lake god
QC: Hollywood / Dat Blast / CanadianWifier
GP: frenzyplant / P Squared
Taken over from Hollywood
Overview
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Mesprit is the most versatile Pokemon in NU thanks to its outstanding offensive and support movepool, which is backed by solid all-around stats. It can be used for many roles, such as a wallbreaker with Life Orb, Choice Band, or Choice Specs, a revenge killer with Choice Scarf, and a win condition with Calm Mind. Mesprit also provides invaluable team support with Stealth Rock and Healing Wish to bring back a weakened teammate. Unfortunately, Mesprit's pure Psychic typing provides few resistances but weaknesses to common attacking types such as Dark, Bug, and Ghost. Mesprit is also fairly slow for an offensive Pokemon, which is problematic in a tier crowded with fast attackers. Despite Mesprit's wide coverage movepool, it struggles immensely with fitting the best four moves into its moveset.
Life Orb
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name: Life Orb
move 1: Psychic / Psyshock
move 2: Signal Beam / Energy Ball
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Healing Wish / Calm Mind
ability: Levitate
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Modest / Timid
Moves
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Psychic is a strong STAB move that hits anything that does not resist it for significant damage. However, Psyshock is useful to hit specially bulky Pokemon, such as Hariyama and Cryogonal, and is useful in Calm Mind wars. Signal Beam provides very useful coverage against Dark- and Psychic-types such as Malamar, Liepard, Cacturne, Sneasel, Uxie, and Musharna. Signal Beam is also useful in Calm Mind wars, as it hits most Calm Mind users super effectively and is quite powerful after a boost. Alternately, Energy Ball targets bulky Ground- and Water-types such as Rhydon and Seismitoad. Hidden Power Fire hits Steel-types such as Ferroseed, Pawniard, and Mega Steelix for solid damage. Healing Wish revives a weakened teammate and is particularly useful to give setup sweepers another chance to sweep. Alternatively, Calm Mind boosts Mesprit's Special Attack and Special Defense to high levels, giving it an easier time breaking through bulky Pokemon. Ice Beam and Thunderbolt can be used to hit Flying-types such as Scyther, Mantine, and Xatu, as well as Torterra in the former's case. These moves are better suited alongside Calm Mind than Energy Ball is, due to their better neutral coverage.
Set Details
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The given EV spread maximizes Mesprit's Speed and offensive presence. A Modest nature gives a significant boost in power, notably allowing Mesprit to 2HKO Audino with Psyshock 70% of the time after Stealth Rock damage. However, a Timid nature allows Mesprit to outspeed opposing neutral-natured Mesprit, Zangoose, and Kangaskhan. Life Orb provides additional power, but other items, such as Lum Berry to avoid a status condition once or Leftovers for longevity, are solid choices if using Calm Mind.
Usage Tips
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Mesprit is best used as an early-game wallbreaker thanks to its amazing coverage and Special Attack. Correct prediction when utilizing Mesprit's coverage moves is key to wallbreaking when in situtations such as hitting Malamar with Signal Beam or Steelix with Hidden Power Fire on the switch. Try to set up entry hazards as soon as possible, especially if using Calm Mind, to help wear down defensive Pokemon for a sweep. Mesprit should avoid unnecessary damage and status conditions, as it already gets worn down fairly quickly between Stealth Rock damage and Life Orb recoil. The best use of Healing Wish can often vary from matchup to matchup. Most often, it should be used to heal a setup sweeper mid- or late-game, giving it a second chance to sweep. Alternatively, it can be helpful to heal a Choice Scarf user to clean up versus offensively-based teams or to save a teammate that would otherwise faint from entry hazard damage.
Team Options
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Fighting-types such as Gurdurr and Hariyama are great teammates for Mesprit because they put immense pressure on Dark-types, which are problematic for Mesprit, especially if it is running Energy Ball over Signal Beam. Setup sweepers such as Virizion, Feraligatr, Mismagius, Sneasel, and Ninetales greatly appreciate Healing Wish support from Mesprit to give them a second chance. Fast special attackers such as Heliolisk and Lilligant pair well with Calm Mind sets, as they appreciate Mesprit's wallbreaking ability.
Stealth Rock
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name: Stealth Rock
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Healing Wish / U-turn
move 3: Psychic / Psyshock
move 4: Signal Beam / Energy Ball
ability: Levitate
item: Leftovers / Colbur Berry
evs: 92 HP / 252 SpA / 164 Spe
nature: Timid
Moves
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Stealth Rock is essential for every team, and Mesprit finds many opportunities to set it up thanks to its solid offensive presence. Healing Wish is another excellent support move that revives teammates, which is particularly helpful for setup sweepers. Alternatively, U-turn can be used to pivot out on a predicted switch and maintain offensive momentum. Psychic is preferred for Mesprit's STAB move for its higher power, but Psyshock hits specially bulky Pokemon such as Cryogonal and Hariyama significantly harder. Signal Beam targets Psychic- and Dark-types, such as Musharna, Exeggutor, opposing Mesprit, Sneasel, Liepard, and Malamar. On the other hand, Energy Ball hits opposing entry hazard setters such as Seismitoad, Sandslash, and Rhydon. Ice Beam hits Xatu and Torterra and is very helpful for luring in the former as it is a common switch-in for Mesprit. Future Sight is an alternate STAB move that hits significantly harder than Psychic and Psyshock and is helpful to lure in Dark-types for teammates.
