.
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/mismagius
__________________
Changes:
[SET]
name: Calm Mind + Substitute
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting / Thunderbolt
move 4: Substitute
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 48 HP / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Mismagius is a deadly sweeper in the lower tiers and can take out an unprepared team by itself if left unchecked. The secret of its success is its ability to easily set up on and beat almost all the premier special walls of UU, such as Chansey, Regice, Grumpig, and Hypno, meaning there are very few completely 'safe' switchins for it. With this set, Mismagius acts as a great wallbreaker, opening up holes in an opponent's team to allow another Pokémon to sweep, or taking the reigns itself and performing as an efficient late game sweeper.</p>
<p>Mismagius has both the Speed and Special Attack to use Calm Mind effectively, and three immunities make it quite easy to bring into play. The idea is simple: use Substitute to block status moves and attacks such as Sucker Punch, and then simply Calm Mind up for a sweep. In terms of attacking, Hidden Power Fighting gets perfect coverage alongside Shadow Ball, allowing Mismagius to use both Substitute and Calm Mind while still maintaining an effective offense. Thunderbolt is also an option over Hidden Power Fighting, and it will allow Mismagius to effectively deal with threatening Honchkrow. Honchkrow is not always 2HKOed by an unboosted Hidden Power Fighting after Stealth Rock damage, and can kill Mismagius with either of Sucker Punch or Pursuit, so being able to OHKO it after Stealth Rock with Thunderbolt can be very helpful. Thunderbolt also helps against Haze Milotic, but by not running Hidden Power Fighting, it means that Mismagius cannot 2HKO Chansey at +6 (it therefore needs to stall it out), cannot hit Clefable or Registeel for super effective damage and will generally be forced out by them, and will be unable to hit Steelix for neutral damage. However, Thunderbolt is still a viable option for teams particularly threatened by the aforementioned Honchkrow.</p>
<p>While Hidden Power Fighting does necessitate the use of an imperfect Speed IV, max Speed is still helpful in tying at worst with opposing Mismagius. Since the majority of Mismagius do tend to run Hidden Power Fighting, the imperfect IV shouldn't be too much off a bother. 48 HP EVs gives Mismagius a HP stat one more than a Leftovers number, allowing it to Substitute five times consecutively from full health if need be. The remaining EVs are dumped into Special Attack to power up Mismagius' attacks, helping it to serve as a revenge killer without a Calm Mind if need be.</p>
<p>Because of its niche role of "fast offensive Ghost with Calm Mind", Mismagius works quite effectively in OU as well. While it may not be sweeping teams by its lonesome, it can be very helpful in weakening teams in general, and has the potential to do a lot of damage. Just like in UU, it's utility comes from the fact that it can set up on and beat common special walls such as Blissey and Cresselia. In OU, an EV spread of 108 HP / 180 SpA / 220 Spe with a Timid nature is recommended. Since base 105s are so uncommon in OU, it is not necessary to run max Speed, and the additional HP allow Mismagius' Substitutes to never be broken by a 108 SpA Blissey's Flamethrower or Ice Beam.</p>
<p>Since this set ordinarily takes a few turns of set-up to start causing serious damage, having a Pokémon that can pose a more immediate threat and can deal with Mismagius' common answers is a good idea. Hariyama and Hitmonlee both resists Mismagius' Dark weakness, and have STAB Close Combat to threaten the likes of Registeel and Clefable. Hariyama is naturally slow and Hitmonlee has an immunity to paralysis thanks to Limber, so neither fear Thunder Wave all that much. Blaziken takes even less from Registeel's Iron Head and threatens it with both STAB Fire and Fighting moves, but needs to be more wary of Thunder Wave. This shouldn't be a problem if you switch Mismagius out while it's behind a Substitute, as the opponent is unlikely to be using Thunder Wave then.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Hidden Power Fighting / Hidden Power Ground
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Specs Mismagius packs a lot of power, and its increased damage output can take common counters to the Sub Calm Mind set by surprise. Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting as always make up the core of Mismagius' offenses, and Thunderbolt is a useful attack to hit bulky waters such as Milotic with a super effective blow. Hidden Power Ground is an alternative to Hidden Power Fighting if you have other ways to deal with Clefable. It means that you don't need to restrict yourself with an imperfect Speed IV, and can get a super effective hit on Drapion while still hitting Steel-types for super effective.</p>
<p>Trick is an excellent move for Mismagius, and will cripple many of its common switch ins. Clefable, Registeel, and Drapion all detest being Tricked a Choice Specs, which greatly reduces their effectiveness as tanks. Mismagius can use its Choice Specs to try and get an initial sweep, identifying counters on the opposing team. Once this counter has been revealed, Mismagius can use a preemptive Trick on its next switchin, thus crippling it, and allowing Mismagius to go for a final sweep later on in the game.</p>
<p>Energy Ball can be used as an option over Thunderbolt and will allow you to get swift OHKOs on the Pokémon 4x weak to it - Gastrodon, Quagsire, and Rhydon, to name a few - while still getting super effective damage on Water-types. Energy Ball also hits Regirock marginally harder than Hidden Power Fighting would. However, the advantage of using Thunderbolt is that it hits for neutral damage on switchins such as Drapion and Registeel, whereas they pack a resistance to Energy Ball. In this regard, Energy Ball's only advantage would be the neutral hit on Steelix. Destiny Bond can also find a place over Trick, but generally being able to cripple its checks is preferable to the possibility of taking down a Pokémon with it. The danger of using Destiny Bond on this set is that you are locked into it, so if you mispredict, your opponent can simply set up all over you while you are forced to switch.</p>
