OU Gardevoir

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

Here we go....again!

Overview
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Mega Gardevoir is a force to be reckoned with in the OU metagame thanks to a number of quailities. For starters, it has an excellent base 165 Special Attack, and when this is paired with an expansive offensive movepool, including Pixilate Hyper Voice, Mega Gardevoir can do a lot of damage to opposing teams. Its Psychic / Fairy typing is pretty useful defensively, giving it many important resistances and immunities, especially to Fighting and Dragon. Its relatively good base 100 Speed is also a plus, allowing Mega Gardevoir to outspeed a decent portion of the metagame. Hyper Voice's ability to bypass Substitute is also very useful, allowing Gardevoir to better handle Pokemon such as Substitute Kyurem-B. Unfortunately, its lack of physical bulk leaves it vulnerable to many common physical attackers, such as Talonflame. While Mega Gardevoir's Speed is certainly not bad, it is still outsped by a good number of Pokemon including Garchomp and Greninja. Lastly, a mere base 80 Speed prior to Mega Evolving further limits Gardevoir's usefulness in battle.

Offensive
########
name: Offensive
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Focus Blast / Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Substitute / Taunt / Will-O-Wisp
ability: Trace
item: Gardevoirite
evs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Modest / Timid

Moves
========

Hyper Voice is a strong and reliable Fairy-type STAB move thanks to Pixilate and its ability to bypass Substitutes. Psyshock is a secondary STAB move that hits Chansey, Venusaur, and Scolipede for high damage. Focus Blast hits Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn that might try to come in on Gardevoir. Hidden Power Ground is a more accurate alternative that hits Heatran and Jirachi for as much damage as Focus Blast. Substitute allows Gardevoir to safely attack without worrying about attacks, and it has plenty of opportunities to set up a Substitute because it forces several switches. Taunt is a very useful utility move that allows Gardevoir to go toe-to-toe with walls such as Chansey. On the other hand, Will-O-Wisp cripples Ferrothorn and Scizor should they attempt to switch in, and it makes Gardevoir somewhat less susceptible to Pursuit.

Set Details
========

Trace is Gardevoir's most useful ability prior to Mega Evolution because it allows Gardevoir to attain useful abilities such as Dragonite's Multiscale, Heatran's Flash Fire, Kabutops's Swift Swim, and Scolipede's Speed Boost. A Modest nature is preferred to maximize power in order to OHKO opponents such as Landorus, but a Timid nature allows non-Mega Gardevoir to revenge kill Kabutops and Excadrill. The given EV spread allows Gardevoir to survive two Psyshocks from Latios while achieving good Speed and power.

Usage Tips
========

This particular set does very well against offensive teams, using its high power and good Speed to make quick work of opposing Pokemon. Gardevoir also excels against stall teams, as its high damage output in conjunction with either Taunt or Will-O-Wisp allow it to pester most defensive Pokemon. Prior to Mega Evolving, Trace can be used to provide switch-in opportunities and grab useful abilities such as Flash Fire, Poison Heal, Natural Cure, and Multiscale, as well as enable Gardevoir to revenge kill Excadrill and Kabutops in sand and rain, respectively. As Gardevoir has poor physical bulk, trying to come in on physical attackers such as Talonflame is not advised. However, it can switch into threats whose moves it resists such as Latias, Latios, and Mandibuzz, so it is advisable to take advantage of such opportunities.

Team Options
========

Bisharp and Mandibuzz are both viable teammates due to their type synergy with Gardevoir. The former also appreciates the removal of Fighting-types that often trouble it, and it can Pursuit trap Chansey. Heatran and Tyranitar are both useful to defeat Talonflame, while also setting up Stealth Rock. Heatran also handles Mega Scizor effectively. Magnezone makes an excellent teammate for Mega Gardevoir, especially for Hidden Power Ground variants, since Magnezone can trap and remove Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor. Since Gardevoir is a little slow, a Sticky Web user such as Shuckle can be useful to aid Gardevoir in handling faster Pokemon. Thundurus, with its access to Prankster Thunder Wave, can also be a useful teammate for the same reason.

