sandshrewz
POTATO
I have not written an analysis in ages so here goes~~ haha x)
Catwoman
[Overview]
<p>Liepard was once considered a useless Pokemon in RU; it had considerably poor stats except for a good base 106 Speed, and its non-existent bulk did it no favors. However, Liepard gained Prankster from the Dream World, which better utilizes its rather good support movepool. With Prankster, Liepard has the ability to set up guaranteed weather, and it also gains priority on moves such as Thunder Wave and Encore. Additionally, Liepard's combination of support moves isn't entirely the same as that of other Prankster users. It crafts its niche as a Pokemon that can utilize Swagger semi-reliably and can work to some extent even in the upper tiers. In contrast to other Prankster Pokemon, Liepard can actually go on the offensive instead of completely relying on its ability as a support Pokemon. It has access to Nasty Plot to boost its base 88 Special Attack with, which is a lot more useful than an offensive Tail Glow Volbeat with base 47 Special Attack. Unlike Volbeat, however, it cannot Baton Pass its boosts to teammates. Much like most other Prankster users, Liepard is rather frail and can sometimes be hard to use effectively. Still, Liepard is a usable Pokemon, and although it might not be a top-tier threat, it is nevertheless a threat to be wary of in its own right.</p>
[SET]
name: Weather Support
move 1: Rain Dance / Sunny Day
move 2: Encore
move 3: Taunt / Thunder Wave
move 4: U-turn
item: Damp Rock / Heat Rock
ability: Prankster
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Liepard is one of the few Pokemon with access to Prankster. Furthermore, it can also use Rain Dance and Sunny Day along with Prankster, making it an ideal priority weather inducer. Unlike Volbeat and Illumise, Liepard is not weak to Stealth Rock and hence has better survivability, even with the presence of Stealth Rock; they also have comparable bulk, or lack thereof. Encore helps Liepard to gain a free turn so that it can set up the appropriate weather or lock Pokemon such as Swords Dance Gallade into their setup moves. Liepard also has access to Taunt, which could be useful against opposing weather teams or to prevent the opponent from setting up their own weather. It also stops the opponent from using status and support moves or from setting up. U-turn is obligatory for Liepard to switch out to its teammates. Against Trick Room teams, Taunt and Encore are both valuable tools; the former prevents Trick Room from being set up, while the latter forces the Trick Room user to switch or undo Trick Room on the next turn.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EVs are to maximize special bulk so as to better allow Liepard to come in on weak special attacks such as Lanturn's Scald. However, a physically defensive EV spread along with Impish can also be opted for, as it reduces the damage taken by Volbeat's U-turn, which can really limit Liepard's ability to win the weather war against it.</p>
<p>Weather sweepers are obvious teammates for Liepard. Omastar, Ludicolo, and Kabutops fit the bill for rain sweepers while Victreebel, Exeggutor, and Sawsbuck are options for sun teams. Encore not only lets Liepard set up, but it also opens up opportunities for a free switch to the weather sweepers. Other weather inducers can also work well alongside Liepard, given its poor bulk and inability to stay alive for long. Prankster weather inducers also work well as teammates if you want a fast-paced team, but bulkier weather supporters such as Rotom-C can work too when faced against an offensive team so that Liepard doesn't become single-use only.</p>
[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Encore / Thunder Wave
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fire
item: Life Orb
ability: Prankster
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Liepard has an average base 88 Special Attack but a pretty useful base 106 Speed. While Liepard's offenses might not be considered high enough for a special attacker, it has access to Nasty Plot to bolster its Special Attack to something much more usable and even threatening. Thanks to Prankster, Liepard can find some ease in setting up despite its low defenses. Encore can trap opponents in their non-attacking and other set-up moves. For example, Calm Mind Sigilyph would simply become setup fodder for Liepard after being Encored. However, Liepard cannot risk trying to Encore sweepers with priority moves, such as Aqua Jet Feraligatr and Kabutops. Liepard can also take advantage of Pokemon such as Qwilfish who might try to set up multiple layers of entry hazards. However, Thunder Wave can be used as an alternative support move for the team to ease setup or paralyze switch-ins. After either Encore or Thunder Wave is used, the next turn would be an excellent opportunity to set up Nasty Plot and take advantage of an almost-guaranteed switch. Dark Pulse is a reliable STAB move while Hidden Power Fire is used as a coverage move against Steel-types and common specially defensive behemoths such as Cryogonal.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs used are straightforward to maximize Speed and Special Attack. Life Orb gives an all-important boost to Liepard's attacks, and it isn't really affected by a quickly depleting HP, as it is unlikely to survive any considerably strong attack. Liepard's base 88 Special Attack might not look like much, but here are some damage calculations to show how strong it actually is after a Nasty Plot:</p>