<p>A similar set utilizing Choice Scarf makes for a good revenge killer for many of UU's faster threats. In particular, it is useful in dealing with Rain teams, as even in the rain, naturally slow Pokémon such as Gorebyss and Omastar cannot outrun a Scarf Mismagius. Crobat and Espeon are not too threatened by Mismagius normally, and so Choice Scarf can net some surprise KOs. Power becomes a bit of an issue though, with no boosting moves or items, and so a Modest nature is usually preferable to increase Mismagius' damage output as much as possible.</p>
<p>As before, Fighting-types pair up well with this set. Hariyama and Hitmonlee are preferred choices here because of their indifference to paralysis, and because of Mismagius' increase vulnerability to status, and because Chansey is another Pokémon that often carries Thunder Wave. Drapion itself works well with Mismagius as well, with a strong STAB Pursuit to deal with switching Clefable and Chansey to bring them into Mismagius' kill range, as well Earthquake to deal with opposing Drapion and Registeel. Drapion and Mismagius compliment each other well with their typings as well, and both resist or are immune to the other's weaknesses.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind + 3 Attacks
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Thunderbolt / Pain Split
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Mismagius can play the standard set up sweeper role effectively as well. Bring Mismagius in on one of its immunities or on a Pokémon it directly threatens, then Calm Mind on the switch. After a single Calm Mind with Life Orb, Mismagius will be hitting approximately 1.95x as hard as it normally would be, allowing it to muscle its way past the bulkier Pokémon in UU. Pokémon that can usually be relied upon to counter the Substitute set, such as Clefable, struggle to deal with the sheer power this set has after a Calm Mind, as said Clefable can take up to 70% from a Hidden Power Fighting after a Calm Mind.</p>
<p>The drawbacks of using this set are that you become a lot more susceptible to status than the Substitute set, which can often cut your chances of a successful sweep. This set also cannot set up on Chansey with the same ease the Substitute set can, disliking the Toxic or Thunder Wave it inevitably carries. However, Chansey will still fail to really damage Mismagius in any way, meaning one on one you will often end up beating it if all it can do is paralyze you.</p>
<p>In the final slot, Thunderbolt provides additional coverage for Mismagius, allowing it to 2HKO specially defensive Milotic and Articuno. However, Pain Split is a viable choice as well, granting Mismagius a way of recovering off Life Orb recoil and other residual damage. Pain Split is a great move to use against Chansey, as with its gargantuan HP stat starkly contrasting with Mismagius' low one, Pain Split will shave off a large chunk of its HP while completely healing Mismagius.</p>
<p>This set is vulnerable to priority attacks in particular, as Mismagius tends to stick around for a while as it Calm Minds up, but has no Substitute to protect itself. Azumarill's Aqua Jet is generally the biggest threat, followed by Sucker Punch from the likes of Absol, Honchkrow, and Toxicroak. With resistances to both Water and Dark and respectable bulk, Poliwrath can come in on these priority attacks and use the opportunity to set up a Substitute, in preparation for a Focus Punch or to start Bulking Up. Similarly, Toxicroak resists the common priority attacks as well, but is a lot frailer than Poliwrath. However, both need to be watchful for Psycho Cut from Absol and Honchkrow's Drill Peck.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Ghost
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Hidden Power Fighting / Perish Song
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Pain Split
item: Leftovers
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 196 SpD / 60 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This Mismagius set is designed to be your typical spin blocker. At first glance it may look like a much less capable version of Spiritomb; however, there are several key differences that separate this from its bulkier Ghost brethren. The most important difference lies in Mismagius’ Speed. With 60 EVs, Hidden Power Fighting and a neutral nature, Mismagius rests at 260 Speed, which outspeeds threatening Pokémon such as neutral natured Absol, Honchkrow, and Blaziken. This Speed allows Mismagius to heal via Pain Split much more easily than the other common spin blockers. Mismagius is capable of switching in on a plethora of walls when it's at low health and can use Pain Split before your opponent has an opportunity to finish her off.</p>
<p>Switching into common spinners is relatively easy. Mismagius is immune to Hitmontop's STAB, and after a Will-O-Wisp, Stone Edge will do less than 20% to it from the Spinner set (which usually doesn't run much Attack investment, if any at all). Claydol's Shadow Ball will fail to even 4HKO Mismagius, and obviously Ice Beam and Psychic will do even less. In return, Mismagius has a 25% chance to 2HKO Claydol with its own Shadow Ball. Other special based Rapid Spinners such as Blastoise, Cloyster, and Torkoal have even less of a chance of breaking Mismagius; none of normally carry recovery, and Mismagius can easily wear them down with burn damage and repeated attacks. Perish Song can be used over Hidden Power Fighting if you're not too concerned with perfect coverage, and allows Mismagius to act as an emergency answer to opposing set up sweepers. It can also be used to give one of your own Pokémon a safe switch in if you can predict the turn your opponent will switch out.</p>
