[OVERVIEW]
Greninja doesn't have much use in Doubles because it is very niche, outclassed by many other Pokemon, and only able to hit specific Pokemon for major damage. This, however, allows Greninja to be tailored to KO specific Pokemon that threaten your team thanks to its insane coverage movepool combined with its high Speed and Protean. Although it has mediocre offensive stats and is extremely frail, Protean, which gives it STAB on every move it uses, and its blazing Speed, which allows it to outrun most of the unboosted metagame, most notably Mega Diancie and Mega Metagross, more than makes up for it. Unfortunately, Greninja is easily beaten by Trick Room and Tailwind offensive teams as well as Pokemon that can outrun it and hit hard, such as Timid Shaymin-S and common Choice Scarf users. Most importantly, Greninja is limited by what coverage moves it can use.
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Focus Sash
ability: Protean
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Bear in mind that these are just standard moves that most Greninja would run; due to its large movepool, its set can vary depending on the needs of your team. Despite its unreliable accuracy, Hydro Pump is Greninja's strongest move and should be its go-to move against Pokemon that are neutral to it. Ice Beam provides good coverage and allows Greninja to hit common Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Hydreigon. Dark Pulse is used to hit bulky Psychic- and Ghost-types, such as Creseelia, Jirachi, Mega Metagross, and Aegislash harder. Protect can alleviate Greninja's frailty by shielding it from a potential OHKO and letting it Greninja stall out opposing Tailwind and Trick Room turns, which allows it to possibly be effective for a turn longer.
Set Details
========
252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature ensure that Greninja has maximum Speed. 252 Special Attack EVs maximize Greninja's damage output. Life Orb is the preferred item, as Greninja's offensive stats are quite mediocre; also, Greninja doesn't mind Life Orb recoil that much because it is frail. Focus Sash can also be used, though, as it allows Greninja to take a hit from Pokemon that are faster than it and would otherwise OHKO it, such as Shaymin-S, enabling it to carry out its role and attack, potentially netting an OHKO; the drop in power is very noticeable, however.
Usage Tips
========
Greninja works best as a late-game cleaner because its coverage moves, high Speed, and Protean allow it to outrun and hit a lot of Pokemon for super effective damage. It can also be used during early-game, as it puts a lot of offensive pressure on your opponent from the start with its unpredictable moveset, provided that your opponent does not lead with a Fake Out user. Despite its frailty, Greninja can be used defensively as well, such as by using an attack to change its type so that it gains a resistance or immunity to a predicted incoming attack. Because Greninja is so frail, it isn't recommended to switch it into attacks, however.
Team Options
========
Greninja appreciates Helping Hand support, which gives a boost to its average offensive stats; Helping Hand allows Greninja to OHKO Mega Metagross with Dark Pulse as well as standard Amoonguss with Ice Beam. Pokemon such as Jirachi and Togekiss work best because they also provide redirection support to mitigate Greninja's low bulk, as well as speed control to allow Greninja to outrun and threaten foes that would otherwise beat it, such as Shaymin-S. Cresselia also works well with Greninja, as it can provide Helping Hand support, use Icy Wind to slow down opposing Pokemon that are faster than Greninja, such as Shaymin-S, and even reverse opposing Trick Room while Greninja uses Protect, allowing Greninja to become a fast, powerful threat again. Thundurus is another Pokemon that provides speed control while also being able to prevent opposing speed control, such as Thunder Wave and Tailwind, with Taunt. It, along with other Electric-types, such as Zapdos and Thundurus-T, can check Water-types that wall Greninja's standard set, especially Azumarill, Mega Gyarados, and Keldeo. Keep in mind that Thundurus-T needs a Choice Scarf in order to check Keldeo, as it is unable to tank a Hydro Pump. Greninja, in turn, helps them out by checking Rock-types, such as Mega Diancie and Terrakion. Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir are both great offensive partners for Greninja, as they are able to check Fighting-types, which threaten Greninja, such as Conkeldurr, as well as Mega Venusaur in the case of Mega Gardevoir. They also provide a powerful spread STAB move which allows Greninja to finish off opposing weakened Pokemon in Hyper Voice. Spread moves in general work well with Greninja, as although it can outspeed and KO a lot of Pokemon, it is still vulnerable to its other foes if its partner isn't able to KO the foe. They are also benefited greatly by Greninja's ability to remove threats to them such as Mega Metagross, Aegislash, and Heatran.
