GP Check
GP Approved 1/2
Great job MagnemiteOverview
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Boasting great overall bulk and Special Attack, Reuniclus can make for a fearsome special attacker that is excellent at muscling past stall teams with Calm Mind while they struggle to do much of anything to it.(AP) Alternatively, it can or turning turn the high Speed of frail offensive teams against them with Trick Room. One of its main selling points over other offensive Pokemon is that it is very difficult to wear down thanks to a great ability in Magic Guard and reliable recovery in Recover. Reuniclus can also defeat Mega Venusaur with ease, a feat most other offensive threats could only dream of. However, Reuniclus has a is hampered fairly bad defensive typing, which can severely hamper it as possesses has weaknesses to common attacks such as U-turn and Pursuit. On top of this, its Psychic typing leaves it with no worthwhile resistances outside out Fighting. Reuniclus is also monumentally slow when Trick Room is not up, so it is forced to take hits often. However, despite Despite these flaws, Reuniclus is still a unique and powerful Pokemon that is not to be underestimated.
Calm Mind
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name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Psychic / Psyshock
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Recover
ability: Magic Guard
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
nature: Bold
Moves
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Calm Mind is the main move of the set. Reuniclus in particular makes good use of it because of its great bulk and immunity to passive damage. Psychic is chosen because it is Reuniclus's most powerful STAB move, although Psyshock can be used as it helps Reuniclus win Calm Mind wars and beat special walls such as Blissey. However, most of them can do little to Reuniclus in return and Psychic is more powerful, so is generally the preferred option. Focus Blast gets decent coverage with Psychic, hitting Psychic immunities such as Tyranitar for super effective damage. Recover is nearly mandatory because even though Magic Guard gives it an immunity to passive damage, Reuniclus is still worn down rather easily by attacks and needs a way to keep itself healthy, especially with its abysmal Speed.
Set Details
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The listed EVs and nature maximize Reuniclus's physical bulk as its special bulk is covered by Calm Mind and it can usually get enough boosts that it doesn't need any investment in Special Attack. Leftovers is the preferred item because it makes Reuniclus harder to wear down and helps mitigate its reliance on Recover.
Usage Tips
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This set's main draw is its incredible effectiveness against stall teams. Outside of Unaware Clefable, very few common stall Pokemon can beat Reuniclus one-on-one. Once Clefable has been removed, Reuniclus's bulk, reliable recovery, and especially immunity to passive damage all work together to ensure that Reuniclus has a very easy time setting up on common stall Pokemon. In particular, Chansey, Gliscor, defensive Heatran, and Mega Venusaur all give it free opportunities to set up. Be sure to take advantage of this.
Reuniclus should only attempt to sweep once its counters have been removed, as many of them are capable of cutting Reuniclus's sweep short. Once this has been done, it can easily sweep whenever it finds the opportunity.
It is generally best to set up on a wall that cannot do much damage to Reuniclus or a special attacker that is unable to break through it after a Calm Mind boost.
Reuniclus can be used as an emergency check to powerful physical attackers such as Conkeldurr or Excadrill, but this often leaves it with heavy damage heavily damaged and using it in this way can prevent it from sweeping later in the game.
Team Options
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As Reuniclus has many common checks and counters, proper team support is essential to its success. Fire Punch Deoxys-S lures in and beats Genesect while providing entry hazard support to give Reuniclus an easier time sweeping. Bulky Ground-types such as Landorus-T beat Aegislash, Tyranitar, and Scizor while providing Stealth Rock support. Something Pokemon that can beat Unaware Clefable is are definitely something to consider, as it is often the only answer stall teams have to this set. Aegislash is a good choice in this regard, and excels on the types of teams Reuniclus is best on. Heatran is by far the best counter to Genesect and also handles Scizor and Clefable nicely; it can also support the team with Stealth Rock. Tyranitar makes a great partner because of its ability to Pursuit trap the bulky Psychic-types that resist Reuniclus's attacking moves. Similarly, Magnezone can trap and remove a few of the Pokemon that can end Reuniclus's sweep, namely Scizor, Jirachi, and occasionally Genesect.
Trick Room
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name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Psychic / Psyshock
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fire
ability: Magic Guard
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
evs: 192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe
nature: Quiet
Moves
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Trick Room turns Reuniclus's non-existent Speed into an advantage, allowing Reuniclus to "outspeed" almost every other Pokemon in the game. Psychic is Reuniclus's main STAB option; it is usually preferred over Psyshock because it hits most Pokemon for more damage and hits physically defensive Pokemon such as Hippowdon and Gliscor harder than Psyshock. However, Psyshock still can be used as it helps Reuniclus beat special walls such as Blissey. Focus Blast gets good coverage with Reuniclus's STAB move and is its strongest secondary attacking move. Shadow Ball is primarily for hitting other Psychic-types and Aegislash which would otherwise resist all of Reuniclus's moves for super effective damage. However, Hidden Power Fire is an option that can be used over Shadow Ball to OHKO Scizor and Genesect, which is especially useful as Reuniclus outspeeds both of them if Trick Room is up and takes heavy damage from both of them if it cannot OHKO them. It also maintains coverage on Aegislash and Celebi, though it is weaker than Shadow Ball against these targets.
