Overview
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With a great mix of power and bulk, Reuniclus is one of the top offensive threats in RU. A great base 125 Special Attack means that none but the bulkiest walls can safely stand up to Reuniclus, and most that can have little means of hurting it due to its excellent ability Magic Guard. An immunity to all passive damage not only helps against status ailments but also allows Reuniclus to use Life Orb with no recoil, further boosting Reuniclus's already impressive power output. Adequate coverage as well as two useful moves in Trick Room and Calm Mind means that Reuniclus can be put to good use against nearly every team.
However, Reuniclus's low base 30 Speed is often a liability, despite being a temporary blessing under the effects of Trick Room. A pure Psychic typing leaves it with a lack of great resistances outside of Fighting and weaknesses to Dark-, Ghost-, and Bug-type moves, so it is vulnerable to many common wielders of such moves, particularly if it has not set up yet. In particular, Knock Off is an extremely common move that frequently poses a threat to Reuniclus, which tends to be very reliant on its item.
Calm Mind
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name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Recover
move 3: Psyshock
move 4: Shadow Ball / Focus Blast
ability: Magic Guard
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
nature: Bold
Moves
========
Calm Mind is a great boosting move for Reuniclus, working well in tandem with both Reuniclus's great Special Attack and HP stats. Recover allows Reuniclus to set up in the face of nearly any attacker that cannot 2HKO it, especially special attackers attempting to wear it down. Psyshock is chosen as Reuniclus's STAB move instead of Psychic because it allows Reuniclus to easily win Calm Mind wars. The final slot should be decided based on what Reuniclus's teammates can handle. Shadow Ball is good on teams that can get rid of powerful or resilient Dark-types, such as Drapion, while Focus Blast allows Reuniclus to get past these Dark-types easily at the expense of losing to Pokemon like Doublade.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP and Defense investment with a Bold nature makes Reuniclus as physically bulky as possible, as its Special Defense stat will be aided by boosts. Magic Guard is mandatory as an ability, as it prevents Reuniclus from succumbing to Toxic. Leftovers is the recommended item, as the passive recovery means that Reuniclus can spend more time boosting and less time recovering. However, Life Orb is an option for more immediate power.
Usage Tips
========
Powerful Pokemon with STAB Dark- or Ghost-type moves, such as Mega Banette and Drapion, can prevent Reuniclus from setting up or sweeping. If possible, make sure they are removed or weakened enough to be easily beaten before Reuniclus attempts a sweep. When up against stall teams, it is a good idea to preserve Reuniclus's health, as its immunity to passive damage and bulky sweeping style make it extremely dangerous for many stall teams. Against any playstyle, however, it's a good idea to keep Reuniclus at high health. Because of Reuniclus's low Speed, the opponent can take advantage of turns spent setting up or attacking to bring in attackers that can easily outspeed and take out a weakened Reuniclus. Finally, watch out for Pokemon with Roar, Dragon Tail, or Taunt, such as Rhyperior, Slowking, and Drapion, respectively. All three moves will stop or nullify Reuniclus's boosting attempts, so while those Pokemon are still alive it may be more worthwhile to simply attack.
Team Options
========
Depending on whether Reuniclus runs Shadow Ball or Focus Blast in the final moveslot, its teammates should be able to easily handle Dark-types or Ghost-types, respectively. When running Shadow Ball, Mismagius and Mega Banette are great partners, as they can easily lure in and get rid of Dark-types with Destiny Bond. Fighting-types such as Cobalion, Virizion, Hitmonlee, and Gurdurr are valuable for their great matchups against Dark-types in general. If running Focus Blast, Moltres handles both of the most threatening Ghost-types to Reuniclus, Doublade and Mega Banette, quite well. Drapion makes a great Pursuit trapper, as does Escavalier; the latter has the ability to beat most Dark-types as well. Spiritomb gets special mention as a Pursuit trapper since it beats specially defensive Meloetta, which can easily stop Reuniclus. Apart from that, Reuniclus can give back to its team by being a good weapon versus stall teams, so teammates such as Cobalion and Moltres that struggle to beat common walls may find Reuniclus is a very helpful teammate for late-game sweeps.