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>Dark Pulse vs. 4/0 Kabutops 132.82 - 156.87%</li>
<li>Dark Pulse vs. 0/0 Moltres 92.83 - 109.34%</li>
<li>Hidden Power Fire vs. 248/92+ Cryogonal 58.3 - 69.09%</li>
<li>Dark Pulse vs. 252/252+ Clefable 50.76 - 60.4%</li>
<li>Dark Pulse vs. 40/216+ Lanturn 57.6 - 68.07%</li>
</ul>
<p>Grass Knot is also an option over Hidden Power Fire to hit Water-types such as Quagsire, Crawdaunt, and Poliwrath super effectively. If Grass Knot is used, Steelix can work as a teammate by walling Pokemon such as Escavalier and Klinklang. However, if Hidden Power Fire is used, Grass- or Electric-type teammates such as Rotom-C and Sceptile can be used to deal with bulky Water-types such as Lanturn and more importantly, Poliwrath. Hidden Power Fighting is also another option against Aggron, but Hidden Power Fire is usually recommended as it also allows Liepard to hit Bug-types super effectively. As Liepard is rather frail, dual screens support from Pokemon such as Uxie is recommended. Furthermore, Uxie can also use U-turn to bring Liepard in safely. Liepard will also face problems against Fighting-types, so Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Spiritomb and Uxie are great teammates for it. Qwilfish is also a plausible teammate, as it can check Fighting-types with Intimidate and its Poison typing while also setting up Spikes, which helps to guarantee an OHKO on Kabutops and 2HKOs on Lanturn and Clefable with layers. Furthermore, Qwilfish helps to deal with priority moves such as ExtremeSpeed from Entei. Choice Scarf users can put a stop to Liepard as well, so their removal is greatly appreciated.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Liepard has a couple of other useful support moves to use. Toxic can be used to wear down foes, and Taunt can be used in tandem with it to prevent healing. However, Liepard is usually used on an offensive team and would rather use Thunder Wave to slow down the opponent and gain momentum instead of trying to stall with Toxic damage. Liepard also tends to force switches, as it threatens to paralyze foes or set up on them; Yawn can be used to capitalize on those switches and gain entry hazard damage or put a foe to sleep. It can also be used as a last-resort attempt to halt a sweep if a phazing move is not available. Torment is a sable move along with Substitute, Toxic Spikes support, and sometimes Protect. However, it's mostly a situational move.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>With very poor defenses and abysmal HP, any reasonably strong attack will do significant damage to Liepard. Keeping a strong offensive presence against Liepard will also make it hard for it to switch in safely. When playing against a Swagger Liepard, applying offensive pressure reduces the ability for Liepard to set up a Substitute, as it cannot sponge even a decently strong attack. However, for more defensive teams, Pokemon such as Steelix and Alomomola are good counters against it. Steelix can wall Foul Play, thanks to its superb Defense and comparatively lower Attack stat. Furthermore, it is immune to Thunder Wave. Similarly, Alomomola's Defense is higher than its Attack. It also has Regenerator to heal itself and can switch around repeatedly until it can force Liepard out. Choice Band Entei makes a good check to Liepard, as ExtremeSpeed has +2 priority and can take out Liepard once its Substitute is down. Multi-hit move users such as Cinccino and Klinklang can hit Liepard through its Substitute. However, they will have to be wary of Swagger and Thunder Wave. Ferroseed walls Liepard quite comfortably and can set up entry hazards if the latter doesn't have Taunt. Rhydon can also use Rock Blast to get past Liepard, is immune to Thunder Wave, and can sponge confusion to some extent thanks to its Eviolite-boosted Defense.</p>
<p>Against the weather support set, Volbeat and Illumise can give Liepard problems, as U-turn from both of them will 2HKO Liepard; they make it hard for Liepard to be useful at all against them, if they are used on another weather team. As Liepard is faster than Volbeat, the latter can Encore Liepard into its weather-inducin move or just use its own weather move after Liepard. As for the Nasty Plot set, Quagsire, Poliwrath, and Crawdaunt are generally good checks to it as long as Liepard doesn't carry Grass Knot. If it doesn't use Hidden Power Fire, Steel-types such as Escavalier and Klinklang are good answers to Liepard. Priority users, such as Entei, are also good checks. Faster Pokemon such as Durant and Choice Scarf users are also great Liepard checks, as offensive Liepard relies on its high Speed and cannot take most hits comfortably. However, one has to be aware of that Liepard can be sacrificed in order to paralyze those faster checks with Thunder Wave.</p>