Set Details
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The given EVs maximize Reuniclus's bulk and Special Attack, as this set aims to hit as hard as possible. 0 Speed IVs make Reuniclus as fast as possible under Trick Room. Life Orb is preferred the preferred item on this set as the 30% power boost it gives Reuniclus is much more useful than the passive healing of Leftovers. Reuniclus makes a good user of Life Orb as it takes no Life Orb recoil thanks to Magic Guard.
Usage Tips
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This set should generally be used mid-game to punch holes in the opponents opponent's team. While the Calm Mind set works better against stall teams, this set works wonders against offensive teams because it turns their Speed against them and forces them to take Reuniclus's powerful special attacks. Reuniclus is already hard to switch into, so it becomes even harder to deal with when it nearly always moves first.
Before using Trick Room, be sure Reuniclus will be able to survive for most of its duration if you do not have other slow Pokemon to take advantage of it. Do not use Trick Room at times when the rest of your team would be at a speed disadvantage in Trick Room, as giving your opponent the ability to outspeed most of your team can often result in a loss.
Team Options
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While entire teams based around Trick Room are a bit gimmicky, other slow, powerful Pokemon can take advantage of any Trick Room turns that may might remain after Reuniclus has been knocked out. Conkeldurr in particular is a great partner as easily beats Tyranitar and has the coverage to beat some of Reuniclus's other checks under Trick Room, such as Genesect. While this set is not nearly as reliant on having its counters removed to be effective, Pokemon that beat its counters are still appreciated. Again, Heatran is useful for defeating Genesect and Scizor, especially if Reuniclus lacks Hidden Power Fire. Landorus-T is again a good partner as it can defeat physically attacking offensive Aegislash and Tyranitar, two Pokemon which can greatly trouble Reuniclus.
Other Options
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Reuniclus has a few other options, but most of them are outclassed by other, usually faster, Pokemon. Reuniclus is a fairly limited Pokemon and struggles to be effective outside of the listed sets. A 3 attacks + Recover set can be used, but Reuniclus would sorely miss either Trick Room or the ability to sweep, as those are by far its most effective options. A set with Trick + Flame Orb can be used, as Magic Guard stops burn damage, to protect Reuniclus from sleep and potentially cripple switch-ins such as Scizor, Aegislash, or Tyranitar. In return, Reuniclus could receive an item such as a Choice Band that could be used to cripple another opponent Pokemon. However, this is fairly prediction reliant prediction-reliant and Reuniclus would rather use the moveslot and item slot on more useful and consistent options.
Checks & Counters
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**Genesect and Scizor**: Both of these Pokemon are very common Pokemon in the metagame and greatly threaten Reuniclus with their powerful STAB U-turn. However, if Trick Room is up, they are outsped and OHKOed by Reuniclus if it has Hidden Power Fire.
**Tyranitar**: Tyranitar is also a very common Pokemon. It can trap Reuniclus with its powerful STAB Pursuit, however it too is outsped and OHKOed under Trick Room, in this case by Focus Blast.
**Aegislash**: Aegislash is yet another common Pokemon that checks Reuniclus. It resists Psychic and Psyshock and is immune to Focus Blast. It hits any Reuniclus without multiple Calm Mind boosts very hard with its STAB Shadow Ball and also has STAB Shadow Sneak to bypass Trick Room. It must watch out for Reuniclus's own Shadow Ball, although it has enough bulk in Shield Form to shrug it off if need be.
**Jirachi**: Jirachi can flinch Reuniclus to death with Iron Head and takes little damage from an unboosted Psychic or Focus Blast, though it must watch out for Shadow Ball or Hidden Power Fire.
**Volcarona(remove space)**: Volcarona can threaten Reuniclus with its STAB Bug Buzz and start a pseudo Calm Mind war with Quiver Dance, but it does not take Psyshock well due to its awful Defense stat.
**Sableye**: Sableye is immune to Reuniclus's main attacking options and can hit it decently hard with Foul Play. It can also prevent Reuniclus from using Recover or setting up Trick Room with its Prankster Taunt.
**Unaware Clefable**: Clefable is notable as of it's the only reliable ways way stall teams have of dealing with Calm Mind Reuniclus. Unaware allows it easily beat Reuniclus in a Calm Mind war or just flat-out wall it.
**Trick**: Reuniclus is crippled if it gets Tricked a Choice item from the likes of Choice Scarf Rotom-W or Latios, especially since its main attacking moves have common immunities and it is far too slow to ever benefit from having a Choice Scarf.
**Encore**: While it is an uncommon sight in OU, Encore cripples Reuniclus in a similar way to Trick, though not quite as much as Trick does since it isn't permanent.
**Special Walls**: Specially bulky Pokemon can work as situational checks to Reuniclus. Blissey and Chansey handle it to an extent, however they are hit hard by Psyshock and can be setup fodder for the Calm Mind set as they lack any real way to threaten it. Because of this, they can only effectively wall the Trick Room set and even then only if it is not running Psyshock. Similarly, Deoxys-D can wall Reuniclus with ease if it lacks Shadow Ball. It can also Taunt it to stop it from boosting further or recovering HP.
GP Approved 1/2