Calm Mind
########
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Hyper Voice
move 3: Psyshock
move 4: Focus Blast
ability: Trace
item: Gardevoirite
evs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Modest

Moves
========

Calm Mind boosts Mega Gardevoir's high Special Attack and Special Defense to formidable levels. Hyper Voice provides a strong and reliable Fairy STAB move and the ability to defeat Substitute users, notably Kyurem-B. Psyshock is a good secondary STAB move that breaks through Venusaur, Scolipede, and Chansey quite well. Focus Blast is a great coverage move to hit Heatran and Ferrothorn, which both otherwise wall Gardevoir. Taunt prevents opposing defensive Pokemon, such as Chansey, from pulling off status moves. Substitute is an alternative over Taunt to avoid status while allowing Gardevoir to attain more opportunities to set up Calm Mind, but Taunt is usually a more viable alternative.

Set Details
========

The EV spread allows Gardevoir to survive at least two Psyshocks from Latios in order to check it more easily. Trace is the chosen ability in order to allow Gardevoir to obtain some useful abilities prior to Mega Evolution, such as Multiscale and Speed Boost, as well as some potential switch-in opportunities, such as against Heatran.

Usage Tips
========

This Gardevoir set is an excellent stallbreaker, being able to use common stall threats, such as Chansey, as setup fodder while using its great power to overwhelm teams. Its immediate power also gives it an edge against offense, as this team archetype has very few Pokemon that are capable of safely switching in. Gardevoir should use Calm Mind against weaker opponents that cannot outright break it, such as Chansey. Gardevoir should avoid switching into physical attackers such as Talonflame due to its poor physical bulk. However, it can use its typing to effectively switch into common threats such as Latias, Keldeo, Mandibuzz, and Kyurem-B.

Team Options
========

Bisharp and Tyranitar can keep Gengar and Doublade at bay, and trap them with Pursuit. A Pokemon to handle Mega Scizor, such as Talonflame, is also useful. Terrakion, Keldeo, and Conkeldurr can also dismantle Ferrothorn and Heatran, while Heatran itself can also counter Talonflame and Mega Scizor. Landorus-T is also useful to take on Excadrill and Mega Scizor, provide crucial Stealth Rock support, and get Gardevoir in safely with U-turn.

Other Options
========

Gardevoir has an expansive movepool, so there are quite a few more moves available for use. Hypnosis could be used if you want to use Gardevoir as a sleep inducer, but its poor accuracy makes it a shaky option. Gardevoir can also support its team with Sunny Day or Rain Dance, but there are more reliable options for such roles, and sun is a mediocre playstyle to begin with. Gardevoir could run a defensive set with Will-O-Wisp, Heal Bell, and Wish, but such a set is outclassed by Clefable, Sylveon, and Togekiss. A Choice Scarf set could be workable, as Gardevoir is the fastest Fairy-type in OU and has a wide offensive movepool and Healing Wish. However, this set is relatively easy to deal with and outclassed by Latias at using Healing Wish. Thunderbolt is an option if hitting Talonflame and Mega Pinsir is important, but it does not provide anything useful beyond that. Lastly, Memento is a viable option to allow a teammate a free setup opportunity; however, Gardevoir will rarely have the time for this, and Healing Wish often has greater utility.

Checks and Counters
========

**Steel-types**: Scizor, Heatran, and Ferrothorn can take hits from Mega Gardevoir relatively well and hit it hard with their moves. Scizor also has priority in Bullet Punch, allowing it to weaken Mega Gardevoir before it retaliates. However, only Mega Scizor can avoid getting 2HKOed by Focus Blast, and even then it can be crippled by Will-O-Wisp. Jirachi, Klefki, Bronzong, and Doublade all fall into a similar boat, as they are able to counter Gardevoir but are also crippled by Will-O-Wisp. Choice Scarf Heatran and Sand Rush Excadrill can both revenge kill Mega Gardevoir.

