10th Analysis woot~
[pimg]609[/pimg]
Current Analysis
[Overview]
<p>Reuniclus's claim to fame is its ability to destroy fast offensive teams by turning their Speed against them or relatively weak stall teams by using them as setup fodder. Its ability, Magic Guard, aids it in this task, as it means that Reuniclus cannot be worn down by Life Orb recoil or statuses such as Toxic. This, when combined with above average bulk, a high Special Attack stat, instant recovery, and a resistance to ever-common Fighting-type moves, makes Reuniclus a dangerous Pokemon to handle. Despite these quirks, Reuniclus sometimes struggles to stand out. The main source of its competition comes from the Dream World, which gave the much frailer but more powerful and faster Alakazam Magic Guard. In addition, old foes such as Latias, who sports a Dragon typing, are still common in the metagame and give Reuniclus competition for a slot for a Psychic-type. When Reuniclus isn't in Trick Room, it is painfully slow, and its weakness to Pursuit and U-turn makes it susceptible to common Pokemon like Tyranitar and Scizor. Despite these flaws, Reuniclus is still a solid Pokemon that can devastate unprepared teams</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Psychic / Psyshock
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fire
item: Life Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Quiet
evs: 192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While Trick Room is rarely deemed a viable strategy within the Overused tier, Reuniclus has all the tools it needs in order to use a Trick Room set well. Offensive teams that depend on their Speed to succeed tend to struggle against Reuniclus when it uses this set, and with a pathetic Speed stat of 58 with 0 IVs and a Quiet nature, everything in OU is outsped under Trick Room with the exception of Ferrothorn, who is incapable of dealing very much damage to Reuniclus. In addition, its ability prevents it from being worn down by weather, its own Life Orb, or a status, meaning that you have to survive its blows if you want to defeat it.</p>
<p>The ever tricky decision of Psychic or Psyshock applies here for the main STAB option. Generally, Psychic is the preferred option, as ironically many physical walls, such as Gliscor and Hippowdon, will be able to stall Reuniclus out of Trick Room turns since it doesn't have a strong enough special move to hit them with. However, Psyshock is still useful in order to get past Terrakion in sandstorm, as well as Blissey and Chansey. Focus Blast is needed to hit Dark-types and Steel-types hard and hits Tyranitar, a Pokemon that can usually deal a lot of damage to Reuniclus, especially hard. Shadow Ball is the preferred option in the last slot, as it hits Latios, Latias, and Celebi harder than anything else Reuniclus has. However, outside of the rain, Hidden Power Fire hits Scizor and Jirachi hard, and it still hits Celebi relatively hard. It also gives a reliable way to finish off Ferrothorn and Forretress as it will not miss, like Focus Blast often does.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The listed EVs maximize Reuniclus's overall bulk while still giving it maximum Special Attack. A Life Orb is the preferred item in order to boost Reuniclus's damage output, and a big advantage that Reuniclus has over other Life Orb users is that Magic Guard negates the recoil damage from it, meaning that Reuniclus is free to use it without drawbacks. Recover is usable here, as it can recover health if a wall is trying to wear down Reuniclus with repeated attacks, but the lack of residual damage wearing Reuniclus down, as well as a lack of coverage with only two moves, makes this a usually rather poor choice.</p>
<p>Psychic-types such as Celebi, Latios, Jirachi, and Latias are capable of taking even a super effective hit from Shadow Ball, or Hidden Power Fire in the case of Jirachi. Due to this, Tyranitar is a good partner for Reuniclus, as with the exception of Jirachi, it can hit them hard and potentially OHKO with Crunch or, if they flee, it can Pursuit them for similar results. In addition to this, Reuniclus is immune to sandstorm damage, meaning that Tyranitar's ability to summon it only helps Reuniclus wear down the opponent. Because Reuniclus is one of the only Pokemon that is viable in OU to set up and take advantage of Trick Room, other slow, powerful Pokemon such as Conkeldurr and, once again, Tyranitar work well as they can deal massive damage when under these conditions while also being difficult to outspeed.</p>
