Slowking, and Tangrowth and Leafeon for super effective damage; coincidentally, the aforementioned Psychic-types are also common rain starters. Take notice: Shadow Ball and Signal Beam should never be used in conjunction as they have a lot of overlapping coverage, and Gardevoir will be left out in the cold versus a whole myriad of Pokemon. The last slot is left for Will-O-Wisp, which is Gardevoir's best auxiliary move inside and outside rain, allowing her to cripple potential Dark-type counters such as Spiritomb, Absol, Drapion, and Skuntank.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Expert Belt can be run over Life Orb thanks to Gardevoir's excellent super effective coverage, and it also gives her a little more survivability. However, the slight loss in power is a turn off and also requires Thunderbolt to be run to ensure the OHKO on the aforementioned rain sweepers. Energy Ball is a nice replacement for Thunderbolt and gets all the same OHKOes on the rain sweepers, while also having the added benefit of hitting Rhyperior, Donphan, and Lanturn for super effective damage. If you are hell-bent on stopping rain at all costs, Taunt can be used to ensure Rain Dance cannot be used again. Outside of rain, Taunt lets Gardevoir shut down Chansey, Registeel, and Clefable without the need for Focus Blast. Finally, Reflect or Light Screen can be used to provide a buff against incoming revenge killers such as Dark-type Pursuit users, as well as support the rest of Gardevoir's team.</p>

<p>If rain is not a factor in the battle, Gardevoir works simply as an all-out attacker. Just bring in Gardevoir on a weak special attack, such as Milotic's Surf, and let loose with any attack your heart desires. Gardevoir's ability also comes into play here, as she is able to Trace Lanturn's Volt Absorb as she switches in and be healed from Lanturn's Thunderbolt. She can do the same to Water Absorb users such as Quagsire and Poliwrath and Flash Fire users such as Arcanine and Houndoom (extreme caution should be taken around the latter, however.). (full stop should be outside bracket) The trickiness comes into play when using Gardevoir as a rain check, as her low physical defense makes it hard for her to switch into said Swift Swim sweepers safely. She is OHKOed by most of their attacks under the rain, so in most cases she will have to be brought in after a teammate has been KOed. Another strategy is to employ a double-switch with a teammate such as Registeel, who walls a majority of rain sweepers. U-turn from a partner such as Uxie will also give her the opportunity to come in safely. Coincidentally, Gardevoir also makes a good Sunny Day check. With Signal Beam and Psychic, she has no problem OHKOing a majority of the normal Chlorophyll sweepers, such as Shiftry, Exeggutor, Victreebel, and Vileplume, as well as getting a near OHKO on Tangrowth.</p>

<p>Donphan and Cloyster make good teammates; they can Rapid Spin, wall physical attacks aimed at Gardevoir, and provide their own entry hazards. Lead Cloyster can also prevent Uxie from getting up Stealth Rock while also setting up its own. Priority users can clean up any KOes Gardevoir may have missed; Ambipom, Hariyama, and Hitmontop all make excellent teammates, as do Donphan and Cloyster. Fire-types can make the most of a lack of Rain Dance, especially Arcanine, Houndoom, (comma) and Blaziken. Pursuit trappers can trap and KO Gardevoir, so pairing Gardevoir with a Fighting-type, such as the aforementioned Hariyama and Hitmontop, or Toxicroak and Hitmonlee, can easily avenge her should she be KOed from trying to escape. As Gardevoir still has problems with Ghost-types even with Shadow Ball, pairing her with a Pursuit user of your own can prove highly beneficial and allow her to continue a clean sweep of the opponent's team.</p>

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Oglemi said:

[SET]
name: Weather Counter
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast / Signal Beam
move 4: Will-O-Wisp
item: Life Orb
ability: Trace
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This Gardevoir set is a little more specialized, and therefore more situational than the other sets, but it still functions well in the UU metagame. The basic premise of the set is to use Gardevoir as an all out attacker, while at the same time becoming one of the best Rain Dance checks in the UU tier. When countering rain teams, the idea is to switch Gardevoir into the opponent's Swift Swimmer and copy their ability with Trace. After Gardevoir has Traced their ability, she becomes faster than every Swift Swimmer with the exception of Floatzel and Qwilfish. From there, Gardevoir uses the rain to her advantage and turns the tables on the opponent, forcing them on the defensive. The great thing about Gardevoir as a rain check is that she can continue to sweep outside of the rain, thanks to her good Speed stat.</p>