Trick Room
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name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Shadow Ball
move 4: Focus Blast
ability: Magic Guard
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Quiet
Moves
========
Trick Room allows Reuniclus to outspeed nearly every single Pokemon in RU thanks to its low base 30 Speed. Psychic is Reuniclus's strongest STAB option, and it is chosen instead of Psyshock because this set appreciates the extra power. Shadow Ball hits Ghost-types, most notably Doublade, extremely hard, while Focus Blast gets past the Dark-types that resist Psychic and Shadow Ball, as well as bulky Steel-types such as Registeel that may not care about Shadow Ball.
Set Details
========
In order to maximize Reuniclus's Speed under Trick Room, a Quiet nature and minimum Speed IVs are used. They allow Reuniclus to move before even Pokemon like Escavalier. The EVs go to HP and Special Attack, making Reuniclus bulky and powerful. Life Orb is the item of choice, as it boosts Reuniclus's power without recoil thanks to Magic Guard.
Usage Tips
========
Reuniclus works best as a late-game sweeper due to its power and "Speed" under Trick Room. As Trick Room only lasts for 5 turns, it's best to use it when you're guaranteed to be able to use the turns effectively. If possible, try to weaken or remove the main targets of Focus Blast prior to sweeping, as misses not only open up opportunities for the opponent to attack, but also take up a turn of precious Trick Room time. Even though Reuniclus is fully invested in HP, it will not likely get more than one chance to set up Trick Room against an offensive team, so use it wisely. Unlike other Trick Room setters such as Slowking or Aromatisse, Reuniclus is very offensive and is best-suited to utilizing the boosts itself. For this reason, even on dedicated Trick Room teams it should be treated more like a sweeper rather than a setter.
Team Options
========
When being used as a standalone sweeper on a non-Trick Room team, Reuniclus should be paired with at least one other Pokemon that can still function or functions better inside of Trick Room, such as Rhyperior or Escavalier. This gives Reuniclus much more freedom to set up and sweep. On dedicated Trick Room teams, good setters include Aromatisse, Bronzong, Uxie, and Slowking; while good sweepers to pair with Reuniclus are Escavalier, Rhyperior, Mega Abomasnow, and Druddigon. Aromatisse in particular is always a great partner, as it has great defensive synergy with Reuniclus. Regardless of whether Reuniclus is being used on Trick Room teams or not, entry hazards setters such as Druddigon and Rhyperior as well as wallbreakers such as Hitmonlee and Exploud are important teammates, as weakening the opponent's Pokemon as well as getting rid of special walls are both important for a successful sweep.
Other Options
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Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit Escavalier, but it serves no purpose outside of that and doesn't even OHKO Assault Vest variants, so it's an inferior choice to Focus Blast. A set carrying Flame Orb with Trick might have some degree of effectiveness, as it makes it much easier to deal with threats like Doublade. However, it's very predictable, as a Reuniclus holding a Flame Orb is most likely running Trick. While Regenerator is a very good ability, in all cases Reuniclus would rather have Magic Guard, as the staying power it offers Reuniclus is overall much more helpful. Overcoat may seem cool as well, but Magic Guard is again far more helpful than an immunity to powder moves. Reuniclus has a few other options, including Thunder Wave and Grass Knot, and while both might be situationally useful, Reuniclus has no space in its movesets for them.
Checks & Counters
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**Escavalier**: Escavalier is easily Reuniclus's best counter, resisting its Psychic-type STAB attacks, taking very little from Reuniclus's coverage attacks due to Assault Vest, and hitting back with a super effective STAB Megahorn.
**Dark-types**: Drapion, Sharpedo, and other Dark-types are all impossible for Reuniclus to switch into and can even take on the fully-invested Calm Mind variant.
**Ghost-types**: Doublade and Banette get special mention due to their tendency to carry priority attacks, easily threatening Reuniclus even under Trick Room.
**Taunt**: Taunt prevents Reuniclus from utilizing both Trick Room and Calm Mind, making it far easier to beat.
**Meloetta**: Assault Vest variants of Meloetta can easily take on Trick Room Reuniclus, while specially defensive variants can use Perish Song to force out Calm Mind Reuniclus, which can't do anything back.
**Knock Off**: Reuniclus is bulky enough to take most non-STAB Knock Offs, but the loss of an item hurts all variants of it, particularly Trick Room ones that rely on Life Orb for damage output.
**Spiritomb**: Spritomb completely walls Calm Mind sets that use Focus Blast, and it has Taunt to deal with Shadow Ball ones. It also carries both Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak for priority.