<p>If Psychic is used over Psyshock, Blissey and Chansey are capable of stalling out Trick Room turns with their massive Special Defense and their instant healing. Fighting-type Pokemon can easily prey upon the two's weakness to their STAB attacks. Pokemon like Breloom are capable of OHKOing them easily, but two Pokemon that stand out as Fighting-type partners are Lucario and Terrakion due to their ability Justified. Due to this, if Reuniclus were to be in danger of being hit by a Dark-type move that is not Pursuit, these Pokemon can switch in and get an Attack boost, making them more powerful. On a similar note, Fighting-types can also deal with Tyranitar reliably, which is useful as it can take a Focus Blast from Reuniclus with enough investment, if it even hits at all. Scizor is also a common threat to Reuniclus and will most likely try to use U-turn on it to do a lot of damage or Bullet Punch it to finish it off and ignore the Trick Room conditions; Heatran takes very little damage from either move and can OHKO Scizor.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Recover
move 3: Psyshock
move 4: Focus Blast
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>When Reuniclus was first introduced, this set was considered to be nearly unbreakable, due to its demolition of stall teams and large bulk with enough boosts. However, stall teams have become rather uncommon in BW2, thanks to new threats like Tornadus-T and Technician Breloom being able to power through them easily. Additionally, even with maximum bulk, certain things like Choice Band Garchomp are still able to 2HKO Reuniclus with their powerful STAB moves, and it doesn't have very many resistances. Despite this, Reuniclus is still one of the best stallbreakers in the OU tier thanks to its access to an instant recovery move, as well as Magic Guard, which means it cannot be worn down by Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, sandstorm damage, and other residual damage. Because stall teams are generally weak, Reuniclus can set up Calm Minds and then begin to power through them. It isn't only stall teams that Reuniclus can set up on; it can also up on things like Conkeldurr that cannot hit it hard.</p>
<p>Calm Mind, of course, is the crux of this set, as it allows Reuniclus to take more hits on its uninvested Special Defense and makes it hit harder. When the opponent begins to put notable damage upon Reuniclus, Recover can heal 50% of its health, which also means there is more time to set up Calm Minds. Psyshock is the preferred option to get past Chansey and Blissey, as well as other special walls. Focus Blast is used to get past Dark- and Steel-types, especially Tyranitar.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set maximizes Reuniclus's physical bulk, and the more investment it has in its physical bulk, the more likely it is to avoid an OHKO from Choice Band Tyranitar's Crunch. Leftovers is preferred in order to naturally recover health as it is setting up. Even though Reuniclus doesn't take any residual damage, the extra healing is still appreciated. However, a Life Orb can be used as Magic Guard means that Reuniclus won't take any damage from it, which essentially gives it a free boost, and even though this particular Reuniclus doesn't invest in its Special Attack, the boost can still be appreciated.</p>
<p>Because Reuniclus will get outsped by Tyranitar and Scizor, both of which can deal massive damage to it, Reuniclus needs partners to take their STAB moves. Preferably, get these Pokemon eliminated as fast as possible so that Reuniclus can boost late-game and sweep. Tyranitar can be OHKOed by Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion, and Scizor can be dealt with by using Fire-types like Heatran. Infernape can OHKO both Tyranitar and Scizor as it has access to Fighting- and Fire-type STAB moves, but it is incapable of switching in as easily thanks to its subpar bulk. This set's coverage isn't hitting Psychic-type Pokemon very hard, so support from Tyranitar is appreciated as it can defeat Celebi, Latios, and Latias with its STAB Crunch or Pursuit. Jirachi, a Psychic-type which Tyranitar struggles against, is taken care of by powerful Ground-type moves from Pokemon such as Hippowdon and Landorus. Note that Hippowdon and Tyranitar's Sand Stream is an additional way to wear down the opponent.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Reuniclus has a few other options to consider. A Life Orb + 3 attacks set with Recover might seem like a good idea at first, but this is a scenario in which Alakazam is more useful, mainly because it is much faster than Reuniclus and won't be forced to take repeated hits. Due to the ubiquity of rain, Thunder is an option to hit Water-type Pokemon, as well as Tornadus-T, for massive damage. Energy Ball and Grass Knot provide similar utility, but the main issue with these moves is that Reuniclus doesn't have the space in its moveset. Regenerator is a great ability, but Reuniclus can generally take more advantage of Magic Guard, as it doesn't switch out very often. Reuniclus can play defensively and provide support with moves like Thunder Wave or Dual Screens, but its subpar defensive typing makes other Pokemon better at this. Finally, Trick can pull off some interesting strategies, such as Tricking a Flame Orb onto the opponent as a lure, but this requires a lot of prediction to pull off, as a burned Reuniclus is a rather easy way to indicate that the opponent should avoid switching in their Scizor.