**Fire-types**: Fire-type Pokemon are capable of enduring Hyper Voice from Mega Gardevoir, and they are able to overwhelm it as well. Victini takes many of Gardevoir's moves bar Shadow Ball well and can OHKO it with V-create. Entei is in a similar boat, being able to OHKO Gardevoir with Sacred Fire or revenge kill it with Extreme Speed. Talonflame can overwhelm Mega Gardevoir, while its Bulk Up set takes Hyper Voice and Psyshock relatively well. Physically defensive Mega Charizard Y can also wall Mega Gardevoir.

**Chansey**: Thanks to its astronomical special bulk, Chansey can take anything Mega Gardevoir can muster and stall it out with recovery, Toxic, and Seismic Toss. However, it loses to Taunt and Calm Mind variants.

Skeleton

Overview

• Great Special Attack and strong special bulk, which is even better in Mega forme
• Decent Psychic / Fairy typing which allows it to take on plenty of threats
• Excellent movepool both offensively and in support, so it is very versatile
• Can cover many threats in its coverage moves
• Immune to Dragon helps
• Extremely vulnerable on the physical side, so it will fold to literally any physical attack which is not good in a meta filled with priority and physical attackers
• Hyper Voice bypassing Subs is great to handle Kyurem-B, Gliscor, and Baton Pass teams
• 80 Speed prior to Mega Evolving is lackluster for an offensive Pokemon

Offensive Moves

• Hyper Voice provides a strong, reliable Fairy STAB move that smashes Dragons; with Pixilate the move hits very hard
• Psyshock hits past Chansey, Venusaur, and Scolipede while also getting good neutral coverage against Talonflame
• Hidden Power Ground hits Aegislash and Heatran, two common Pokemon who resist Hyper Voice
• Focus Blast provides a powerful coverage move to maul Ferrothorn and to a smaller extent hitting Scizor hard
• Taunt is useful to stop status moves and also makes Gardevoir a good stallbreaker
• Will-O-Wisp is a cool move to surprise common switch-ins such as Scizor and Aegislash, while patching up Gardevoir's poor physical defense
• Shadow Ball is primarily for the omnipresent Aegislash, who resists Gardevoir's other moves
• Hidden Power Fire could be used if you're really scared of Scizor, but beyond that is very situational

Offensive Set Details

• Trace is a good ability for non Mega Gardevoir, as it can trace things like Kabutops's Swift Swim, Dragonite's Multiscale, Heatran's Flash Fire, and Scolipede's Speed Boost
• The EV spread allows gives Gardevoir the most power and Speed possible while being able to survive at least two Psyshocks from Latios to make a better check to it

Offensive UT

• This set is a great tool against offense, using its power and coverage to pester opponents
• This should get in when it gets the chance, Trace is a useful ability to switch in as is its typing, and you can then activate Mega Gardevoir to start spamming Hyper Voice
• Don't try to come in on physical attackers due to Gardevoir's really bad physical bulk

Offensive TO

• Bisharp and Mandibuzz are good teammates to handle Aegislash, the former also appreciates the removal of Fighting-types
• Heatran can take on Steel-types and Talonflame while setting up SR
• Gardevoir's a bit slow, so you could run a Sticky Web user like Shuckle or Galvantula if you want to alleviate that
• Talonflame can handle most Steels barring maybe Aegislash
• Fighting-types are also very good bets

CM Moves

• Calm Mind boosts Gardevoir's already great special stats to even more formidable levels
• Hyper Voice is reliable, powerful Fairy STAB that hits hard off the bat too
• Psyshock is a good secondary STAB option that also bypasses Mega Venusaur, Chansey, and Sylveon
• Shadow Ball is a good way to hit Aegislash that try to come in on Gardevoir
• Taunt is useful in conjunction with Calm Mind to make Gardevoir a very good stallbreaker, especially against Chansey
• Substitute can be used to evade status