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With a great mix of power and bulk, Reuniclus is one of the top offensive threats in RU. A great base 125 Special Attack means that none but the bulkiest walls can safely stand up to Reuniclus, and most that can have little means of hurting it due to its excellent ability Magic Guard. An immunity to all passive damage not only helps against status ailments but also allows Reuniclus to use Life Orb with no recoil, further boosting Reuniclus's already impressive power output. Adequate coverage as well as two useful moves in Trick Room and Calm Mind means that Reuniclus can be put to good use against nearly every team.
However, Reuniclus's low base 30 Speed is often a liability, despite being a temporary blessing under the effects of Trick Room. A pure Psychic typing leaves it with a lack of great resistances outside of Fighting and weaknesses to Dark-, Ghost-, and Bug-type moves, so it is vulnerable to many common wielders of such moves, particularly if it has not set up yet. In particular, Knock Off is an extremely common move that frequently poses a threat to Reuniclus, which tends to be very reliant on its item.
Calm Mind
########
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Recover
move 3: Psyshock
move 4: Shadow Ball / Focus Blast
ability: Magic Guard
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
nature: Bold
Moves
========
Calm Mind is a great boosting move for Reuniclus, working well in tandem with both Reuniclus's great Special Attack and HP stats. Recover allows Reuniclus to set up in the face of nearly any attacker that cannot 2HKO it, especially special attackers attempting to wear it down. Psyshock is chosen as Reuniclus's STAB move instead of Psychic because it allows Reuniclus to easily win Calm Mind wars. The final slot should be decided based on what Reuniclus's teammates can handle. Shadow Ball is good on teams that can get rid of powerful or resilient Dark-types, such as Drapion, while Focus Blast allows Reuniclus to get past these Dark-types easily at the expense of losing to Pokemon like Doublade.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP and Defense investment with a Bold nature makes Reuniclus as physically bulky as possible, as its Special Defense stat will be aided by boosts. Magic Guard is mandatory as an ability, as it prevents Reuniclus from succumbing to Toxic. Leftovers is the recommended item, as the passive recovery means that Reuniclus can spend more time boosting and less time recovering. However, Life Orb is an option for more immediate power.
Usage Tips
========
Powerful Pokemon with STAB Dark- or Ghost-type moves, such as Mega Banette and Drapion, can prevent Reuniclus from setting up or sweeping. If possible, make sure they are removed or weakened enough to be easily beaten before Reuniclus attempts a sweep. When up against stall teams, it is a good idea to preserve Reuniclus's health, as its immunity to passive damage and bulky sweeping style make it extremely dangerous for many stall teams. Against any playstyle, however, it's a good idea to keep Reuniclus at high health. Because of Reuniclus's low Speed, the opponent can take advantage of turns spent setting up or attacking to bring in attackers that can easily outspeed and take out a weakened Reuniclus. Finally, watch out for Pokemon with Roar, Dragon Tail, or Taunt, such as Rhyperior, Slowking, and Drapion, respectively. All three moves will stop or nullify Reuniclus's boosting attempts, so while those Pokemon are still alive it may be more worthwhile to simply attack.
Team Options
========
Depending on whether Reuniclus runs Shadow Ball or Focus Blast in the final moveslot, its teammates should be able to easily handle Dark-types or Ghost-types, respectively. When running Shadow Ball, Mismagius and Mega Banette are great partners, as they can easily lure in and get rid of Dark-types with Destiny Bond. Fighting-types such as Cobalion, Virizion, Hitmonlee, and Gurdurr are valuable for their great matchups against Dark-types in general. If running Focus Blast, Moltres handles both of the most threatening Ghost-types to Reuniclus, Doublade and Mega Banette, quite well. Drapion makes a great Pursuit trapper, as does Escavalier; the latter has the ability to beat most Dark-types as well. Spiritomb gets special mention as a Pursuit trapper since it beats specially defensive Meloetta, which can easily stop Reuniclus. Apart from that, Reuniclus can give back to its team by being a good weapon versus stall teams, so teammates such as Cobalion and Moltres that struggle to beat common walls may find Reuniclus is a very helpful teammate for late-game sweeps.