Catwoman
[Overview]
<p>Liepard was once considered a useless Pokemon in RU; it had considerably poor stats except for a good base 106 Speed, and its non-existent bulk did it no favors. However, Liepard gained Prankster from the Dream World, which better utilizes its rather good support movepool. With Prankster, Liepard has the ability to set up guaranteed weather, and it also gains priority on moves such as Thunder Wave and Encore. Additionally, Liepard's combination of support moves isn't entirely the same as that of other Prankster users. It crafts its niche as a Pokemon that can utilize Swagger semi-reliably and can work to some extent even in the upper tiers. In contrast to other Prankster Pokemon, Liepard can actually go on the offensive instead of completely relying on its ability as a support Pokemon. It has access to Nasty Plot to boost its base 88 Special Attack with, which is a lot more useful than an offensive Tail Glow Volbeat with base 47 Special Attack. Unlike Volbeat, however, it cannot Baton Pass its boosts to teammates. Much like most other Prankster users, Liepard is rather frail and can sometimes be hard to use effectively. Still, Liepard is a usable Pokemon, and although it might not be a top-tier threat, it is nevertheless a threat to be wary of in its own right.</p>
[SET]
name: Weather Support
move 1: Rain Dance / Sunny Day
move 2: Encore
move 3: Taunt / Thunder Wave
move 4: U-turn
item: Damp Rock / Heat Rock
ability: Prankster
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Liepard is one of the few Pokemon with access to Prankster. Furthermore, it can also use Rain Dance and Sunny Day along with Prankster, making it an ideal priority weather inducer. Unlike Volbeat and Illumise, Liepard is not weak to Stealth Rock and hence has better survivability, even with the presence of Stealth Rock; they also have comparable bulk, or lack thereof. Encore helps Liepard to gain a free turn so that it can set up the appropriate weather or lock Pokemon such as Swords Dance Gallade into their setup moves. Liepard also has access to Taunt, which could be useful against opposing weather teams or to prevent the opponent from setting up their own weather. It also stops the opponent from using status and support moves or from setting up. U-turn is obligatory for Liepard to switch out to its teammates. Against Trick Room teams, Taunt and Encore are both valuable tools; the former prevents Trick Room from being set up, while the latter forces the Trick Room user to switch or undo Trick Room on the next turn.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The given EVs are to maximize special bulk so as to better allow Liepard to come in on weak special attacks such as Lanturn's Scald. However, a physically defensive EV spread along with Impish can also be opted for, as it reduces the damage taken by Volbeat's U-turn, which can really limit Liepard's ability to win the weather war against it.</p>
<p>Weather sweepers are obvious teammates for Liepard. Omastar, Ludicolo, and Kabutops fit the bill for rain sweepers while Victreebel, Exeggutor, and Sawsbuck are options for sun teams. Encore not only lets Liepard set up, but it also opens up opportunities for a free switch to the weather sweepers. Other weather inducers can also work well alongside Liepard, given its poor bulk and inability to stay alive for long. Prankster weather inducers also work well as teammates if you want a fast-paced team, but bulkier weather supporters such as Rotom-C can work too when faced against an offensive team so that Liepard doesn't become single-use only.</p>
[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Encore / Thunder Wave
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fire
item: Life Orb
ability: Prankster
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Liepard has an average base 88 Special Attack but a pretty useful base 106 Speed. While Liepard's offenses might not be considered high enough for a special attacker, it has access to Nasty Plot to bolster its Special Attack to something much more usable and even threatening. Thanks to Prankster, Liepard can find some ease in setting up despite its low defenses. Encore can trap opponents in their non-attacking and other set-up moves. For example, Calm Mind Sigilyph would simply become setup fodder for Liepard after being Encored. However, Liepard cannot risk trying to Encore sweepers with priority moves, such as Aqua Jet Feraligatr and Kabutops. Liepard can also take advantage of Pokemon such as Qwilfish who might try to set up multiple layers of entry hazards. However, Thunder Wave can be used as an alternative support move for the team to ease setup or paralyze switch-ins. After either Encore or Thunder Wave is used, the next turn would be an excellent opportunity to set up Nasty Plot and take advantage of an almost-guaranteed switch. Dark Pulse is a reliable STAB move while Hidden Power Fire is used as a coverage move against Steel-types and common specially defensive behemoths such as Cryogonal.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs used are straightforward to maximize Speed and Special Attack. Life Orb gives an all-important boost to Liepard's attacks, and it isn't really affected by a quickly depleting HP, as it is unlikely to survive any considerably strong attack. Liepard's base 88 Special Attack might not look like much, but here are some damage calculations to show how strong it actually is after a Nasty Plot:</p>