<p>This set also packs quite the surprise for the unsuspecting opponent. Unlike Spiritomb and Rotom, who are known to commonly carry Will-O-Wisp, opponents will switch physical attackers into Mismagius, not expecting to be crippled in the process. On the flip side, Mismagius actually serves as a strong special sponge, taking little from common special attackers and easily outlasting them. Don't try to use this in OU, though, as it is generally inferior to the appliance Rotoms, whose superior defenses and typing make up for their lack of Pain Split.</p>
<p>Since Pain Split isn't the most reliable of recovery methods, providing Mismagius with good Wish support will allow it to block Rapid Spin and cripple your opponent's team with Will-O-Wisp throughout the game. Umbreon pairs up nicely with Mismagius on account of its typing, and can get Mismagius back in without it having to take a hit with a slow Baton Pass. Clefable and Chansey can both accomplish the same by making the most of their Fighting weakness and Mismagius' Fighting immunity in order to give it safe switch ins.</p>
[SET]
name: Perish Trap
move 1: Mean Look
move 2: Perish Song
move 3: Protect
move 4: Taunt / Substitute / Pain Split
item: Leftovers
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 216 SpD / 40 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Mismagius is one of the few Perish Trappers, and is the best defensively. Mean Look something, use Perish Song, then Protect for the next two turns to prevent damage. On the third turn, you can switch out while the opponent is forced to stay in that turn because of Mean Look, essentially giving you a free KO. Taunt is to stop Whirlwind / Roar from ruining your strategy, and Substitute is helpful if you're faster and don't want to rely on Protect's 50% chance of working the second time. Pain Split can work as a makeshift Recover, since you aren't doing any damage to them, and hopefully aren't wasting your time Perish Songing an enemy with low HP. An attacking move can also be used in the last slot to allow Mismagius to beat weakened foes in addition to playing as a Perish Trapper.</p>
<p>This set is best used in taking out bulkier Pokémon such as Chansey, Registeel, and Milotic. Mismagius usually doesn't have the defenses to pull this off against more offensively inclined Pokémon, and may not survive the two hits necessary to use Mean Look and Perish Song successfully.</p>
<p>Having Reflect and Light Screen up while trying to Perish Trap opponents is greatly beneficial, effectively doubling Mismagius' defenses and allowing it to last a lot longer and trap more offensive foes. Generally, in order to use Mismagius to Perish Trap more than once in a game, it is necessary to support it with Wish to keep its health up and allow it to weather the hits as it uses Mean Look and Perish Song. Clefable partners up well with Mismagius, as it has access to all three of Reflect, Light Screen, and Wish, but may struggle to run them all on a single moveset. In general, Mismagius is bulky enough on the special side to take quite a beating, and so Reflect is more beneficial than Light Screen to patch up Mismagius' lower physical Defense stat.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Spite might help a team mate set up if you can drain all the PP of an opponents main attacking move, but Spiritomb does it better with its higher defenses and Pressure ability. Similarly, Mismagius can use Trick Room, but its high Speed stat and relative frailty makes it an unideal user of it.</p>
<p>As far as Mismagius' other attacking options go, it has access to Psychic and Power Gem, but they don't give it any additional useful coverage that its standard attacks don't. On the other hand, Mismagius has access to a wide range of status-inflicting moves, and can utilize a double-status set with Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave.</p>
[EVs]
<p>On offensive sets, take advantage of that 105 base Speed, and never EV it slower than a +Speed nature with 220 EVs. This puts it faster than +Speed base 100s, as well as neutral natured base 115s, taking Hidden Power Fighting's Speed loss into account. The remaining EVs should be allocated to Special Attack and HP as appropriate.</p>
<p>Speed isn't quite as important on defensive sets, as Mismagius is pretty fast even without too much investment, and these sets prefer to bolster Mismagius' HP and Special Defense instead. 56 Speed EVs allow it to outspeed max Speed neutral base 80s, such as Blaziken, and everything slower, including threatening Pokémon such as Honchkrow and Absol. HP should always be maxed before Special Defense is touched - investing in the low base 60 HP increases Mismagius' defensive potential a lot more than investing in its relatively high Special Defense does.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>As far as sweepers go, Mismagius is quite an independent one. It has the capacity to set up by itself and sweep, and needs minimal support in order to do so. Perhaps the best thing that can be provided for a Substitute Calm Minder it is a Light Clay Reflect, giving Mismagius protection against weak physical attackers as it sets up. While behind a Reflect, Registeel won't be able to break Mismagius' Substitutes with Iron Head, allowing Mismagius to Calm Mind up on its counter. Another excellent way to support Mismagius in general is to spread status throughout the opposing team, in particular paralysis and Toxic poison. Mismagius can use Substitute repeatedly to stall out a foe as the Toxic damage builds up, or can gain free turns to further boost its stats against a fully paralyzed foe. Unfortunately, three of Mismagius' biggest checks - Registeel, Clefable, and Drapion - are immune to poisoning, so this won't work against them.</p>