CM Set Details

• The EV spread lets Gardevoir live two Psyshocks from Latios when needed
• Trace is a useful tool for Gardevoir to get some switch-in opportunities before it gets going

CM UT

• This particular Gardevoir is a very good stallbreaker, being able to set up on stall Pokemon while using its great power to dismantle them
• Mega Gardevoir can also use some special attackers, namely Zapdos, as setup bait
• Its power also makes it decent at dismantling offensive teams

CM TO

• Bisharp or Mandibuzz can be used to keep Aegislash at bay, the former also has Pursuit to trap it
• Terrakion, Keldeo, and Conkeldurr are all good at dismantling Ferrothorn
• Heatran or Rotom-W can counter Talonflame

Scarf Moves

• Moonblast is Gardevoir's most reliable Fairy STAB, which provides good coverage
• Shadow Ball hits Aegislash while Psyshock hits Chansey and Scolipede
• Focus Blast is there for Ferrothorn and Heatran
• Destiny Bond can bring a double down against something like Aegislash or Gengar
• Healing Wish though can be used for quick suicide if Gardevoir is no longer useful, healing a weakened teammate is always very helpful
• Trick though is nice to pester walls like Blissey and Skarmory
• Memento is a good option over Healing Wish or Destiny Bond to provide something like SD Talonflame a nice setup opportunity

Scarf Set Details

• Timid maximizes Speed to utilize Scarf with
• Trace is just an amazing ability, copying certain abilities to provide good switch-in opportunities

Scarf UT

• This set is a great revenge killer, being able to take on a number of fast offensive threats such as Greninja, Garchomp, and the Latis
• Trace is a very good ability and you can use it to grab some very good abilities like Flash Fire or Multiscale
• With Gardevoir's rare support options like Healing Wish, it can sacrifice itself to do a number of useful things

Scarf TO

• Bisharp and Absol both make viable teammates, and both sport good offensive synergy with Gardevoir
• Mandibuzz can handle Aegislash rather decently
• Fighting-types like Terrakion and Keldeo can handle Steel-types besides Aegislash rather well

OO

• Healing Wish / Memento on non Scarf sets
• Hypnosis
• Psychic, but Psyshock is a better STAB
• Sunny Day / Rain Dance
• Defensive sets are possible with Will-O-Wisp, Wish, and Heal Bell, but this is outclassed by Clefable, Sylveon, and Togekiss
• Specs

C&C

• Scizor
• Talonflame
• Aegislash
• Scolipede
• Gengar
• Special walls; namely the blobs
• Any physical attacker that is faster; it's really frail on the physical side and its Speed isn't exactly amazing

 

[Seth Vilo]

Don't you mean a Calm nature on the defensive set?

 

[darkie]

i would avoid using more than 2 slashes per thing. if you must, mention the least recommended one in the comments instead

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

I think Bisharp can also be listed as a solid teammate for Gardevoir since it covers all of Gardevoir's weaknesses while Gardevoir quadresists Fighting, Bisharp's biggest weakness

 

[6feetunder]

Psyshock though provides a good STAB move that hits Blissey and Florges hard

252 SpA Gardevoir Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Florges: 103-123 (28.6 - 34.1%)
252 SpA Gardevoir Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Florges: 117-138 (32.5 - 38.3%)

252 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Florges: 157-186 (43.6 - 51.6%)
252 SpA Mega Gardevoir Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Florges: 144-169 (40 - 46.9%)

Psyshock isn't really doing much more to Florges than moonblast is, and hyper voice actually does more. Besides, I don't see any reason to mention Florges since it is completely outclassed by Sylveon.

 

[Hrothgar]

I'm glad you added the defensive set with WoW, but I think a dual screen set is also worth considering. It's great with wish.

 

[Shroomisaur]

Your defensive set has Careful listed as the nature, it should obviously be Calm. I still doubt that set is useful, considering Sylveon/Florges/Clefable all do support better and pass bigger wishes.

