Pokémon Primarina

[Anime_Fan]

Alola Dominatio,

Great job on the thread and I couldn't agree more! Primarina is a strong Pokemon, however, it may struggle in OU thanks to the presence of Azumarill. That said, it has an edge over Azumarill in the form a risk-free boosting move i.e. Work Up. What's more, Primarina has greater speed over Azumarill, which allows it to fare well against the bulky threats found on balance play-styles. Anyways, the following set below is what I'm currently using and it seems viable imo ^^

Primarina (F) @ Life Orb

Ability: Torrent
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk

Work Up

Hydro Pump

Moonblast

Psychic

Work up boosts Primarina's Atk and Sp. Atk stats by one stage. When paired with its coverage, it is capable of denting many walls barring Chansey, Ferrothorn, and Empoleon. Hydro Pump and Moon Blast are Primarina's strongest STAB moves, and they sport respectable coverage. Psychic rounds up the set by giving Primarina the means to KO Mega Venusaur, as well as various poison-type Pokemon.

Note: The speed investment allows Primarina to outpace and 1HKO Rotom-W after a boost. Maximum Sp. Atk is used to hit as hard as possible and KO defensive threats after SR damage.

P.S. You could try a similar set on a Trick Room team as it allows Primarina to utilise its horrible speed to ironic effects i.e. to outpace and KO threats like Gengar, as well as Kyruem-B ^^

 

[TimG57867]

You kinda elaborated on the point I already made a few posts up, but thanks for hammering it home. Yeah, Liquid Voice is essentially useless in singles (and just barely viable in doubles) unless Primarina somehow gets Boomburst. Sparkling Aria should be used if you don't want Hydro Pump or Scald. It's equal to or better than Surf about 99% of the time.

I will disagree on Tapu Fini giving it competition though. Sure, they share a typing, but that's where the similarities end. They have two entirely different roles. Even M-Venusaur and Amoonguss were both OU at the end of ORAS OU, and they're much more similar than Tapu Fini and Primarina.

TBH when I though she'd compete with Primarina I had mixed up some of Tapu Fini's stats in my head. (The Special Attack being much lower than I thought). Yeah, Primarina is definitely more equipped for offense. Sadly, Fini has her beat when it comes to support options and since Primarina doesn't get Nasty Plot or Calm Mind she'll for the most part be locked to Choice Items if you ever try using her above UU and while no one with her type will compete with her as a Special Attacker, her stats outside special and limited support options mean she'll have her work cut out for her competing with OU Special Attackers in general. She has enough to be a UU staple though.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Alola Dominatio,

Great job on the thread and I couldn't agree more! Primarina is a strong Pokemon, however, it may struggle in OU thanks to the presence of Azumarill. That said, it has an edge over Azumarill in the form a risk-free boosting move i.e. Work Up. What's more, Primarina has greater speed over Azumarill, which allows it to fare well against the bulky threats found on balance play-styles. Anyways, the following set below is what I'm currently using and it seems viable imo ^^

Primarina (F) @ Life Orb

Ability: Liquid Voice
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk

Work Up

Hydro Pump

Moonblast

Psychic

Work up boosts Primarina's Atk and Sp. Atk stats by one stage. When paired with its coverage, it is capable of denting many walls barring Chansey, Ferrothorn, and Empoleon. Hydro Pump and Moon Blast are Primarina's strongest STAB moves, and they sport respectable coverage. Psychic rounds up the set by giving Primarina the means to KO Mega Venusaur, as well as various poison-type Pokemon.

Note: The speed investment allows Primarina to outpace and 1HKO Rotom-W after a boost. Maximum Sp. Atk is used to hit as hard as possible and KO defensive threats after SR damage.

P.S. You could try a similar set on a Trick Room team as it allows Primarina to utilise its horrible speed to ironic effects i.e. to outpace and KO threats like Gengar, as well as Kyruem-B ^^

It looks good, but why use Liquid Voice when this Primarina doesn't know a sound move?

 

[oreofestar]

Im still waiting for Boomburst so it can break everything >: )

 

[Anime_Fan]

It looks good, but why use Liquid Voice when this Primarina doesn't know a sound move?