<p>Fighting-types are generally the best Pokémon to pair up with Mismagius. They are able to hit hard with their STAB physical attacks, and can be used to take down specially bulky Pokémon that try to wall Mismagius. Sets that don't utilize Substitute in particular work well alongside Hitmonlee, as he can come in on pretty much any attack Registeel, Chansey, or Clefable will use against Mismagius and become an immediate threat with its high powered Close Combat. Hariyama is in a similar boat, and is more effective in taking on the more offensive of Mismagius' checks, such as Drapion and Milotic. Both possess resistances to Dark as well, meaning they can come in on Night Slash without much problem.</p>
<p>Since Mismagius lacks a real way of keeping its health up, Wish support will keep the bulkier sets alive for a lot longer. With Wish keeping its health up, a bulky Mismagius is surprisingly difficult to take down. Its high Special Defense allows it to take quite a beating on that side, and its high Speed along with Will-O-Wisp allow it to cripple physical attackers before they have a chance to hit it. The Perish Trapper in particular needs Wish support if you plan on getting more than one kill with it, since it has to take two hits to set up the strategy successfully. The Perish Trapper is very effective at removing specific Pokémon from the game, and so having sweepers that can take advantage of this can be a deadly strategy. Since they like to switch into Mismagius so much, Registeel and Clefable will often fall victim to the Perish Trapper, and so using the likes of Shaymin and Moltres to abuse their absence can have a great payoff.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Mismagius is a top level threat in UU, and can demolish unprepared teams very easily if it is allowed to set up. Its many immunities and decent Special Defense stat give it numerous opportunities to switch in and start threatening the opposing team straightaway. Its only drawback is its rather small movepool, but its different sets require such different counters that Mismagius can hardly be classed as a 'predictable' threat. Being able to both sweep off the bat, as well as set up with multiple Calm Minds before wreaking havoc, makes Mismagius a very dangerous Pokémon to not take into account when building your team. It can also pop up in OU to remind teams that overly rely on Blissey to wall special attackers why doing so can be a very bad idea.</p>
[Counters]
<p>An Encore Clefable makes a good counter for the Substitute Calm Mind version, as it won't be 2HKOing with Hidden Power Fighting even after a Calm Mind, and Clefable can force it to repeat Substitute or Calm Mind with Encore. Registeel makes for a good switch in as well, as Mismagius won't be denting its 150 base Special Defense even with a super effective Hidden Power. Registeel has Iron Head and Thunder Wave to deal with Mismagius. Shuckle, especially in sandstorm, really fears nothing Mismagius can throw at it, and can use Encore to force out Substitute versions, and Toxic to deal with ones without.</p>
<p>Any set that requires lots of setup for it to be effective can be brought back down to earth with Haze. Milotic and Altaria are generally good choices, as both have high Special Defense stats and instant recovery moves, while not being weak to either of Shadow Ball or Hidden Power Fighting. Milotic fears Thunderbolt from the Life Orb set, but can comfortably deal with the Substitute set. Altaria also has Perish Song to eventually force Mismagius out. Lapras can similarly use Perish Song to force Mismagius to switch, and has the bulk to survive two boosted Hidden Power Fighting.</p>
<p>As far as switching into Mismagius in general goes, Drapion is a fine choice because of its resistance to Shadow Ball and neutrality to Hidden Power Fighting. It has Pursuit and Night Slash to deal with Mismagius. It is recommended to give Drapion some investment in Special Defense if you plan on using it as your sole answer to Mismagius, as otherwise, Hidden Power Fighting can hurt quite a bit after a Calm Mind or two. Similarly to Drapion, Honchkrow has Pursuit, Night Slash, Sucker Punch and Drill Peck to put Mismagius into a problem position. However, it takes a lot from boosted Hidden Power and will be immediately taken out by the rare Thunderbolt, and so isn't the safest of choices. Crobat doesn't resist Ghost, but is faster than Mismagius and bulky enough to survive one boosted Shadow Ball. It can use Brave Bird to prey on Mismagius' weak Defense stat, and use Taunt to shut down any version without Thunderbolt. Despite being weak to Fighting, Umbreon has a mammoth Special Defense stat and can easily take boosted Hidden Powers and Wish them off. In return, it can use a boosted STAB Payback to target Mismagius' lower Defense stat.</p>
<p>Mismagius is very frail on the physical side, making it quite vulnerable to Azumarill's Aqua Jet. Tauros outspeeds Mismagius and can use a Choice Band Pursuit to put it in its place, as can Scyther. Spiritomb can take Mismagius' attacks without too much problems if it hasn't managed to get too many Calm Minds in, and can use either of Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, or Pursuit to deal with it. Alternatively, it can Calm Mind alongside Mismagius and eventually beat it, since Mismagius will rarely carry recovery. These offensive Pokémon are also more reliable in taking on a surprise Perish Trap Mismagius, since they can actually do significant amounts of damage to Mismagius, and therefore aren't so vulnerable to being stalled out for the three turns.</p>
<p>In OU, Scizor is probably the best answer to Mismagius. It can use both Pursuit and Bullet Punch to remove Mismagius from the game, while having U-turn to escape from the Perish Trapper. Snorlax takes little from Hidden Power Fighting, and has Crunch and Pursuit to beat it. If Weavile can get in on a Calm Mind or a Shadow Ball, it pretty much guarantees to kill Mismagius with STAB Pursuit. Generally, any physical attacker with good Special Defense shouldn't be too fazed by Mismagius.</p>
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/mismagius
__________________
Changes:
- Complete rewrite of the majority of set comments to reflect its new tier placements, and its place in this new environment.
- Addition of 'Calm Mind + 3 Attacks' set.