The offensive set looks good, although it has too many slashes... is Taunt really worth slashing? Most things would just attack Gardevoir since she's so frail. Also shouldn't Gardevoirite be the first item slash? Modest Mega has more punch than Timid LO, no recoil, and better SpD/Spe, although taking up the Mega Slot is obviously the drawback.

However, now that Pokebank is here, Gardevoir regained access to Trick which makes Choice Scarf a viable option:

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Trace
Timid, 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball / Psyshock
- Trick

Gardevoir runs a Scarf set much better than the other Fairy-types thanks to better offensive stats, Trace, and access to Trick to cripple special walls. As you say, Gardevoir is countered by any fast physical threat, and Scarf allows it to outspeed and surprise them.

 

[malefic]

suggestions:

• elaborate on how the defensive set differentiates itself from florges as a wish-passer/special tank - such as how trace helps it fare better against stuff like heatran as opposed to florges having an essentially useless ability
• hp fire should be slashed over tbolt on the offensive set; gardevoir has no business staying in on talonflame and talonflame has no business switching in on gardevoir, while a healthy gardevoir can beat pokemon like genesect with hp fire in a 1v1 situation. shadow ball is overall the clearly superior option though

 

[DTC]

Please don't mention Florges - it's an inferior Sylveon in almost every single way.

Also agreeing with Shroomsaur that Choice Scarf Gardevoir is pretty good. It's a pretty good revenge killer because it can OHKO a lot of different offensive Pokemon, such as Garchomp and Greninja. Should be the second set imo.

 

[doughboy]

Choice Scarf:

Shroomisaur DTC You guys are missing two good options on the Choice Scarf set. Trick is a good option versus defensive teams to cripple one of their pokes and allow your Gardevoir to switch moves. I think that due to to the more offensive nature of the metagame, Destiny Bond and Healing Wish are better options. Like Scarf Gengar last gen, Destiny Bond can be used to checkmate certain threats that you would otherwise would not be able to KO. On the other hand, Healing Wish can be used to bring another one of your threats back to life to clean up late game. Scarf Jirachi used this option last generation excellently on offensive teams. Both IMO are superior to Trick right now.

Another self-KOing move that could be used is Memento, which can be used to buy setup opportunities. I would say that Healing Wish is better though because Memento is more oriented for early-game when your poke is completely healthy and can't be KO'ed by weakened moves. This would force you to sacrifice Gardevoir in the early game then. On the other hand, Healing Wish is more suited to late game because your sweeper will be weakened, but Healing Wish you can buy time for round 2. That means you can sacrifice Gardevoir after it has done its job.

Also in the last slot you can throw in Thunderbot or whatever you didn't use in the second slot if you really need to check a threat. But that IMO is inferior to Destiny Bond, Healing Wish, and Trick.

Gardevoir (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball / Psyshock (Shadow Ball is more effective than Moonblast to revenge faster Psychic types no poison sweepers for Psyshock)
- Focus Blast
- Destiny Bond / Healing Wish / Trick
_____________________________________

Offensive:

IMO there should be a split between an offensive CM set and a Substitute set. Offensive CM really aligns itself to using Mega-Gardevoir while the Substitute set does not. Also some move options work with Sub that don't really work with Offensive CM and vice versa. As it is right now the offensive set just has sooooo many slashes and I don't think it can really convey how each set plays.

Offensive CM:

Gardevoir (F) @ Gardevoirite
Trait: Trace (Pixelate)
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock / Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

You really shouldn't be using a Life Orb for the offensive CM set and should always go for Gardevoirite. First and foremost is that the extra speed Mega-Gardevoir has is a huge help to her for getting a sweep. The difference between base 100 and base 80 is like night and day. Hiting positive base 100 is a huge deal because it will allow her to outspeed Genesect. Second, the power drop is not steep enough to hang on to Life Orb. Pixelate essentially acts as a Life Orb boost on your most important move, your main STAB in Hyper Voice, off of a neutral base 165 special attack! You only lose a small amount of power on your secondary coverage moves, which is not worth the speed drop. In addition, you don't have any Life Orb recoil, which really extends Gardevoir's sweep / staying power. If you really want the power, just use a +SpA nature, it has just as much power as Life Orb iirc.

