[OVERVIEW]
An excellent Special Attack stat, the enormous Base Power of Solar Beam, the coverage of Psyshock against specially defensive tanks such as Hariyama and Magmortar, and Sleep Powder to neutralize remaining threats all make Exeggutor a nightmare to deal with while sun is up. Meanwhile, its decent physical bulk lets it enter battle on certain attacks, such as Earthquake from Rhydon and Close Combat from Hariyama, alongside nice resistances to Aqua Jet and Mach Punch. However, vulnerability to Sucker Punch isn't great for a Chlorophyll sweeper and forces Exeggutor to rely on Sleep Powder more than it likes, and its low special bulk ensures it takes heavy damage from even strong resisted attacks such as Samurott's Hydro Pump (outside of sun) and Choice Specs Mesprit's Psychic. Exeggutor's low base Speed also means that it requires full Sunny Day support to function more effectively than Shiftry on the average team and makes it easy to deal with outside of sun when combined with its multiple weaknesses, including a crippling 4x weakness to Bug-type attacks such as U-turn andandweakness to Pursuit from Pokemon such as Skuntank and Liepard. Furthermore, even during sun, Exeggutor can be outsped by Choice Scarf users such as Jynx and Rotom. Overall, Exeggutor requires a lot of team support to be more effective than other Grass-types in this metagame but is arguably the most dangerous Chlorophyll user due to its immense power and coverage. Other sets are generally better left to faster wallbreakers such as Shiftry or less vulnerable defensive Grass-types such as Vileplume.
[SET]
Name: Chlorophyll Sweeper
Move 1: Solar Beam
Move 2: Psyshock / Psychic
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Sleep Powder / Sunny Day
item: Life Orb
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Solar Beam is an extremely powerful, consistent Grass-type attack during sunlight that OHKOes most offensive Pokemon and 2HKOes most that resist it, such as Lilligant. Psyshock lets Exeggutor deal more damage to specially defensive targets such as Assault Vest Hariyama and Magmortar, in addition to Sliggoo. On the other hand, Psychic provides more consistent KOs against physically defensive targets such as Weezing and Garbodor. Hidden Power Fire is boosted by sun and lets Exeggutor deal more damage to Grass-, Bug-, and Steel-types that resist Solar Beam, such as Gourgeist-XL, Scyther, and Klinklang. Sleep Powder gives Exeggutor a good chance of crippling its foes and is a good way of using the last turn of sun, providing teammates with opportunities to set it up again. Alternatively, Sunny Day lets Exeggutor start its own sweeps, if you'd rather use it as a standalone sweeper than with team support or if its supporters are out of commission. However, Exeggutor cannot use the move consistently due to its low Speed and multiple weaknesses, and the lack of Sleep Powder makes it less threatening against Skuntank in particular. Explosion can alternatively be used to inflict heavy damage on Skuntank and Grumpig as they switch in.
Set Details
========
Special Attack and Speed EVs are maximized to give Exeggutor as much offensive presence and sweeping potential as possible. A Modest nature is used for the extra power, as Exeggutor still has enough Speed to outspeed Swellow and doesn't outspeed many notable targets with a Timid nature, aside from tying with +2 Timid Omastar. Chlorophyll is mandatory to give Exeggutor the boost to Speed in sun it needs to be an effective sweeper and cleaner. A Life Orb is necessary to give Exeggutor the power it needs to sweep effectively. Heat Rock can be used alongside Sunny Day so that Exeggutor can sweep for longer by itself, but it packs a lot less power than Life Orb and makes Exeggutor less threatening against balanced teams.
Usage Tips
========
Exeggutor should be brought into battle as soon after a teammate sets sunlight as possible to ensure that it has the maximum amount of time to utilize Chlorophyll. This should be either by switching into a resisted or weak attack, such as Steelix's Earthquake or Hariyama's Fake Out, or by using U-turn or Volt Switch on a slow pivot such as Mesprit or Lanturn to bring it in without taking any damage. Alternatively, a teammate can use a self-KO move such as Regirock's Explosion or Mismagius's Memento to give Exeggutor an opportunity to enter battle unscathed. While sun is up, Exeggutor should use its attacking moves to break through the opponent's defensive cores, before finishing with a Sleep Powder or Explosion when sun is about to run out. Make sure not to spam Solar Beam and Sleep Powder while the opponent has Sap Sipper Pokemon on their team, to avoid giving them Attack boosts and momentum. Make sure to remove Xatu and Magmortar as well before trying to use Sleep Powder against obvious targets such as Skuntank. Exeggutor should be used sparingly when sun isn't active, either switching into a defensive Pokemon to set up sunlight for itself or into a slow Pokemon so that it has time to fire off a powerful Psyshock. Do not attempt to use Solar Beam without sun being active. If Exeggutor is setting its own sun, it should generally do this late-game to have the best shot at cleaning.