- Changed Choice Specs set to 'Choice', slashed in Choice Scarf and explained its uses in set comments.
- Removal of the (poorly written) 'Double Status' set to Other Options.
- Rewrite of Other Options, EVs, Opinion, and Counters sections.
- Expanded all sets with team support options.
- Added Team Options section.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind + Substitute
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting / Thunderbolt
move 4: Substitute
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 48 HP / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Mismagius is a deadly sweeper in the lower tiers and can take out an unprepared team by itself if left unchecked. The secret of its success is its ability to easily set up on and beat almost all the premier special walls of UU, such as Chansey, Regice, Grumpig, and Hypno, meaning there are very few completely 'safe' switchins for it. With this set, Mismagius acts as a great wallbreaker, opening up holes in an opponent's team to allow another Pokémon to sweep, or taking the reigns itself and performing as an efficient late game sweeper.</p>
<p>Mismagius has both the Speed and Special Attack to use Calm Mind effectively, and three immunities make it quite easy to bring into play. The idea is simple: use Substitute to block status moves and attacks such as Sucker Punch, and then simply Calm Mind up for a sweep. In terms of attacking, Hidden Power Fighting gets perfect coverage alongside Shadow Ball, allowing Mismagius to use both Substitute and Calm Mind while still maintaining an effective offense. Thunderbolt is also an option over Hidden Power Fighting, and it will allow Mismagius to effectively deal with threatening Honchkrow. Honchkrow is not always 2HKOed by an unboosted Hidden Power Fighting after Stealth Rock damage, and can kill Mismagius with either of Sucker Punch or Pursuit, so being able to OHKO it after Stealth Rock with Thunderbolt can be very helpful. Thunderbolt also helps against Haze Milotic, but by not running Hidden Power Fighting, it means that Mismagius cannot 2HKO Chansey at +6 (it therefore needs to stall it out), cannot hit Clefable or Registeel for super effective damage and will generally be forced out by them, and will be unable to hit Steelix for neutral damage. However, Thunderbolt is still a viable option for teams particularly threatened by the aforementioned Honchkrow.</p>
<p>While Hidden Power Fighting does necessitate the use of an imperfect Speed IV, max Speed is still helpful in tying at worst with opposing Mismagius. Since the majority of Mismagius do tend to run Hidden Power Fighting, the imperfect IV shouldn't be too much off a bother. 48 HP EVs gives Mismagius a HP stat one more than a Leftovers number, allowing it to Substitute five times consecutively from full health if need be. The remaining EVs are dumped into Special Attack to power up Mismagius' attacks, helping it to serve as a revenge killer without a Calm Mind if need be.</p>
<p>Because of its niche role of "fast offensive Ghost with Calm Mind", Mismagius works quite effectively in OU as well. While it may not be sweeping teams by its lonesome, it can be very helpful in weakening teams in general, and has the potential to do a lot of damage. Just like in UU, it's utility comes from the fact that it can set up on and beat common special walls such as Blissey and Cresselia. In OU, an EV spread of 108 HP / 180 SpA / 220 Spe with a Timid nature is recommended. Since base 105s are so uncommon in OU, it is not necessary to run max Speed, and the additional HP allow Mismagius' Substitutes to never be broken by a 108 SpA Blissey's Flamethrower or Ice Beam.</p>
<p>Since this set ordinarily takes a few turns of set-up to start causing serious damage, having a Pokémon that can pose a more immediate threat and can deal with Mismagius' common answers is a good idea. Hariyama and Hitmonlee both resists Mismagius' Dark weakness, and have STAB Close Combat to threaten the likes of Registeel and Clefable. Hariyama is naturally slow and Hitmonlee has an immunity to paralysis thanks to Limber, so neither fear Thunder Wave all that much. Blaziken takes even less from Registeel's Iron Head and threatens it with both STAB Fire and Fighting moves, but needs to be more wary of Thunder Wave. This shouldn't be a problem if you switch Mismagius out while it's behind a Substitute, as the opponent is unlikely to be using Thunder Wave then.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Hidden Power Fighting / Hidden Power Ground
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Specs Mismagius packs a lot of power, and its increased damage output can take common counters to the Sub Calm Mind set by surprise. Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting as always make up the core of Mismagius' offenses, and Thunderbolt is a useful attack to hit bulky waters such as Milotic with a super effective blow. Hidden Power Ground is an alternative to Hidden Power Fighting if you have other ways to deal with Clefable. It means that you don't need to restrict yourself with an imperfect Speed IV, and can get a super effective hit on Drapion while still hitting Steel-types for super effective.</p>
<p>Trick is an excellent move for Mismagius, and will cripple many of its common switch ins. Clefable, Registeel, and Drapion all detest being Tricked a Choice Specs, which greatly reduces their effectiveness as tanks. Mismagius can use its Choice Specs to try and get an initial sweep, identifying counters on the opposing team. Once this counter has been revealed, Mismagius can use a preemptive Trick on its next switchin, thus crippling it, and allowing Mismagius to go for a final sweep later on in the game.</p>