No reason, I didn't bother changing its ability since both are kinda of useless e.g. torrent's a horrible ability, and Hydro Pump is more useful anything Liquid Voice boosts lol. So yeah, you're right, Torrent is the better ability for this set. I'll change that, thanks ^^

 

[Ba'al]

I'm still kind of confused. If your team has no method of burning the foe, is Sparkling Aria not better than Surf 100% of the time? Its not like Burn is some sort of quintessential teambuilding element.

 

[oreofestar]

I mean I guess in the event that you have zero pokemon that use scald or will o wisp or have a pokemon with a secondary burn chance then you have a surf that goes through subs...if you do have any of those things though then Sparkling Aria is strictly worse.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

I mean I guess in the event that you have zero pokemon that use scald or will o wisp or have a pokemon with a secondary burn chance then you have a surf that goes through subs...if you do have any of those things though then Sparkling Aria is strictly worse.

Even then it isn't strictly worse, since it goes through Subs.

 

[oreofestar]

I guess...ultimately I prefer Scald or Hydro to either but at least when LV comes out you get the best of both worlds with Hyper Voice

 

[StickyRobot]

I'm still kind of confused. If your team has no method of burning the foe, is Sparkling Aria not better than Surf 100% of the time? Its not like Burn is some sort of quintessential teambuilding element.

Surf has more PP. Sparkling Aria could I guess kinda screw over Burn Orb Guts users but that will pretty much never happen. You may very well notice a PP problem if you play a game where you have to fight a Sub / Roost Pressure Pokemon or... something.

 

[Ultimasamune]

I'm gonna go ahead and say Liquid Voice should never, EVER be used in singles (provided more moves like Boomburst don't open up). There is just no justifying the infinitesimally small advantage of not curing a possibly burned Pokemon when you could be getting a much more reliable (relatively speaking... still kinda rare) boost from Torrent. That's whack dude.

 

[Mikael]

it's just insane how game freak fucked up on this pokemon's unique stuff. why heal burn without any other advantage? why liquid voice it's such a useless ability? it's pretty dumb lol
Thankfully, these won't really affect primarina that much.

 

[Akumeoy]

it's just insane how game freak fucked up on this pokemon's unique stuff. why heal burn without any other advantage? why liquid voice it's such a useless ability? it's pretty dumb lol
Thankfully, these won't really affect primarina that much.

Special-attacking walls that don't need their Leftovers boost for a given matchup prefer to get burned so that they don't have to put up with a more debilitating status. Sparkling Aria might exist so that teams which rely on Toxic to check certain threats can afford to run burn-inducing moves alongside it -- more than once have I burnt a wall and regretted it later when it stalled out my last three mons.

Not that I would personally run Sparkling Aria on Primarina (Hydro Pump's damage output is better) but I can definitely see where Gamefreak is coming from on this.

 

[oreofestar]

Eh still they gave the other 2 starters 80BP moves with a positive effect attaches and Prim got a 90BP with let's face it a negative one which ultimately doesn't make too much sense but ultimately doesn't matter because it has a plethora of water stabs to choose from.

 

[Colekdaking]

Primarina is a very reliable Pokémon in terms of being a special tank. It may be slow, but it is faster than Azumarill and generally more defensive than it too. While Sparkling Aria is a horrible move, as it cures burn, it could be used in combination with a water absorb Aquaranid (even though surf can do its job and better...). Access to Moonblast, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Aqua Ring, Surf, Dazzling Gleam, and Rest allows many sets, including a resto-chesto set. Primarina will probably be put in OU as a special tank with meh defenses and decent HP.

 

[The Haymaker]

water absorb Aquaranid

Why on earth would you use Water Absorb over Water Bubble, especially on Araquanid or anything that already resists Water?...Literally any other Water Absorb/Storm Drain Pokémon would be better.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

While Sparkling Aria is a horrible move, as it cures burn

Seriously, people, stop thinking of Sparkling Aria as "that move that cures the opponent's burn". Think of it as Surf that hits through Subs, with a downside that's almost entirely withing your control. Moves like Superpower and Wild Charge have downsides, and they give the opponent more control (either because your stats have been lowered to the point that the opponent threatens you and not the other way around, or by damaging yourself to the point that the opponent's 2HKO becomes an OHKO, and again the threat roles are reversed). Whether or not an opponent is burned is almost entirely within your control, so if you haven't burned anyone, then Sparkling Aria has no downside.