Set Details
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The given EV spread with a Timid nature maximizes Mesprit's offensive presence while allowing it to outspeed neutral-natured base 80 Speed Pokemon such as opposing Mesprit. Another EV spread of 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe with a Modest nature can be used to outspeed neutral-natured base 70 SpeedPokemon such as Samurott and Ludicolo. You can use maximum Special Attack and Speed investment as well, but the extra bulk is often very helpful. Leftovers provides passive recovery, while a Colbur Berry can be used to soften up a Dark-type attack, particularly Knock Off, as it activates before being removed. Life Orb can be used for more power if a spread of maximum Special Attack and Speed is used.
Usage Tips
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Mesprit's main goal is to get up Stealth Rock whenever it can. Considering Mesprit's typing and coverage, which give it a good matchup versus most entry hazard setters, it can lead fairly well. Try to keep Mesprit alive for a while, as it is pretty resilient and can set up Stealth Rock a few times in the match if necessary. Mesprit's moderately slow U-turn against fast Pokemon is also nice for offensive teams to get a wallbreaker in safely. The usage of Healing Wish can be tricky to figure out depending on the situation. In most cases, it is best to revive a setup sweeper to give it a second chance to sweep, but it can also be helpful to bring back a Choice Scarf user to clean up against an offensive team. Healing Wish is also useful to revive a teammate that would otherwise faint to entry hazards.
Team Options
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Garbodor and Qwilfish are great partners for Mesprit to form an entry hazard core, as their Spikes and Toxic Spikes synergize with Stealth Rock from Mesprit. In addition, both of these Pokemon resist Bug-type attacks, which is great for Mesprit, and tend to lure in Psychic- and Ground-types for Mesprit to set up on or attack. Zangoose and Swellow are also great teammates, as they appreciate entry hazard support from Mesprit as well as the slow U-turn to get their status Orbs activated. Choice Specs Swellow can lure in and defeat or severely weaken Steel-types such as Steelix with a powerful Heat Wave, which is very helpful for Mesprit. As with most Psychic-types, bulky Fighting-types such as Hariyama and Gurdurr are solid teammates to handle Dark-types such as Sneasel, Pawniard, and Liepard.
Other Options
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Mesprit has a plethora of other coverage and utility moves it can use. An offensive Trick Room set can be used, as having a slow U-turn to get into a wallbreaker is very helpful. An offensive Rain Dance set has some merit due to Mesprit's access to Thunder to attack and Healing Wish to support sweepers, but Uxie's greater bulk is generally more useful. A set with Light Screen and Reflect is passable but also generally outclassed by Uxie. Magic Coat bounces back entry hazards and status moves. Hidden Power Fighting OHKOes Pawniard and Probopass while still maintaining solid coverage on most other Steel-types. Toxic cripples bulky Pokemon such as Seismitoad and Mantine, but Mesprit is generally better off with a coverage move. A physical Stealth Rock set can be used for a slightly stronger U-turn, but it is outclassed by the special Stealth Rock set due to Mesprit's more useful special attacking movepool.
Checks & Counters
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**Bulky Steel-types**: Bulky Steel-types are often problematic for Mesprit, as they resist its STAB moves and only fear Hidden Power Fire, which can easily be scouted for. Probopass and the rare Bastiodon are especially hard stops to most Mesprit sets due to their neutrality to Hidden Power Fire, only fearing the occasional Hidden Power Fighting. Pawniard can survive a hit and deal a solid chunk back to Mesprit with Knock Off, but it has to be wary of Hidden Power Fire or Colbur Berry variants.
**Bulky Psychic-types**: Opposing physical Mesprit is a great check to Mesprit because it only fears Knock Off and Signal Beam, while it can hit back with a strong Knock Off, or U-turn of its own for solid damage and gain momentum. Uxie, Musharna, and Beheeyem are also good at checking Mesprit, though they need to watch out for Signal Beam and invested U-turn. Xatu can take most hits from Mesprit and cripple it with Thunder Wave, but must be wary of Signal Beam, Ice Beam, or Thunderbolt.
**Scyther**: Scyther is the only relevant Pokemon with Bug-type STAB moves and can deal massive damage to or OHKO Mesprit with either Bug Bite or U-turn, and it has the bulk backed by Eviolite to shrug off most hits bar an Ice Beam or Thunderbolt.
**Dark-types**: Dark-types such as Malamar, Liepard, and Sneasel are solid checks to Mesprit due to their Psychic immunity and their super effective STAB moves against Mesprit, but they all must be wary of Signal Beam. Liepard and Sneasel are faster and can Pursuit trap Mesprit, and the former can lock Mesprit into an unfavorable move with Encore.
**Hard Hitters**: Despite Mesprit's solid bulk, hard-hitting Pokemon such as Typhlosion, Mismagius, Pyroar, and Zangoose have little trouble revenge killing Mesprit with their strong attacks.
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