<p>Energy Ball can be used as an option over Thunderbolt and will allow you to get swift OHKOs on the Pokémon 4x weak to it - Gastrodon, Quagsire, and Rhydon, to name a few - while still getting super effective damage on Water-types. Energy Ball also hits Regirock marginally harder than Hidden Power Fighting would. However, the advantage of using Thunderbolt is that it hits for neutral damage on switchins such as Drapion and Registeel, whereas they pack a resistance to Energy Ball. In this regard, Energy Ball's only advantage would be the neutral hit on Steelix. Destiny Bond can also find a place over Trick, but generally being able to cripple its checks is preferable to the possibility of taking down a Pokémon with it. The danger of using Destiny Bond on this set is that you are locked into it, so if you mispredict, your opponent can simply set up all over you while you are forced to switch.</p>
<p>A similar set utilizing Choice Scarf makes for a good revenge killer for many of UU's faster threats. In particular, it is useful in dealing with Rain teams, as even in the rain, naturally slow Pokémon such as Gorebyss and Omastar cannot outrun a Scarf Mismagius. Crobat and Espeon are not too threatened by Mismagius normally, and so Choice Scarf can net some surprise KOs. Power becomes a bit of an issue though, with no boosting moves or items, and so a Modest nature is usually preferable to increase Mismagius' damage output as much as possible.</p>
<p>As before, Fighting-types pair up well with this set. Hariyama and Hitmonlee are preferred choices here because of their indifference to paralysis, and because of Mismagius' increase vulnerability to status, and because Chansey is another Pokémon that often carries Thunder Wave. Drapion itself works well with Mismagius as well, with a strong STAB Pursuit to deal with switching Clefable and Chansey to bring them into Mismagius' kill range, as well Earthquake to deal with opposing Drapion and Registeel. Drapion and Mismagius compliment each other well with their typings as well, and both resist or are immune to the other's weaknesses.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind + 3 Attacks
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Thunderbolt / Pain Split
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Mismagius can play the standard set up sweeper role effectively as well. Bring Mismagius in on one of its immunities or on a Pokémon it directly threatens, then Calm Mind on the switch. After a single Calm Mind with Life Orb, Mismagius will be hitting approximately 1.95x as hard as it normally would be, allowing it to muscle its way past the bulkier Pokémon in UU. Pokémon that can usually be relied upon to counter the Substitute set, such as Clefable, struggle to deal with the sheer power this set has after a Calm Mind, as said Clefable can take up to 70% from a Hidden Power Fighting after a Calm Mind.</p>
<p>The drawbacks of using this set are that you become a lot more susceptible to status than the Substitute set, which can often cut your chances of a successful sweep. This set also cannot set up on Chansey with the same ease the Substitute set can, disliking the Toxic or Thunder Wave it inevitably carries. However, Chansey will still fail to really damage Mismagius in any way, meaning one on one you will often end up beating it if all it can do is paralyze you.</p>
<p>In the final slot, Thunderbolt provides additional coverage for Mismagius, allowing it to 2HKO specially defensive Milotic and Articuno. However, Pain Split is a viable choice as well, granting Mismagius a way of recovering off Life Orb recoil and other residual damage. Pain Split is a great move to use against Chansey, as with its gargantuan HP stat starkly contrasting with Mismagius' low one, Pain Split will shave off a large chunk of its HP while completely healing Mismagius.</p>
<p>This set is vulnerable to priority attacks in particular, as Mismagius tends to stick around for a while as it Calm Minds up, but has no Substitute to protect itself. Azumarill's Aqua Jet is generally the biggest threat, followed by Sucker Punch from the likes of Absol, Honchkrow, and Toxicroak. With resistances to both Water and Dark and respectable bulk, Poliwrath can come in on these priority attacks and use the opportunity to set up a Substitute, in preparation for a Focus Punch or to start Bulking Up. Similarly, Toxicroak resists the common priority attacks as well, but is a lot frailer than Poliwrath. However, both need to be watchful for Psycho Cut from Absol and Honchkrow's Drill Peck.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Ghost
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Hidden Power Fighting / Perish Song
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Pain Split
item: Leftovers
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 196 SpD / 60 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This Mismagius set is designed to be your typical spin blocker. At first glance it may look like a much less capable version of Spiritomb; however, there are several key differences that separate this from its bulkier Ghost brethren. The most important difference lies in Mismagius’ Speed. With 60 EVs, Hidden Power Fighting and a neutral nature, Mismagius rests at 260 Speed, which outspeeds threatening Pokémon such as neutral natured Absol, Honchkrow, and Blaziken. This Speed allows Mismagius to heal via Pain Split much more easily than the other common spin blockers. Mismagius is capable of switching in on a plethora of walls when it's at low health and can use Pain Split before your opponent has an opportunity to finish her off.</p>
<p>Switching into common spinners is relatively easy. Mismagius is immune to Hitmontop's STAB, and after a Will-O-Wisp, Stone Edge will do less than 20% to it from the Spinner set (which usually doesn't run much Attack investment, if any at all). Claydol's Shadow Ball will fail to even 4HKO Mismagius, and obviously Ice Beam and Psychic will do even less. In return, Mismagius has a 25% chance to 2HKO Claydol with its own Shadow Ball. Other special based Rapid Spinners such as Blastoise, Cloyster, and Torkoal have even less of a chance of breaking Mismagius; none of normally carry recovery, and Mismagius can easily wear them down with burn damage and repeated attacks. Perish Song can be used over Hidden Power Fighting if you're not too concerned with perfect coverage, and allows Mismagius to act as an emergency answer to opposing set up sweepers. It can also be used to give one of your own Pokémon a safe switch in if you can predict the turn your opponent will switch out.</p>