Other options include Talonflame, which checks bulky Grass-types such as Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss, and Mega Venusaur, which checks bulky Water-types, which Greninja has trouble breaking through. Terrakion and Breloom are other offensive options because Greninja is able to check Aegislash, which walls both of their STAB moves, as well as opposing Flying-types in the case of Breloom. In return, they both check Ferrothorn; Terrakion can also check Talonflame while Breloom can also check bulky Water-types. If Greninja is running Blizzard, Mega Abomasnow is a great partner because it checks bulky Grass-types, which Greninja has trouble breaking through and because Greninja works well as a Blizzard spammer in hail. Mega Kangaskhan is a fantastic partner, as it provides a lot of offensive pressure in conjunction with Greninja. Greninja appreciates the Fake Out support that Mega Kangaskhan offers, as the chip damage is handy and the move can also protect Greninja from an attack while it does more damage. Greninja's ability to hit Pokemon that wall Mega Kangaskhan, most notably Aegislash, benefits it greatly. Greninja can also be used to force opportunities to allow Mega Kangaskhan to set up with Power-Up Punch by sniping certain Pokemon.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Greninja has a myriad of moves that can be used based on the Pokemon that you need to hit on your team. Hidden Power Grass is an option to hit Politoed and Swampert and is generally better than Grass Knot, as it deals more damage to Rotom-W, while Hidden Power Fire hits Pokemon such as Scizor and Ferrothorn, which are 4x weak to Fire-type attacks. Blizzard is a stronger Ice-type attack and can be used to make Greninja a non-Trick Room hail attacker. Extrasensory hits Mega Venusaur, which is a common switch-in to Greninja, super effectively. Greninja can also use some physical moves; if it Greninja is running any of them, its nature should be changed to to Naive and the 4 Special Defense EVs should be moved to Attack. Rock Slide lets Greninja OHKO standard Mega Charizard Y , while Low Kick can be used to hit Kyurem-B and Tyranitar harder. Gunk Shot can be used to hit Fairy-types such as Sylveon and Togekiss harder. Mat Block is not a viable option on Greninja, as it is extremely predictable and useless after turn 1. Greninja also already has major four-moveslot syndrome.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Typing Advantage**: Keep in mind that Greninja's checks and counters vary with what moves it uses. The safest picks for checks are faster Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Genesect, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Shaymin-S, as they outrun Greninja and can OHKO it if it has not changed types yet. Conkeldurr can tank any attack except the rare Extrasensory and deal massive damage with Mach Punch if Greninja still has a type weak to Fighting. Breloom can do the same with a stronger Mach Punch, but it cannot switch into Ice Beam. The standard Greninja set is easily walled by Pokemon such as Keldeo and Azumarill, which can force it out with Secret Sword and Play Rough, respectively. Those two moves are also super effective against Greninja if it did not change its typing yet. Generally, Pokemon that are unaffected by Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and Dark Pulse are good picks for defensive switch-ins.
**Speed Control**: Greninja depends greatly on its high Speed. Once Greninja's Speed is made less, it's a sitting duck because of its subpar bulk. Trick Room beats Greninja quite easily, as it only 2HKOes Aromatisse with Hydro Pump and 3HKOes Cresselia with Dark Pulse, both of which are common Trick Room user. Thundurus is another major problem, as its priority Thunder Wave can shut down Greninja's Speed.
**Speed**: Common priority moves, such as Mach Punch and Talonflame's Brave Bird, threaten Greninja due to its frailty, especially if it has not yet switched types. It is also greatly threatened by faster threats, such as Shaymin-S, Mega Manectric, and Deoxys-A.
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