I really would just OO Thunderbolt. Psyshock takes off a clean 62%-74% and at +1 does 94%-111% which is a 68.75% to OHKO. Psyshock just hits so much more like all the special walls and poison-types that would take on Mega-Gardevoir while Tbolt gets... Talonflame? It's an important threat but Psyshock is enough with SR or +1. Shadow Ball has its merit for taking on certain Psychic-types (Jirachi/Metagross/Bronzong/Delphox has anyone seen these guys? and Gardevoir) and Aegislash. Aegislash is important so it warrants a slash, but it can be used only on the switch because it is just going to murk you with a Shadow Sneak once you killed something. STAB, Pixealate Hyper Voice I'm pretty sure hits all other Psychic and Ghost types harder that Shadow Ball. Though I suppose Psyshock can murder opposing Gardevoir/Delphox because of their low Defense.

Substitute:

Gardevoir (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature / Timid
- Substitute
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Will-O-Wisp / Shadow Ball / Psyshock

You want to give Gardevoir the most opportunities to create a Substitute as possible and that is where Leftovers comes in. You also want to fire off the most powerful attacks you can so Modest goes in here too as opposed to Timid (though Timid is still good). Will-o-Wisp is such a great option on Substitute Gardevoir because it heavily cripples the physical attackers that players respond to Mega-Gardevoir with (especially Aegislash). It also can cripple the special walls that check Gardevoir. This becomes very handy for an accompanying special sweeper. The increased accuracy of Will-o-Wisp this gen makes it a great option to dish out. Psyshock doesn't have the raw power to break through special walls, so Shadow Ball gets the nod here for hitting Aegislash. You can hit Aegislash safely now behind a Substitute.


That's what I got to say about that.

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

*sigh*

Okay, after a while, this is ready!

 

[Super Mario Bro]

I don't think Calm Mind should be slashed on the Mega Gardevoir set. The move is not easy to set up in this aggressive metagame, and Gardevoir's middling Defense makes her prone to revenge-killing. It also lessens Gardevoir's offensive potential, by reducing the number of Pokemon she is able to defeat. For example, without Shadow Ball, she is walled by Aegislash, and without Psyshock, she cannot defeat Mega Venusaur and Blissey. As such, you should replace the first set with this:

name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Shadow Ball
move 4: Focus Blast
item: Gardevoirite
ability: Trace (Pixilate)
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Moves Section: Calm Mind, over anything but Hyper Voice

 

[Jukain]

in addition to the above, we'd like the last slot to be trick / healing wish on the scarf set. trick is an awesome crippling move that destroys defensive pokemon on the spot, but healing wish is a compelling alternative for its utility. mention dbond, but don't slash it. in the 1v1 trades you mention, either gardevoir wins (gengar) or you'd rather trick/attack it (aegislash). it's not a very good move on scarf pokemon in general, and you'd typically rather just attack.

 

[JR]

I agree with SMB's post. 165 SpA is aready pretty damn high as it is and you need all the coverage you can get.

Also, question's a bit off topic but can someone help me understand the differences in attack stats vs. BP? I read that the Life Orb > a +40 SpA boost in Gardevoirite, which kinda surprised me.