<p>This set also packs quite the surprise for the unsuspecting opponent. Unlike Spiritomb and Rotom, who are known to commonly carry Will-O-Wisp, opponents will switch physical attackers into Mismagius, not expecting to be crippled in the process. On the flip side, Mismagius actually serves as a strong special sponge, taking little from common special attackers and easily outlasting them. Don't try to use this in OU, though, as it is generally inferior to the appliance Rotoms, whose superior defenses and typing make up for their lack of Pain Split.</p>
<p>Since Pain Split isn't the most reliable of recovery methods, providing Mismagius with good Wish support will allow it to block Rapid Spin and cripple your opponent's team with Will-O-Wisp throughout the game. Umbreon pairs up nicely with Mismagius on account of its typing, and can get Mismagius back in without it having to take a hit with a slow Baton Pass. Clefable and Chansey can both accomplish the same by making the most of their Fighting weakness and Mismagius' Fighting immunity in order to give it safe switch ins.</p>
[SET]
name: Perish Trap
move 1: Mean Look
move 2: Perish Song
move 3: Protect
move 4: Taunt / Substitute / Pain Split
item: Leftovers
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 216 SpD / 40 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Mismagius is one of the few Perish Trappers, and is the best defensively. Mean Look something, use Perish Song, then Protect for the next two turns to prevent damage. On the third turn, you can switch out while the opponent is forced to stay in that turn because of Mean Look, essentially giving you a free KO. Taunt is to stop Whirlwind / Roar from ruining your strategy, and Substitute is helpful if you're faster and don't want to rely on Protect's 50% chance of working the second time. Pain Split can work as a makeshift Recover, since you aren't doing any damage to them, and hopefully aren't wasting your time Perish Songing an enemy with low HP. An attacking move can also be used in the last slot to allow Mismagius to beat weakened foes in addition to playing as a Perish Trapper.</p>
<p>This set is best used in taking out bulkier Pokémon such as Chansey, Registeel, and Milotic. Mismagius usually doesn't have the defenses to pull this off against more offensively inclined Pokémon, and may not survive the two hits necessary to use Mean Look and Perish Song successfully.</p>
<p>Having Reflect and Light Screen up while trying to Perish Trap opponents is greatly beneficial, effectively doubling Mismagius' defenses and allowing it to last a lot longer and trap more offensive foes. Generally, in order to use Mismagius to Perish Trap more than once in a game, it is necessary to support it with Wish to keep its health up and allow it to weather the hits as it uses Mean Look and Perish Song. Clefable partners up well with Mismagius, as it has access to all three of Reflect, Light Screen, and Wish, but may struggle to run them all on a single moveset. In general, Mismagius is bulky enough on the special side to take quite a beating, and so Reflect is more beneficial than Light Screen to patch up Mismagius' lower physical Defense stat.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Spite might help a team mate set up if you can drain all the PP of an opponents main attacking move, but Spiritomb does it better with its higher defenses and Pressure ability. Similarly, Mismagius can use Trick Room, but its high Speed stat and relative frailty makes it an unideal user of it.</p>
<p>As far as Mismagius' other attacking options go, it has access to Psychic and Power Gem, but they don't give it any additional useful coverage that its standard attacks don't. On the other hand, Mismagius has access to a wide range of status-inflicting moves, and can utilize a double-status set with Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave.</p>
[EVs]
<p>On offensive sets, take advantage of that 105 base Speed, and never EV it slower than a +Speed nature with 220 EVs. This puts it faster than +Speed base 100s, as well as neutral natured base 115s, taking Hidden Power Fighting's Speed loss into account. The remaining EVs should be allocated to Special Attack and HP as appropriate.</p>
<p>Speed isn't quite as important on defensive sets, as Mismagius is pretty fast even without too much investment, and these sets prefer to bolster Mismagius' HP and Special Defense instead. 56 Speed EVs allow it to outspeed max Speed neutral base 80s, such as Blaziken, and everything slower, including threatening Pokémon such as Honchkrow and Absol. HP should always be maxed before Special Defense is touched - investing in the low base 60 HP increases Mismagius' defensive potential a lot more than investing in its relatively high Special Defense does.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>As far as sweepers go, Mismagius is quite an independent one. It has the capacity to set up by itself and sweep, and needs minimal support in order to do so. Perhaps the best thing that can be provided for a Substitute Calm Minder it is a Light Clay Reflect, giving Mismagius protection against weak physical attackers as it sets up. While behind a Reflect, Registeel won't be able to break Mismagius' Substitutes with Iron Head, allowing Mismagius to Calm Mind up on its counter. Another excellent way to support Mismagius in general is to spread status throughout the opposing team, in particular paralysis and Toxic poison. Mismagius can use Substitute repeatedly to stall out a foe as the Toxic damage builds up, or can gain free turns to further boost its stats against a fully paralyzed foe. Unfortunately, three of Mismagius' biggest checks - Registeel, Clefable, and Drapion - are immune to poisoning, so this won't work against them.</p>