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>Dark Pulse vs. 4/0 Kabutops 132.82 - 156.87%</li>
<li>Dark Pulse vs. 0/0 Moltres 92.83 - 109.34%</li>
<li>Hidden Power Fire vs. 248/92+ Cryogonal 58.3 - 69.09%</li>
<li>Dark Pulse vs. 252/252+ Clefable 50.76 - 60.4%</li>
<li>Dark Pulse vs. 40/216+ Lanturn 57.6 - 68.07%</li>
</ul>
<p>Grass Knot is also an option over Hidden Power Fire to hit Water-types such as Quagsire, Crawdaunt, and Poliwrath super effectively. If Grass Knot is used, Steelix can work as a teammate by walling Pokemon such as Escavalier and Klinklang. However, if Hidden Power Fire is used, Grass- or Electric-type teammates such as Rotom-C and Sceptile can be used to deal with bulky Water-types such as Lanturn and more importantly, Poliwrath. Hidden Power Fighting is also another option against Aggron, but Hidden Power Fire is usually recommended as it also allows Liepard to hit Bug-types super effectively. As Liepard is rather frail, dual screens support from Pokemon such as Uxie is recommended. Furthermore, Uxie can also use U-turn to bring Liepard in safely. Liepard will also face problems against Fighting-types, so Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Spiritomb and Uxie are great teammates for it. Qwilfish is also a plausible teammate, as it can check Fighting-types with Intimidate and its Poison typing while also setting up Spikes, which helps to guarantee an OHKO on Kabutops and 2HKOs on Lanturn and Clefable with layers. Furthermore, Qwilfish helps to deal with priority moves such as ExtremeSpeed from Entei. Choice Scarf users can put a stop to Liepard as well, so their removal is greatly appreciated.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Liepard has a couple of other useful support moves to use. Toxic can be used to wear down foes, and Taunt can be used in tandem with it to prevent healing. However, Liepard is usually used on an offensive team and would rather use Thunder Wave to slow down the opponent and gain momentum instead of trying to stall with Toxic damage. Liepard also tends to force switches, as it threatens to paralyze foes or set up on them; Yawn can be used to capitalize on those switches and gain entry hazard damage or put a foe to sleep. It can also be used as a last-resort attempt to halt a sweep if a phazing move is not available. Torment is a sable move along with Substitute, Toxic Spikes support, and sometimes Protect. However, it's mostly a situational move.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>With very poor defenses and abysmal HP, any reasonably strong attack will do significant damage to Liepard. Keeping a strong offensive presence against Liepard will also make it hard for it to switch in safely. When playing against a Swagger Liepard, applying offensive pressure reduces the ability for Liepard to set up a Substitute, as it cannot sponge even a decently strong attack. However, for more defensive teams, Pokemon such as Steelix and Alomomola are good counters against it. Steelix can wall Foul Play, thanks to its superb Defense and comparatively lower Attack stat. Furthermore, it is immune to Thunder Wave. Similarly, Alomomola's Defense is higher than its Attack. It also has Regenerator to heal itself and can switch around repeatedly until it can force Liepard out. Choice Band Entei makes a good check to Liepard, as ExtremeSpeed has +2 priority and can take out Liepard once its Substitute is down. Multi-hit move users such as Cinccino and Klinklang can hit Liepard through its Substitute. However, they will have to be wary of Swagger and Thunder Wave. Ferroseed walls Liepard quite comfortably and can set up entry hazards if the latter doesn't have Taunt. Rhydon can also use Rock Blast to get past Liepard, is immune to Thunder Wave, and can sponge confusion to some extent thanks to its Eviolite-boosted Defense.</p>
<p>Against the weather support set, Volbeat and Illumise can give Liepard problems, as U-turn from both of them will 2HKO Liepard; they make it hard for Liepard to be useful at all against them, if they are used on another weather team. As Liepard is faster than Volbeat, the latter can Encore Liepard into its weather-inducin move or just use its own weather move after Liepard. As for the Nasty Plot set, Quagsire, Poliwrath, and Crawdaunt are generally good checks to it as long as Liepard doesn't carry Grass Knot. If it doesn't use Hidden Power Fire, Steel-types such as Escavalier and Klinklang are good answers to Liepard. Priority users, such as Entei, are also good checks. Faster Pokemon such as Durant and Choice Scarf users are also great Liepard checks, as offensive Liepard relies on its high Speed and cannot take most hits comfortably. However, one has to be aware of that Liepard can be sacrificed in order to paralyze those faster checks with Thunder Wave.</p>
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