 

[Cipher Admin Lovrina]

I don't think Calm Mind should be slashed on the Mega Gardevoir set. The move is not easy to set up in this aggressive metagame, and Gardevoir's middling Defense makes her prone to revenge-killing. It also lessens Gardevoir's offensive potential, by reducing the number of Pokemon she is able to defeat. For example, without Shadow Ball, she is walled by Aegislash, and without Psyshock, she cannot defeat Mega Venusaur and Blissey. As such, you should replace the first set with this:

name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Shadow Ball
move 4: Focus Blast
item: Gardevoirite
ability: Trace (Pixilate)
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Moves Section: Calm Mind, over anything but Hyper Voice

I have to agree that Psyshock is kind of a must. Without it, even stuff like Tentacruel, Venusaur (not even talking the mega form), and Scolipede (they try to switch in for free) can wall you pretty hard. Sometimes it caps off at around 40% on the blobs, but with some prior damage, it can still net you some KOs. I can vouch for a good old fashioned substitute set as it can nab KO's on Shadow Sneak Aegislash and other pokemon that think they can switch in for free, though I cannot stress enough that Garde really does enjoy having all four coverage options, which almost create a niche for her.

 

[dice]

taunt or cm / hyper voice / psyshock / hp ground is probably the best set

i find taunt has a lot of utility for preventing recoveries and defogs; zapdos, for example, could sack itself and defog or skarm could roost / whirlwind / defog on you and you can taunt them which effectively neuters their attempts of checking / defogging etc. this applies to other defensive mons like chansey (cm + psyshock can still be checked kinda), ferrothorn (who hard walls with hp ground), and even more offensive pokemon like multiscale WP dnite trying to get a free +3 +1. stopping bulky waters like politoed and suicune from resting is major too. hp ground is chosen over another move because it hits both aegislash and heatran (shadow ball doesn't hit tran sadly, focus doesn't hit aegi). hitting the two most common steels w/ hp ground is far better than just running shadow ball or focus blast. cm is a viable option over taunt too, but i am really a big fan of taunt and feel as though it works best with this set. if you're running cm, shadow ball is probably a better option.

don't think bulky is worth it-- sylveon / clefable perform this role better and wisp isn't enough to justify using it. not sure how viable scarf is. subwisp isn't worth it either.

first set what i listed above, second set with cm and shadow ball and i think it'll be good

sry it's basically having to restart ur analysis but the sets listed aren't worth it

 

[PK Gaming]

Seconding what Dice said. This analysis should be retooled to reflect how Gardevoir is used in high level play. Make sure you test the set to get a feel for how it's used. That set is very effective at dealing against offense (it can switch into Lati@s and effectively kill whatever switches in) and it has utility against via Taunt.

Oh and remove all of the other sets (regular Gardevoir is pretty much unviable in standard)

 

[Fuzznip]

Make the set this actually:

Hyper Voice
Psyshock
Hidden Power Ground / Focus Blast
Taunt / Shadow Ball

And Calm Mind in the comments. It's not that good on Gardevoir and often not needed, as MegaGard hits hard as is.

 

[Punchshroom]

Oh and remove all of the other sets (regular Gardevoir is pretty much unviable in standard)

Is it now? I always thought Scarf Gardevoir's speed gave it an advantage over MegaVoir, or pretty much every other Fairy in general.

 

[alexwolf]

I disagree with PK Gaming that regular Gardevoir is unviable. It's Scarf set is definitely viable, i can go into more details if needed, but i thought that we were ok with Scarf?

 

[PK Gaming]

What's the appeal to using Scarf Gardevoir in the first place? You deprive yourself of Mega Gardevoir for an "ok" scarfer, but there's nothing intrinsically good or unique to Scarf Gardevoir that makes it appealing in the first place. It's a slow scarfer with ok offense and a great typing, but it's vulnerable to a lot of key threats (like every Steel-type...)

 

[alexwolf]

What's the appeal to using Scarf Gardevoir in the first place? You deprive yourself of Mega Gardevoir for an "ok" scarfer, but there's nothing intrinsically good or unique to Scarf Gardevoir that makes it appealing in the first place. It's a slow scarfer with ok offense and a great typing, but it's vulnerable to a lot of key threats (like every Steel-type...)