<p>Fighting-types are generally the best Pokémon to pair up with Mismagius. They are able to hit hard with their STAB physical attacks, and can be used to take down specially bulky Pokémon that try to wall Mismagius. Sets that don't utilize Substitute in particular work well alongside Hitmonlee, as he can come in on pretty much any attack Registeel, Chansey, or Clefable will use against Mismagius and become an immediate threat with its high powered Close Combat. Hariyama is in a similar boat, and is more effective in taking on the more offensive of Mismagius' checks, such as Drapion and Milotic. Both possess resistances to Dark as well, meaning they can come in on Night Slash without much problem.</p>
<p>Since Mismagius lacks a real way of keeping its health up, Wish support will keep the bulkier sets alive for a lot longer. With Wish keeping its health up, a bulky Mismagius is surprisingly difficult to take down. Its high Special Defense allows it to take quite a beating on that side, and its high Speed along with Will-O-Wisp allow it to cripple physical attackers before they have a chance to hit it. The Perish Trapper in particular needs Wish support if you plan on getting more than one kill with it, since it has to take two hits to set up the strategy successfully. The Perish Trapper is very effective at removing specific Pokémon from the game, and so having sweepers that can take advantage of this can be a deadly strategy. Since they like to switch into Mismagius so much, Registeel and Clefable will often fall victim to the Perish Trapper, and so using the likes of Shaymin and Moltres to abuse their absence can have a great payoff.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Mismagius is a top level threat in UU, and can demolish unprepared teams very easily if it is allowed to set up. Its many immunities and decent Special Defense stat give it numerous opportunities to switch in and start threatening the opposing team straightaway. Its only drawback is its rather small movepool, but its different sets require such different counters that Mismagius can hardly be classed as a 'predictable' threat. Being able to both sweep off the bat, as well as set up with multiple Calm Minds before wreaking havoc, makes Mismagius a very dangerous Pokémon to not take into account when building your team. It can also pop up in OU to remind teams that overly rely on Blissey to wall special attackers why doing so can be a very bad idea.</p>
[Counters]
<p>An Encore Clefable makes a good counter for the Substitute Calm Mind version, as it won't be 2HKOing with Hidden Power Fighting even after a Calm Mind, and Clefable can force it to repeat Substitute or Calm Mind with Encore. Registeel makes for a good switch in as well, as Mismagius won't be denting its 150 base Special Defense even with a super effective Hidden Power. Registeel has Iron Head and Thunder Wave to deal with Mismagius. Shuckle, especially in sandstorm, really fears nothing Mismagius can throw at it, and can use Encore to force out Substitute versions, and Toxic to deal with ones without.</p>
<p>Any set that requires lots of setup for it to be effective can be brought back down to earth with Haze. Milotic and Altaria are generally good choices, as both have high Special Defense stats and instant recovery moves, while not being weak to either of Shadow Ball or Hidden Power Fighting. Milotic fears Thunderbolt from the Life Orb set, but can comfortably deal with the Substitute set. Altaria also has Perish Song to eventually force Mismagius out. Lapras can similarly use Perish Song to force Mismagius to switch, and has the bulk to survive two boosted Hidden Power Fighting.</p>
<p>As far as switching into Mismagius in general goes, Drapion is a fine choice because of its resistance to Shadow Ball and neutrality to Hidden Power Fighting. It has Pursuit and Night Slash to deal with Mismagius. It is recommended to give Drapion some investment in Special Defense if you plan on using it as your sole answer to Mismagius, as otherwise, Hidden Power Fighting can hurt quite a bit after a Calm Mind or two. Similarly to Drapion, Honchkrow has Pursuit, Night Slash, Sucker Punch and Drill Peck to put Mismagius into a problem position. However, it takes a lot from boosted Hidden Power and will be immediately taken out by the rare Thunderbolt, and so isn't the safest of choices. Crobat doesn't resist Ghost, but is faster than Mismagius and bulky enough to survive one boosted Shadow Ball. It can use Brave Bird to prey on Mismagius' weak Defense stat, and use Taunt to shut down any version without Thunderbolt. Despite being weak to Fighting, Umbreon has a mammoth Special Defense stat and can easily take boosted Hidden Powers and Wish them off. In return, it can use a boosted STAB Payback to target Mismagius' lower Defense stat.</p>
<p>Mismagius is very frail on the physical side, making it quite vulnerable to Azumarill's Aqua Jet. Tauros outspeeds Mismagius and can use a Choice Band Pursuit to put it in its place, as can Scyther. Spiritomb can take Mismagius' attacks without too much problems if it hasn't managed to get too many Calm Minds in, and can use either of Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, or Pursuit to deal with it. Alternatively, it can Calm Mind alongside Mismagius and eventually beat it, since Mismagius will rarely carry recovery. These offensive Pokémon are also more reliable in taking on a surprise Perish Trap Mismagius, since they can actually do significant amounts of damage to Mismagius, and therefore aren't so vulnerable to being stalled out for the three turns.</p>
<p>In OU, Scizor is probably the best answer to Mismagius. It can use both Pursuit and Bullet Punch to remove Mismagius from the game, while having U-turn to escape from the Perish Trapper. Snorlax takes little from Hidden Power Fighting, and has Crunch and Pursuit to beat it. If Weavile can get in on a Calm Mind or a Shadow Ball, it pretty much guarantees to kill Mismagius with STAB Pursuit. Generally, any physical attacker with good Special Defense shouldn't be too fazed by Mismagius.</p>