Team Options
========
Exeggutor should almost always be teamed with additional Sunny Day users, even if it uses the move itself, to ensure that it has consistent opportunities to sweep in any matchup. Liepard all but guarantees at least one sunny spell due to Prankster and can also cripple opponents with Thunder Wave if required, while Mesprit and Regirock are bulkier users of Sunny Day that can use U-turn and Explosion, respectively, to bring Exeggutor into combat safely while also being able to provide Stealth Rock support. Stealth Rock support from these two is extremely useful for wearing down checks such as Charizard and Scyther, as well as Xatu if they manage to play around its Magic Bounce. Fire-type Pokemon such as Magmortar, Pyroar, and Charizard should be used to complement Exeggutor's Speed with the raw power of their STAB Fire-type attacks in sunlight, breaking through bulkier defensive walls such as Mega Audino that can take a hit from Exeggutor otherwise. Charizard is especially good, as it gains an extra power boost in sunlight due to Solar Power, having good synergy with the rest of Exeggutor's team. Ninetales and Flareon are also notable for having Flash Fire, being able to switch into Fire-type attacks aimed at Exeggutor with impunity, even during sun. Other Chlorophyll users can also help overwhelm typical Grass-type checks; Victreebel and Sawsbuck can sweep easily once Exeggutor manages to blow holes in the opposing team while also catching faster threats such as Choice Scarf Primeape that outspeed Exeggutor in sun. Teammates that provide counterplay against other weather teams, such as rain and hail teams, can also be highly useful. Kangaskhan and Hariyama can use Fake Out and priority attacks to stall out weather turns and KO opposing weather sweepers such as Ludicolo and Kabutops, while Assault Vest Hitmonchan can threaten Omastar, Aurorus, and Abomasnow effectively while also providing Rapid Spin support for other teammates.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A standalone wallbreaker set using Leaf Storm, Giga Drain, a Psychic-type attack, and either Life Orb or Choice Specs can deal major damage to Pokemon that fail to outspeed it, such as Hariyama and Vileplume. However, it is generally outclassed by other wallbreakers such as Magmortar, is too susceptible to U-turn users such as Mesprit to have much defensive value, and is slower than other wallbreakers such as Abomasnow, Aurorus, and Magmortar. Ancient Power can be used to deal more damage to Charizard and Xatu, but these are the only real targets of the move. Trick Room can be used on offensive sets to circumvent Exeggutor's lacking Speed, but it rarely gets opportunities to set up due to its many weaknesses and mediocre bulk, compared to other Trick Room users such as Musharna and Mega Audino.
Harvest can be used alongside a variety of Berries to give Exeggutor some extra defensive capability on balanced teams, but these strategies are generally inconsistent due to the chance of a Berry regenerating being only 50% and Knock Off's ability to permanently remove Berries. Rest with Lum Berry gives Exeggutor relative immunity to status and reliable recovery, making it a fairly good Scald switch-in, but this defensive value can be circumvented quite easily by simply OHKOing Exeggutor with a super effective move, of which there are many. Other resist Berries can be used to circumvent Exeggutor's other weaknesses, such as Yache for Ice-type attacks, but many of the moves that these Berries block still inflict significant damage regardless, so this strategy is only really useful for dealing with targets that run niche target moves, such as Ice Beam Lanturn, and hitting them with a powerful attack before they can follow up for more damage. Colbur Berry with Harvest is tempting to provide a decent Knock Off switch-in, but is mostly done better by other Pokemon with fewer weaknesses.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Priority Attackers**: Powerful priority attacks can bypass Exeggutor's Speed in sun and threaten a KO if super effective. Sucker Punch from Skuntank and Shiftry forces Exeggutor to either switch or use Sleep Powder, while Ice Shard from Piloswine and Abomasnow also threatens heavy damage. Meanwhile, Fake Out from Kangaskhan and Hariyama inflicts good chip damage while also burning a turn of sun, making Exeggutor's team easier to deal with. While not an attack, Protect from users such as Mega Audino can also stall out sunlight and reduce Exeggutor's effectiveness.
**Skuntank**: Skuntank is particularly problematic for Exeggutor to face, as it can take most moves aimed at it except for Explosion or the suboptimal Hidden Power Ground. Furthermore, it often runs a Lum Berry, meaning Exeggutor can only put it to sleep successfully if Exeggutor uses Sleep Powder as it switches in and then again as it stays in, which can backfire depending on prediction and accuracy. Skuntank also outspeeds Exeggutor out of sun and can use Pursuit to trap it.
**Weather Setters**: Snow Warning Abomasnow and Aurorus can switch into Exeggutor directly if they predict a Solar Beam, as their weather forces Solar Beam to charge for a turn and gives them a chance to outspeed Exeggutor and KO it with STAB Blizzard. These Pokemon also cancel out sun for the rest of Exeggutor's team, completely cutting off its momentum. Liepard can also switch into Psyshock or Psychic and either use Encore to neutralize Exeggutor, and either waste sunlight turns paralyzing switch-ins with Thunder Wave or simply set up its own weather in response.
**Faster Offensive Pokemon**: While Exeggutor is fast when Chlorophyll is activated, some Choice Scarf users are still faster, such as Rotom, Primeape, and Jynx, which can all threaten OHKOs. Additionally, most other Chlorophyll users, such as Shiftry and Lilligant on standard teams, can also outspeed Exeggutor in sun and KO it with Knock Off and sunlight-boosted Hidden Power Fire, respectively. Furthermore, when sun runs out or Exeggutor is brought in without Sunny Day being used, most offensive Pokemon, including other slow wallbreakers such as Aurorus and Magmortar, can outspeed it and force it out or KO it. Many support Pokemon, such as defensive Mesprit and Xatu, can also outspeed Exeggutor and use U-turn to either deal heavy damage or secure momentum as it switches out. Skuntank and Liepard can also trap Exeggutor with Pursuit.
**Bulky Sap Sipper Pokemon**: Sap Sipper provides Pokemon such as Sliggoo, Miltank, and Bouffalant with immunity to Exeggutor's strongest move, and they all pack enough bulk to take Exeggutor's other attacks and either heal up with Rest or Milk Drink or simply KO back with a boosted attack. However, Sliggoo and Bouffalant take heavy damage from Life Orb Psyshock if the Exeggutor user predicts their arrival.
**Flying-type Pokemon**: Charizard, Scyther, and Xatu can all take Exeggutor's STAB Grass-type attacks and force it out when sun is down, gaining opportunities to Roost off the damage or KO Exeggutor with their own STAB attacks. However, the former two take heavy damage from Psyshock without defensive investment.
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