It's niche as a scarfer is Trace + STAB Moonblast (which is pretty fucking amazing) + Healing Wish. That's a pretty big niche if your ask me. Moonblast reliably revenge kills a ton of offensive Pokemon, and is not a bad move to clean with either. Trace allows Gardevoir to revenge kill Pokemon such as Swift Swimmers and Sand Rush Excadrill, feats that even LO Deo-S can't achieve, as well as snatch useful abilities in crutch situations (Sheer Force vs Landorus, Download boost vs non-scarf Genesect, Adaptability vs Mega Lucario, all of which make cleaning much easier). Scarf Healing Wish is amazing and i don't need to say anything more. You have to use this set to appreciate its usefulness, but all in all, a fast and strong Moonblast is great, especially when coupled with all that utility that Gardevoir brings to the table.

 

[Srn]

I'm going with what everybody else has said and recommending an AoA as the first set of mega gardevoir. More specifically:

Make the set this actually:

Hyper Voice
Psyshock
Hidden Power Ground / Focus Blast
Taunt / Shadow Ball

And Calm Mind in the comments. It's not that good on Gardevoir and often not needed, as MegaGard hits hard as is.

This is good. Although I think shadow ball should be slashed first, considering how many people love switching in aegislash on mega gardevoir, having shadow ball instead of hp ground for aegislash is nice. I also think Hp fire should be mentioned, solely for its ability to nab scizor and ferrothorn.

CM in general is sorta bad because of its terrible defense, regardless of its good resistances to physically oriented types (like fighting, 4x resist to fighting is great). You're revenged by shadow sneak and brave bird and CM just isn't that great. Believe it or not, 165 base sp. att and STAB moves with high bp is all mega gardevoir needs to function well in OU.

It's niche as a scarfer is Trace + STAB Moonblast (which is pretty fucking amazing) + Healing Wish. That's a pretty big niche if your ask me. Moonblast reliably revenge kills a ton of offensive Pokemon, and is not a bad move to clean with either. Trace allows Gardevoir to revenge kill Pokemon such as Swift Swimmers and Sand Rush Excadrill, feats that even LO Deo-S can't achieve, as well as snatch useful abilities in crutch situations (Sheer Force vs Landorus, Download boost vs non-scarf Genesect, Adaptability vs Mega Lucario, all of which make cleaning much easier). Scarf Healing Wish is amazing and i don't need to say anything more. You have to use this set to appreciate its usefulness, but all in all, a fast and strong Moonblast is great, especially when coupled with all that utility that Gardevoir brings to the table.

Trace and healing wish/destiny bond put a lot of utility on a scarfer that isn't commonly seen, and moonblast doesn't hit that bad either, for a STAB coming off of 125 base sp. att. The only real issue with scarf gardevoir is its crappy 65/65 physical defense, leaving her incredibly open to scizor.

I can agree that scarf gardevoir looks pretty sub-par on paper, but there are just so many opportunities created with trace to take advantage of the opponent and a fast healing wish is pretty damn great.

The sets for gardevoir should just be listed like this:
All-out Attacker
Scarf

Any other set isn't that great and is outclassed.

 

[alexwolf]

Also, the first set should be using this spread: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe, which allows Mega Gardevoir (and Gardevoir, they have the same physical bulk) to survive two LO Psyshock from Latios without SR on the field, which is very important, as Latios is one of the main Pokemon that Gardevoir can switch into against offensive teams.

 

[KairosKairen]

Reflect set on bulky Gardevoirite is dangerous.
Modest*
252HP/252SpAtk/4SDef
Pixilate*
Hyper Voice
Psyshock
Shadow ball/Tbolt
Reflect

Basically this set is ment 2 well give gardevoir survivability since it can already survive almost any sp atk.(Aka Mega Lucario) Once you get a refect up physical attackers are now pressured durring there switch into you since even bullet punch off a mega sizor only dose 49-59% witch is very good on a super effective hit And Choice banded Talon flame only dose 44-54% alowing any switch ins on Mega Gardevoir to be very unpleasant. Mega Gardevoir generally manages to kill 1-3 key threats on the enemy team once refect is up and is definitly a treat to be carfully dealt with.
They way iv been countered though are from the ocassionall brick break or Heatran.