Misdreavus (QC 2/3)

[boltsandbombers]

c/ped from old wip

[OVERVIEW]

• respectable bulk w/ evio
• decent speed for defensive mon
• reliably deals with the majority of the tiers rapid spin user
• mono-ghost typing allows it to check some powerful normal and fighting type attackers, such as Tauros, Primeape, etc.

• Fails to check a lot of Normal types because of Knock Off / Scrappy, even usually countered by Zangoose / Swellow.
• Other than those immunities which are not reliable because of Knock Off / Scrappy, lack of relevant resists beyond its 3 immunities
• Lacks reliable recovery and is semi-dependent on evio
• Concedes momentum against Pokemon that don't mind getting burned
• Heavy competition from Mismagius on most teams, as well as Gourgeist-XL for teams that desire a sturdy physical check + spinblocker in one slot.

[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Hex / Foul Play
move 3: Pain Split
move 4: Taunt
item: Eviolite
ability: Levitate
nature: Bold
evs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• Will-O-Wisp does chip damage on everything, burn halves attack. Essentially what makes Misdreavus viable as a whole.
• Hex is the best STAB move Misdreavus gets. Doubles damage on statused targets. As Misdreavus wants to status everything at sight, it's a great move that synergies with its job.
• Foul Play on the other hand does more damage to Pokemon that boost their attack such as SD Samurott / SD Sceptile, and actually hits Normal-types for damage. This is pretty key because you're a Normal immunity, so being able to touch them becomes important fairly often. Too bad a lot of Normals have their way with Misdreavus anyways.
• Pain Split is Misdreavus' best recovery move, and chips opponents as a bonus.
• Taunt is key to stop setups which is important because Misdreavus doesn't have the best offensive presence, denies hazard moves, and keep Misdreavus status-free.
• Thunder Wave is best status move of choice to hit Fire-types and other special attackers that don't particularly mind the burn status, but it comes at the cost of a precious moveslot

Set Details
========

• Speed outruns pawniard, rest into physical bulk as Misdreavus will be taking physical hits for the most part.
  
• Alternate fast ev spreads.
• Timid 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe outspeeds neutral max Sandslash and positive maximum base 55's, while keeping most of the physical bulk
  
• Timid 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe loses some bulk, but outspeeds neutral max 70's, as well as neutral max Hitmonchan, neutral max Garbodor, most Skuntank and Xatu variants etc. Outspeeding Skuntank will let you beat standard physical Skuntank, despite the Lum Berry.
• Eviolite dependent on bulk, loses majority of utility once knocked off.
• levitate is gr8 to dodge EQs from Rhydon / Steelix / etc. which lets you check them much more easily with prediction, if so necessary, and lets Misdreavus ignore Spikes and Toxic Spikes.

Usage Tips
========

• Status stuff with Will-O-Wisp, forcing switches vs Physical threats such as Tauros
• Taunt stuff to stop it from doing nasty things, deny opposing Garbodors and Musharnas
• Deny opposing Defog with Taunt which is cute because you are also a Spinblocker by doubling into switch into hazard removal.
• Taunt lets you beat opposing physical skuntanks as long as you outspeed, as most do not carry Crunch and Pursuit and Taunt all on the same set.
• Switch into stuff you check, like Tauros, Primeape, Musharna, etc. in order to get opportunity to do all of the above stuff.
  
• Block Rapid Spins from likes of Hitmonchan confidently without worrying about damage, as Ice Punch 2hkos the frailer Ghost-types like Rotom / Mismagius, and after some chip damage has a good shot at 2HKOing Gourgeist-Super with Life Orb Ice Punch.
• Keep away from Knock Off, even vs Burned targets, if possible.