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Reuniclus can be difficult to counter when it has set up, but there are numerous Pokemon that can defeat it both before and afterwards. Jirachi is probably the best counter, as it takes very little damage from any of Reuniclus's moves and can wear it down with repeated Iron Heads. Latias resists almost everything Reuniclus can throw at it, and even if it has Shadow Ball, Latias can avoid the 2HKO and recover off the damage fairly easily. Specially defensive Celebi avoids a 2HKO from Shadow Ball as well, meaning that both can stall out Trick Room turns. Latios is similar to Latias, and even though it won't take Shadow Balls as easily, its powerful STAB Dragon-type moves can power through Reuniclus. Slowking's large Special Defense allows it to take repeated hits, and thanks to Regenerator and Slack Off it is easy for Slowking to heal off damage from Shadow Ball. Due to Hidden Power Fire being pretty uncommon, Scizor can usually deal with Reuniclus fairly easily and OHKO it with a STAB Bug-type move, catch it as it flees with Pursuit, or finish it off with a strong Bullet Punch.</p>
<p>Volcarona easily OHKOes Reuniclus with Bug Buzz and isn't weak to any of its moves, though it must watch out for Psyshock, which preys on its mediocre physical bulk. Tyranitar takes a lot of damage from Focus Blast, so it cannot take down the Trick Room set reliably, but against the Calm Mind set, with a Choice Band, it can usually OHKO with Crunch or catch it on the switch with Pursuit. Unless there is a variation in Reuniclus's Calm Mind set, Sableye completely walls that particular Reuniclus, and can Taunt it so it is unable to recover. Without Psyshock, Blissey and Chansey can wall the Trick Room set, but be warned that they are often setup fodder for the Calm Mind set. Anything with Sucker Punch is a pain for the Trick Room set, but unfortunately the only Pokemon commonly seen in OU with the move happens to be Toxicroak, which is easily OHKOed by a STAB move. Finally, despite Reuniclus's decent bulk, powerful physical attackers like Choice Band Garchomp can 2HKO it with powerful STAB moves. Because Reuniclus is very slow, it will get worn down rather easily, as it will have to take a hit from nearly everything before it can retaliate as long as it isn't under Trick Room conditions.</p>
[pimg]609[/pimg]
Current Analysis
[Overview]
<p>Reuniclus's claim to fame is its ability to destroy fast offensive teams by turning their Speed against them or relatively weak stall teams by using them as setup fodder. Its ability, Magic Guard, aids it in this task, as it means that Reuniclus cannot be worn down by Life Orb recoil or statuses such as Toxic. This, when combined with above average bulk, a high Special Attack stat, instant recovery, and a resistance to ever-common Fighting-type moves, makes Reuniclus a dangerous Pokemon to handle. Despite these quirks, Reuniclus sometimes struggles to stand out. The main source of its competition comes from the Dream World, which gave the much frailer but more powerful and faster Alakazam Magic Guard. In addition, old foes such as Latias, who sports a Dragon typing, are still common in the metagame and give Reuniclus competition for a slot for a Psychic-type. When Reuniclus isn't in Trick Room, it is painfully slow, and its weakness to Pursuit and U-turn makes it susceptible to common Pokemon like Tyranitar and Scizor. Despite these flaws, Reuniclus is still a solid Pokemon that can devastate unprepared teams</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Psychic / Psyshock
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fire
item: Life Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Quiet
evs: 192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While Trick Room is rarely deemed a viable strategy within the Overused tier, Reuniclus has all the tools it needs in order to use a Trick Room set well. Offensive teams that depend on their Speed to succeed tend to struggle against Reuniclus when it uses this set, and with a pathetic Speed stat of 58 with 0 IVs and a Quiet nature, everything in OU is outsped under Trick Room with the exception of Ferrothorn, who is incapable of dealing very much damage to Reuniclus. In addition, its ability prevents it from being worn down by weather, its own Life Orb, or a status, meaning that you have to survive its blows if you want to defeat it.</p>