<p>Psychic is the STAB of choice and is a nice, strong, and reliable move, and lets allowing her to destroy Venusaur and the multitude of Fighting-types in the tier. The rest of the moves give Gardevoir excellent coverage, as well as the best possible moves to counter-sweep a rain team. Thunderbolt combines with Psychic for near perfect neutral coverage in UU, as it smacks Milotic, Moltres, and Slowbro for super effective damage; it also OHKOes the following rain sweepers: Gorebyss, Huntail, Floatzel, Omastar, Kabutops, and Qwilfish. Shadow Ball can be run over Thunderbolt to nail Ghost-types, especially Rotom and Mismagius, for super effective damage. It , and also hits fellow Psychic-types for super effective damage. As Gardevoir is an attacker first and a rain check second, being walled too easily by common walls like Registeel, Chansey, and Clefable is a problem. Focus Blast solves this problem by 2HKOing Registeel, and dealing 74.6% - 88.3% to the standard Clefable, which is a KO combined with Psychic. Unfortunately, Gardevoir remains utterly walled by Chansey. If you find Focus Blast's accuracy a huge turn off, Signal Beam is a good substitute, allowing Gardevoir to hit Ludicolo, the most popular rain sweeper in UU, fellow Psychic-types, such as Uxie, Mesprit, and Slowking, and Tangrowth and Leafeon for super effective damage; coincidentally, the aforementioned Psychic-types are also common rain starters. Take notice: Shadow Ball and Signal Beam should never be used in conjunction as they have a lot of overlapping coverage, and Gardevoir will be left out in the cold versus a whole myriad of Pokemon. The last slot is left for Will-O-Wisp, which is Gardevoir's best auxiliary move inside and outside rain, allowing her to cripple potential Dark-type counters such as Spiritomb, Absol, Drapion, and Skuntank.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Expert Belt can be run over Life Orb thanks to Gardevoir's excellent super effective coverage, and it also gives her a little more survivability. However, the slight loss in power is a turn off and also requires Thunderbolt to be run to ensure the OHKO on the aforementioned rain sweepers. Energy Ball is a nice replacement for Thunderbolt, and gets all the same OHKOes on the rain sweepers, while also having the added benefit of hitting Rhyperior, Donphan, and Lanturn for super effective damage. If you are hell-bent on stopping rain at all costs, Taunt can be used to ensure Rain Dance cannot be used again. Outside of rain, Taunt lets Gardevoir shut down Chansey, Registeel, and Clefable without the need for Focus Blast. Finally, Reflect or Light Screen can be used to provide a buff against incoming revenge killers such as Dark-type Pursuit users, as well as support the rest of Gardevoir's team.</p>

<p>If rain is not a factor in the battle, Gardevoir works simply well as an all-out attacker. Just bring in Gardevoir on a weak special attack, such as Milotic's Surf, and let loose with any attack your heart desires. Gardevoir's ability also comes into play here, as she is able to Trace Lanturn's Volt Absorb as she switches in and be healed from Lanturn's Thunderbolt. She can do the same to Water Absorb users such as Quagsire and Poliwrath and Flash Fire users such as Arcanine and Houndoom (extreme caution should be taken around the latter, however). The trickiness comes into play when using Gardevoir as a rain check, as her low physical defense makes it hard for her to switch into said Swift Swim sweepers safely. She is OHKOed by most of their attacks under the rain, so in most cases she will have to be brought in after a teammate has been KOed. Another strategy is to employ a double-switch with a teammate such as Registeel, who walls a majority of rain sweepers. U-turn from a partner such as Uxie will also give her the opportunity to come in safely. Coincidentally, Gardevoir also makes a good Sunny Day check. With Signal Beam and Psychic, she has no problem OHKOing a majority of the normal Chlorophyll sweepers, such as Shiftry, Exeggutor, Victreebel, and Vileplume, as well as getting and gets a near OHKO on Tangrowth.</p>

<p>Donphan and Cloyster make good teammates; they can Rapid Spin, wall physical attacks aimed at Gardevoir, and provide their own entry hazards. Lead Cloyster can also prevent Uxie from getting up Stealth Rock while also setting up its own. Priority users can clean up any KOes Gardevoir may have missed; Ambipom, Hariyama, and Hitmontop all make excellent teammates, as do Donphan and Cloyster. Fire-types can make the most of a lack of Rain Dance, especially Arcanine, Houndoom, and Blaziken. Pursuit trappers can trap and KO Gardevoir, so pairing Gardevoir with a Fighting-type, such as the aforementioned Hariyama and Hitmontop, or Toxicroak and Hitmonlee, can easily avenge her should she be KOed from while trying to escape. As Gardevoir still has problems with Ghost-types even with Shadow Ball, pairing her with a Pursuit user of your own can prove highly beneficial and can allow her to continue a clean sweep of the opponent's team.</p>

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