Phione has access to the Water+Ice+Grass combination, which is fantastic wherever you are. Golduck slightly outclasses it, but Politoed most definitely does not.
My point exactly, the advantages of U-turn on Phione are moderate at best. Being able to outrun Medicham and counter weather is far more important for an offensive Water type IMO. U-turn can be good for a bulky version, but if Phione's trying to be a bulky Water then it will probably want a decent method of recovery, i.e. Hydration Rest, especially with 80 / 80 / 80 defenses. You want your bulky Water to last after all, but that's just me.Actually, that's untrue. Out of all the Water-types in the game, only Manaphy, Lumineon, and Phione can use U-turn. Manaphy's obviously banned, and Lumineon is terrible. So, I suppose that if a NU team also needs a bulky Water that can double as a U-turning scout, Phione is the best choice for that job. (I admit, it's not much of a niche, but it's still something Phione can do that isn't done better by everything else!)
I still think being able to hit most water types harder with Grass Knot > Cross Chop is a huge advantage, especially Bibarel, Relicanth, Walrein, Quagisire, etc. I do agree that Phione should be played defensively with Hydration abuse, however it is still not entirely outclassed by Golduck.My point exactly, the advantages of U-turn on Phione are moderate at best. Being able to outrun Medicham and counter weather is far more important for an offensive Water type IMO. U-turn can be good for a bulky version, but if Phione's trying to be a bulky Water then it will probably want a decent method of recovery, i.e. Hydration Rest, especially with 80 / 80 / 80 defenses. You want your bulky Water to last after all, but that's just me.
Bibarel and Relicanth are hit harder with HP Grass, whilst the extra special attack makes up for the lower BP against Quagsire and Slowking. And guess who has Psychic for Poliwrath? Grass Knot is more useful for the big three Water / Ice types I admit, but even then Golduck has the option of Focus Blast or the aforementioned Cross Chop.I still think being able to hit most water types harder with Grass Knot > Cross Chop is a huge advantage, especially Bibarel, Relicanth, Walrein, Quagisire, etc. I do agree that Phione should be played defensively with Hydration abuse, however it is still not entirely outclassed by Golduck.
Even then I'd prefer Shield Dust to Compoundeyes in order to protect myself against Fake Out leads such as Persian and Sneasel, so I'd still prefer Venomoth even in that regard. It might not have a 97% sleep move, but for certain situations 75% >> 0%. That and Venomoth can outrun the most common Taunt lead in Gligar, and at least tie with Golbat. Venonat is just not worth it IMO.Besides Agility, what is worth Baton Passing? Substitute will be easily broken (as Venonat will likely be outsped by the switch-in's next attack before the Baton Pass).
I guess
Venonat @: Focus Sash
252 Hp, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Jolly
Sleep Powder
Agility
Toxic Spikes
Baton Pass
might work, but, even so I'd rather use Venemoth, or Rapidash if I need a physical Agility pass.
Use a scarf Butterfree. Its fast, it can use sleep powder, stun spore and poisonpowder.Besides Agility, what is worth Baton Passing? Substitute will be easily broken (as Venonat will likely be outsped by the switch-in's next attack before the Baton Pass).
I guess
Venonat @: Focus Sash
252 Hp, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Jolly
Sleep Powder
Agility
Toxic Spikes
Baton Pass
might work, but, even so I'd rather use Venemoth, or Rapidash if I need a physical Agility pass.
Leafeon usage soared recently. He was the most used Pokemon last week, whilst Medicham wasn't even in the top 10.Am I the only person noticing how far ahead in usage Medicham is compared to everyone else? And why has leafeon usage died down so much, it's a good Pokemon.
In terms of coverage, his movepool is great. I do agree that he is very predictable, but he is still a huge threat that even special walls have troubles beating.There are a few things wrong with that threat list, but the most glaring is calling Manectric the most unpredictable NU Pokemon (maybe I read that wrong?). Any Manectric set will contain: Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, and HP Grass. Options to run Choice sets or Substitute sets does not make it unpredictable. In fact, it's hard to think of more predictable Pokemon.
And its movepool is hardly amazing. Its hard to even think of a fourth move for a Choice set. Thunder, Overheat, Hyper Beam?
Err... what does focus punch do that close combat cant? Its not like it could set up a sub anyway.Zangoose@Leftovers (SubPunch)
Adamant
6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Focus Punch
Substitute
Return
Shadow Claw
Opinions? I came up with this while making a NU team.
Wouldn't Hitmonchan be better at this, with iron fist and all?Zangoose@Leftovers (SubPunch)
Adamant
6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Focus Punch
Substitute
Return
Shadow Claw
Opinions? I came up with this while making a NU team
This is extremely similar to the Endeavor set in the analysis. "Other Options" includes the idea of adding Toxic Spikes to the set for use as a starter. Protect is different, though, and does seem at first glance to help against Persian. Adamant Life Orb Persian does around 50% with STAB Technician Fake Out, and Return is an easy OHKO. With Endure, you'd be forced to switch, but this set lets you Protect turn 1, Endeavor turn 2 relying on Persian to attack.Suicide Lead Beedrill:
Beedrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SDef
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Toxic Spikes
- Endeavor
- X-Scissor
- Protect
This set guarantees at least one layer of Toxic Spikes down, and maybe even a major crippling from Endeavor if you are lucky. Protect is for those annoying Persians that think they can Fake Out you.
Victreebel can run this with a faster speed (Base 70 > Base 65), and the same (Base 100) special attack. The only difference is it's ability, and, ideally, a Scarfed pokemon shouldn't be statused. Victreebel also has overall better defensive stats. (50/45/80 for Roselia, 80/65/60 for Victreebel) Effectivly, Victreebel > Roselia in every way for the Scarf set. You can also change Sleep Powder for Sucker Punch, killing priority users.That victrebel set is very similar to the one I use, but I use Hp Ground over Solarbeam, just incase of a rouge magneton, which are quite popular.
I've been testing out a Scarf Roselia in my most recent team, and its been a monster so far. Natural cure is helpful for expect status, and its base 100 special attack means it hits pretty hard. The set I've been using is:
Roselia (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 40 HP/216 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Sludge Bomb
The Speed EVs mean it out runs +ve base 115s, but 36 hp evs could be moved into speed to tie with scarfed Hitmonchan. Unfortunately it can't really take hits due to its piss poor hp and physical defense, so it dies to priority, but its gotten me a lot of KOs, especially against Jumpluff who hates getting outsped and OHKO'd.
Plus if Overgrow kicks in Seed Bomb becomes basically a 180 (80 + 50% from STAB + 50% from Overgrow. Unless I'm calculating this wrong.) power move coming out of a 433 ATK.the reason why they set up on meganium is mostly because meganium isn't used as an band sweeper but has more of a supporting job like setting up leech seed . that turn most other people use to set up their own stuff . personnally i run subseed + energy ball + synthesis or double screen on my meganium but your set is quite interesting . might use it once .
also lately i've been running an agility sweeper set on seadra with some mediocre results but i did manage to got a 4 kills in a row whit it .
You don't have to run hypnosis for Ninetales to be good. Ninetales can be devastating if you get a nasty plot or two.I have played, and found that ninetails isn't as effective as I thought. Hypnosis's accuracy lets me down way too much, and ninetails doesn't have the defenses or typing to miss.