<p>The ever tricky decision of Psychic or Psyshock applies here for the main STAB option. Generally, Psychic is the preferred option, as ironically many physical walls, such as Gliscor and Hippowdon, will be able to stall Reuniclus out of Trick Room turns since it doesn't have a strong enough special move to hit them with. However, Psyshock is still useful in order to get past Terrakion in sandstorm, as well as Blissey and Chansey. Focus Blast is needed to hit Dark-types and Steel-types hard and hits Tyranitar, a Pokemon that can usually deal a lot of damage to Reuniclus, especially hard. Shadow Ball is the preferred option in the last slot, as it hits Latios, Latias, and Celebi harder than anything else Reuniclus has. However, outside of the rain, Hidden Power Fire hits Scizor and Jirachi hard, and it still hits Celebi relatively hard. It also gives a reliable way to finish off Ferrothorn and Forretress as it will not miss, like Focus Blast often does.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The listed EVs maximize Reuniclus's overall bulk while still giving it maximum Special Attack. A Life Orb is the preferred item in order to boost Reuniclus's damage output, and a big advantage that Reuniclus has over other Life Orb users is that Magic Guard negates the recoil damage from it, meaning that Reuniclus is free to use it without drawbacks. Recover is usable here, as it can recover health if a wall is trying to wear down Reuniclus with repeated attacks, but the lack of residual damage wearing Reuniclus down, as well as a lack of coverage with only two moves, makes this a usually rather poor choice.</p>
<p>Psychic-types such as Celebi, Latios, Jirachi, and Latias are capable of taking even a super effective hit from Shadow Ball, or Hidden Power Fire in the case of Jirachi. Due to this, Tyranitar is a good partner for Reuniclus, as with the exception of Jirachi, it can hit them hard and potentially OHKO with Crunch or, if they flee, it can Pursuit them for similar results. In addition to this, Reuniclus is immune to sandstorm damage, meaning that Tyranitar's ability to summon it only helps Reuniclus wear down the opponent. Because Reuniclus is one of the only Pokemon that is viable in OU to set up and take advantage of Trick Room, other slow, powerful Pokemon such as Conkeldurr and, once again, Tyranitar work well as they can deal massive damage when under these conditions while also being difficult to outspeed.</p>
<p>If Psychic is used over Psyshock, Blissey and Chansey are capable of stalling out Trick Room turns with their massive Special Defense and their instant healing. Fighting-type Pokemon can easily prey upon the two's weakness to their STAB attacks. Pokemon like Breloom are capable of OHKOing them easily, but two Pokemon that stand out as Fighting-type partners are Lucario and Terrakion due to their ability Justified. Due to this, if Reuniclus were to be in danger of being hit by a Dark-type move that is not Pursuit, these Pokemon can switch in and get an Attack boost, making them more powerful. On a similar note, Fighting-types can also deal with Tyranitar reliably, which is useful as it can take a Focus Blast from Reuniclus with enough investment, if it even hits at all. Scizor is also a common threat to Reuniclus and will most likely try to use U-turn on it to do a lot of damage or Bullet Punch it to finish it off and ignore the Trick Room conditions; Heatran takes very little damage from either move and can OHKO Scizor.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Recover
move 3: Psyshock
move 4: Focus Blast
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>When Reuniclus was first introduced, this set was considered to be nearly unbreakable, due to its demolition of stall teams and large bulk with enough boosts. However, stall teams have become rather uncommon in BW2, thanks to new threats like Tornadus-T and Technician Breloom being able to power through them easily. Additionally, even with maximum bulk, certain things like Choice Band Garchomp are still able to 2HKO Reuniclus with their powerful STAB moves, and it doesn't have very many resistances. Despite this, Reuniclus is still one of the best stallbreakers in the OU tier thanks to its access to an instant recovery move, as well as Magic Guard, which means it cannot be worn down by Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, sandstorm damage, and other residual damage. Because stall teams are generally weak, Reuniclus can set up Calm Minds and then begin to power through them. It isn't only stall teams that Reuniclus can set up on; it can also up on things like Conkeldurr that cannot hit it hard.</p>
<p>Calm Mind, of course, is the crux of this set, as it allows Reuniclus to take more hits on its uninvested Special Defense and makes it hit harder. When the opponent begins to put notable damage upon Reuniclus, Recover can heal 50% of its health, which also means there is more time to set up Calm Minds. Psyshock is the preferred option to get past Chansey and Blissey, as well as other special walls. Focus Blast is used to get past Dark- and Steel-types, especially Tyranitar.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This set maximizes Reuniclus's physical bulk, and the more investment it has in its physical bulk, the more likely it is to avoid an OHKO from Choice Band Tyranitar's Crunch. Leftovers is preferred in order to naturally recover health as it is setting up. Even though Reuniclus doesn't take any residual damage, the extra healing is still appreciated. However, a Life Orb can be used as Magic Guard means that Reuniclus won't take any damage from it, which essentially gives it a free boost, and even though this particular Reuniclus doesn't invest in its Special Attack, the boost can still be appreciated.</p>