Team Options
========

• Spike stacking: Garbodor, Omastar lays down Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Toxic Spikes lets Hex get double damage without spending a turn using a status move. Ghost-typing blocks Rapid Spin, and Taunt denies Defog.
• Offensive Pokemon to take advantage of Spike stacking and force switches and enable more 2HKOs on reactive Pokemon. Kangashan is classic example.
• Ways to stop zards and pyroars and magmortar. Hariyama, Grumpig, Lanturn, etc.
• Ways to pressure faster special attackers, such as Sceptile, Rotom, etc.
• Ways to check Dark-types and switch into Knock Offs, such as Audino-Mega. On more defensive builds, Audino can aim to pass Wish onto Misdreavus for more reliable healing.
• Try to keep offensive pressure in teambuilding to deny defog opportunities as much as possible.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Toxic does more chip damage and breaks down walls much easier, at cost of larger list of immunities and not halving attack. It hits fire-types as well.
• Heal Bell is a cool utility move but Misdreavus struggles to put it on because Heal Bell by essence wants Misdreavus to last long, but it's impossible to keep Misdreavus's niche as Taunt + Wisp user and keep Heal Bell and Pain Split at once.
• Memento + Taunt lets your sweepers set up, and plays into the Spikestack playstyle. Pair it with threatening sweepers such as Barbaracle or Omastar for maximal effectiveness.
• Destiny Bond lets u trade kills with fast spread, and Taunt heavily incentivizes your opponent to go for Direct attacks instead. Usually, replace Pain Split if using Memento or Destiny Bond.
• Mean Look + Perish Song breaks stall but does little else. Taunt + Wisp or Taunt + Toxic generally does an amazing job at breaking down those teams already without sacrificing matchup vs offensive teams.
• [mismag does memento and dbond better due to higher speed]

Checks and Counters
===================

**Status Blockers**: In general, ways to stop Misdreavus from spreading fast burns is an effective countermeasure against Misdreavus. Skuntank taunts Misdreavus if faster and pursuit traps it. Calm Mind Xatu, if at full health or faster, can set up on Misdreavus despite super effective STAB as it cannot be statused by Will-O-Wisp. While Misdreavus prevents immediate use of Heal Bell with Taunt, if Misdreavus can be forced out, a Heal Bell user such as Lanturn can later undo Misdreavus's hard work.

**Fire-type Pokemon**: A more direct method of denying Will-O-Wisp is using Fire-types, which are naturally immune to the burn status. The likes of Charizard, Pyroar, Magmortar, and Combusken are immune to burn, and threatens damage immediately, or can take advantage of Misdreavus by setting up Substitutes, Swords Dance, or Flame Charge if so desired.

**Knock Off**: Knock Off undermines the core premise of Misdreavus - its raw bulk in conjunction to its excellent speed. Knock Off not only removes its Eviolite, but also deals super effective damage. Naturally, Misdreavus is heavily threatened by Dark-types with Knock Off, such as Shiftry. Fighting-types, such as Hariyama, usually also carry Knock Off. However, Hariyama, dislike taking Will-O-Wisp unless it chooses the Guts ability. In addition, Pokemon such as Zangoose commonly carry Knock Off as coverage, and has an easy time switching into Misdreavus for the most part. Even non-STAB Knock Off from the likes of support Ferroseed and Clefairy is heavily detrimental to Misdreavus's gameplan, as it will often stay in to go for the Taunt or Will-O-Wisp against them.

**Strong Special Attackers**: Misdreavus lacks reliable recovery, and will usually be stuck with some amount of chip damage put on it. Strong special attackers such as Samurott, Life Orb Sceptile, and Choice Specs Swellow etc. still dislike the chip damage coming from Burn, but they are not crippled by it, and can finish off Misdreavus from decent HP totals to get around Pain Split.

 

[marilli]

Updated for Sawk + Gurdurr removal, this Pokemon is probably actually decent now so please qc so we don't have NU Dragalge mentions please

 

[erisia]

Yeah we were basically waiting for the Sawk vote to do this, as some members thought that Misdreavus didn't warrant an analysis in the Sawk meta. Now with Gurdurr gone too it's gotten a lot better so we'll definitely look into this more closely now.

 

[boltsandbombers]

I'm taking this over since marilli has gone mia, give checks pls

 

[erisia]

I wouldn't even mention the offensive sets in OO tbh; if you're trying to sweep, Mismagius is almost always better on balanced teams, and if you're using Misdreavus as a bulky wincon on a defensive team, there are much more consistent candidates such as Musharna and Sliggoo, etc. I also think Memento is mostly outclassed by Mismagius as the extra Speed is so good for offensive teams, but I can see opportunities where Misdreavus can use it more consistently so I guess this is subjective. It just seems counterproductive to sacrifice Misdreavus when the bulk is the only reason you're using it over Mismagius.

Also a small point but change the first checks and counters header to something like "Status Blockers"

QC 1/3

 

[Punchshroom]

Skuntank taunts Mismagius if faster and pursuit traps it

:/

Also Mismagius usually pulls off both Memento and Destiny Bond better, due to higher Speed, so mention that.

QC 2/3

 

[erisia]

Hi bolts, are you planning to write this up any time soon? It's not a hugely important mon but it's been over a month and the current analysis is super old.

EDIT: Bolts said he was fine with me writing this up so I'm happy to do that. Lock or edit me into OP pls, I'll do it tomorrow.