Trick Room
########
name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Shadow Ball
move 4: Focus Blast
ability: Magic Guard
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Quiet
Moves
========
Trick Room allows Reuniclus to outspeed nearly every single Pokemon in RU thanks to its low base 30 Speed. Psychic is Reuniclus's strongest STAB option, and it is chosen instead of Psyshock because this set appreciates the extra power. Shadow Ball hits Ghost-types, most notably Doublade, extremely hard, while Focus Blast gets past the Dark-types that resist Psychic and Shadow Ball, as well as bulky Steel-types such as Registeel that may not care about Shadow Ball.
Set Details
========
In order to maximize Reuniclus's Speed under Trick Room, a Quiet nature and minimum Speed IVs are used. They allow Reuniclus to move before even Pokemon like Escavalier. The EVs go to HP and Special Attack, making Reuniclus bulky and powerful. Life Orb is the item of choice, as it boosts Reuniclus's power without recoil thanks to Magic Guard.
Usage Tips
========
Reuniclus works best as a late-game sweeper due to its power and "Speed" under Trick Room. As Trick Room only lasts for 5 turns, it's best to use it when you're guaranteed to be able to use the turns effectively. If possible, try to weaken or remove the main targets of Focus Blast prior to sweeping, as misses not only open up opportunities for the opponent to attack, but also take up a turn of precious Trick Room time. Even though Reuniclus is fully invested in HP, it will not likely get more than one chance to set up Trick Room against an offensive team, so use it wisely. Unlike other Trick Room setters such as Slowking or Aromatisse, Reuniclus is very offensive and is best-suited to utilizing the boosts itself. For this reason, even on dedicated Trick Room teams it should be treated more like a sweeper rather than a setter.
Team Options
========
When being used as a standalone sweeper on a non-Trick Room team, Reuniclus should be paired with at least one other Pokemon that can still function or functions better inside of Trick Room, such as Rhyperior or Escavalier. This gives Reuniclus much more freedom to set up and sweep. On dedicated Trick Room teams, good setters include Aromatisse, Bronzong, Uxie, and Slowking; while good sweepers to pair with Reuniclus are Escavalier, Rhyperior, Mega Abomasnow, and Druddigon. Aromatisse in particular is always a great partner, as it has great defensive synergy with Reuniclus. Regardless of whether Reuniclus is being used on Trick Room teams or not, entry hazards setters such as Druddigon and Rhyperior as well as wallbreakers such as Hitmonlee and Exploud are important teammates, as weakening the opponent's Pokemon as well as getting rid of special walls are both important for a successful sweep.
Other Options
########
Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit Escavalier, but it serves no purpose outside of that and doesn't even OHKO Assault Vest variants, so it's an inferior choice to Focus Blast. A set carrying Flame Orb with Trick might have some degree of effectiveness, as it makes it much easier to deal with threats like Doublade. However, it's very predictable, as a Reuniclus holding a Flame Orb is most likely running Trick. While Regenerator is a very good ability, in all cases Reuniclus would rather have Magic Guard, as the staying power it offers Reuniclus is overall much more helpful. Overcoat may seem cool as well, but Magic Guard is again far more helpful than an immunity to powder moves. Reuniclus has a few other options, including Thunder Wave and Grass Knot, and while both might be situationally useful, Reuniclus has no space in its movesets for them.
Checks & Counters
########
**Escavalier**: Escavalier is easily Reuniclus's best counter, resisting its Psychic-type STAB attacks, taking very little from Reuniclus's coverage attacks due to Assault Vest, and hitting back with a super effective STAB Megahorn.
**Dark-types**: Drapion, Sharpedo, and other Dark-types are all impossible for Reuniclus to switch into and can even take on the fully-invested Calm Mind variant.
**Ghost-types**: Doublade and Banette get special mention due to their tendency to carry priority attacks, easily threatening Reuniclus even under Trick Room.
**Taunt**: Taunt prevents Reuniclus from utilizing both Trick Room and Calm Mind, making it far easier to beat.
**Meloetta**: Assault Vest variants of Meloetta can easily take on Trick Room Reuniclus, while specially defensive variants can use Perish Song to force out Calm Mind Reuniclus, which can't do anything back.
**Knock Off**: Reuniclus is bulky enough to take most non-STAB Knock Offs, but the loss of an item hurts all variants of it, particularly Trick Room ones that rely on Life Orb for damage output.
**Spiritomb**: Spritomb completely walls Calm Mind sets that use Focus Blast, and it has Taunt to deal with Shadow Ball ones. It also carries both Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak for priority.
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