<p>Because Reuniclus will get outsped by Tyranitar and Scizor, both of which can deal massive damage to it, Reuniclus needs partners to take their STAB moves. Preferably, get these Pokemon eliminated as fast as possible so that Reuniclus can boost late-game and sweep. Tyranitar can be OHKOed by Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion, and Scizor can be dealt with by using Fire-types like Heatran. Infernape can OHKO both Tyranitar and Scizor as it has access to Fighting- and Fire-type STAB moves, but it is incapable of switching in as easily thanks to its subpar bulk. This set's coverage isn't hitting Psychic-type Pokemon very hard, so support from Tyranitar is appreciated as it can defeat Celebi, Latios, and Latias with its STAB Crunch or Pursuit. Jirachi, a Psychic-type which Tyranitar struggles against, is taken care of by powerful Ground-type moves from Pokemon such as Hippowdon and Landorus. Note that Hippowdon and Tyranitar's Sand Stream is an additional way to wear down the opponent.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Reuniclus has a few other options to consider. A Life Orb + 3 attacks set with Recover might seem like a good idea at first, but this is a scenario in which Alakazam is more useful, mainly because it is much faster than Reuniclus and won't be forced to take repeated hits. Due to the ubiquity of rain, Thunder is an option to hit Water-type Pokemon, as well as Tornadus-T, for massive damage. Energy Ball and Grass Knot provide similar utility, but the main issue with these moves is that Reuniclus doesn't have the space in its moveset. Regenerator is a great ability, but Reuniclus can generally take more advantage of Magic Guard, as it doesn't switch out very often. Reuniclus can play defensively and provide support with moves like Thunder Wave or Dual Screens, but its subpar defensive typing makes other Pokemon better at this. Finally, Trick can pull off some interesting strategies, such as Tricking a Flame Orb onto the opponent as a lure, but this requires a lot of prediction to pull off, as a burned Reuniclus is a rather easy way to indicate that the opponent should avoid switching in their Scizor.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Reuniclus can be difficult to counter when it has set up, but there are numerous Pokemon that can defeat it both before and afterwards. Jirachi is probably the best counter, as it takes very little damage from any of Reuniclus's moves and can wear it down with repeated Iron Heads. Latias resists almost everything Reuniclus can throw at it, and even if it has Shadow Ball, Latias can avoid the 2HKO and recover off the damage fairly easily. Specially defensive Celebi avoids a 2HKO from Shadow Ball as well, meaning that both can stall out Trick Room turns. Latios is similar to Latias, and even though it won't take Shadow Balls as easily, its powerful STAB Dragon-type moves can power through Reuniclus. Slowking's large Special Defense allows it to take repeated hits, and thanks to Regenerator and Slack Off it is easy for Slowking to heal off damage from Shadow Ball. Due to Hidden Power Fire being pretty uncommon, Scizor can usually deal with Reuniclus fairly easily and OHKO it with a STAB Bug-type move, catch it as it flees with Pursuit, or finish it off with a strong Bullet Punch.</p>
<p>Volcarona easily OHKOes Reuniclus with Bug Buzz and isn't weak to any of its moves, though it must watch out for Psyshock, which preys on its mediocre physical bulk. Tyranitar takes a lot of damage from Focus Blast, so it cannot take down the Trick Room set reliably, but against the Calm Mind set, with a Choice Band, it can usually OHKO with Crunch or catch it on the switch with Pursuit. Unless there is a variation in Reuniclus's Calm Mind set, Sableye completely walls that particular Reuniclus, and can Taunt it so it is unable to recover. Without Psyshock, Blissey and Chansey can wall the Trick Room set, but be warned that they are often setup fodder for the Calm Mind set. Anything with Sucker Punch is a pain for the Trick Room set, but unfortunately the only Pokemon commonly seen in OU with the move happens to be Toxicroak, which is easily OHKOed by a STAB move. Finally, despite Reuniclus's decent bulk, powerful physical attackers like Choice Band Garchomp can 2HKO it with powerful STAB moves. Because Reuniclus is very slow, it will get worn down rather easily, as it will have to take a hit from nearly everything before it can retaliate as long as it isn't under Trick Room conditions.</p>