That said, it does still have competition with Hydro Pump's power and Scald's utility, but if you're looking for reliability, Aria is a good choice.

 

[The Haymaker]

Seriously, people, stop thinking of Sparkling Aria as "that move that cures the opponent's burn". Think of it as Surf that hits through Subs, with a downside that's almost entirely withing your control. Moves like Superpower and Wild Charge have downsides, and they give the opponent more control (either because your stats have been lowered to the point that the opponent threatens you and not the other way around, or by damaging yourself to the point that the opponent's 2HKO becomes an OHKO, and again the threat roles are reversed). Whether or not an opponent is burned is almost entirely within your control, so if you haven't burned anyone, then Sparkling Aria has no downside.

That said, it does still have competition with Hydro Pump's power and Scald's utility, but if you're looking for reliability, Aria is a good choice.

It's nice to have some support here. I was shocked I was the first person to say anything about never using Surf over Sparkling Aria a page back, and why Aria really is better than Surf 99+% of the time. It was beginning to feel like I was preaching to the choir.

 

[Zé Capáu]

Brony Bait @ Assault Vest / Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Sparkling Aria
- Psychic
- Ice Beam / Energy Ball
- Moonblast

Sparkling Aria to bypass Substitutes, Energy Ball for those who dislike getting walled by bulky Water types or stuff like Swampert, Gastrodon, etc.

 

[LazyDex]

Why on earth would you use Water Absorb over Water Bubble, especially on Araquanid or anything that already resists Water?...Literally any other Water Absorb/Storm Drain Pokémon would be better.

I second this; considering what Water Bubble does for Araquanid, you would need to have a very good reason for running Water Absorb, instead.

 

[Veveil]

How much Speed should Primarina be running? I've seen spreads with anywhere from 0-252 EVs in Speed. Set is:

Primarina @ Choice Specs
Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
?? HP/252 SpA/?? Spe
0 Atk
- Sparkling Aria/Hydro Pump
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Energy Ball/Ice Beam

Some key numbers include:

• miser's 4 Spe for other 0 Spe 60s
• 12 Spe for 0 Spe Tyranitar
• 44 Spe for 0 Spe Scizor
• 84 Spe for 0 Spe Skarmory/Volcanion
• 140 Spe for 0 Spe Heatran
• 168 Spe for 0 Spe 80s

And so on. Most of the metagame outruns Primarina no matter how much Speed you invest, and its bulk, while decent, could use some help. Therefore the question is which slow Pokemon (if any) Primarina should be trying to outpace.

 

[typechart]

hey guys,
im not as good as most of you here so please go easy. considering the amount of physical attackers, and primarina's slow speed, would an ev spread something like

128 hp
128 def
252 spa

be a good idea? maybe its not enough to matter and SHOULD be split between hp and some speed rather? Or, would maxing hp be best?
i guess im fuzzy on the proper balances between the two defense stats and the hp stat...

 

[Veveil]

hey guys,
im not as good as most of you here so please go easy. considering the amount of physical attackers, and primarina's slow speed, would an ev spread something like

128 hp
128 def
252 spa

be a good idea? maybe its not enough to matter and SHOULD be split between hp and some speed rather? Or, would maxing hp be best?
i guess im fuzzy on the proper balances between the two defense stats and the hp stat...

This site (http://pokestudio.altervista.org/defevs.php) recommends 200 HP/56 Def. In general HP > Def/Sp. Def for investment though, unless the Pokemon in question has an absurd HP/Defense ratio (i.e. Blissey). HP helps you survive both physical/special attacks.

I was talking about Speed in the post above yours, basically run whatever amount you want to outrun certain other slow things (i.e. 44 Spe for Scizor).

 

[typechart]

thank you for the insight! Just to clarify, when you say 200 hp / 56 def are you talking base stats, ev's, or actual stats?

This site (http://pokestudio.altervista.org/defevs.php) recommends 200 HP/56 Def. In general HP > Def/Sp. Def for investment though, unless the Pokemon in question has an absurd HP/Defense ratio (i.e. Blissey). HP helps you survive both physical/special attacks.

I was talking about Speed in the post above yours, basically run whatever amount you want to outrun certain other slow things (i.e. 44 Spe for Scizor).

 

[oreofestar]

thank you for the insight! Just to clarify, when you say 200 hp / 56 def are you talking base stats, ev's, or actual stats?

referring to EVs