[OVERVIEW]
Roserade is a relatively niche Pokemon in the Battle Spot Singles metagame. It faces great competition from Grass-types such as Serperior and Mega Venusaur, which both offer more utility on a team due to their Speed and bulk, respectively. However, Roserade manages to separate itself from other Grass-types by having a better offensive movepool and, most notably, access to Technician. Roserade boasts an impressive Special Attack stat, and with Technician, it has the rare ability to utilize a 90 BP Hidden Power for flexibility in strong coverage options. Access to Sleep Powder lets it function similarly to a special equivalent of Breloom, winning against many threats one-on-one with a Focus Sash. A Grass / Poison typing also grants Roserade very useful resistances to primarily special types like Electric, Water, and Fairy, which function well with Roserade's respectable Special Defense. This allows Roserade to beat common bulky Water-types like Suicune and Rotom-W while also threatening Fairy-types like Sylveon and Azumarill. However, incredibly low physical bulk brings Roserade down, making it difficult to take even resisted physical hits. It also sits at an awkward Speed tier for a somewhat frail Pokemon, leaving Roserade outsped by many relevant threats such as Garchomp, Mega Kangaskhan, and Gengar. As a Grass-type it suffers from weaknesses to common attacking types like Flying, Fire, and Ice, which make it difficult for Roserade to last long without a Focus Sash.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Giga Drain / Magical Leaf / Leaf Storm
move 3: Extrasensory / Sleep Powder
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice / Sleep Powder
item: Focus Sash / Life Orb / Expert Belt
ability: Technician / Natural Cure
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 12 HP / 248 SpA / 248 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Sludge Bomb is Roserade's primary STAB move, allowing it to beat Fairy- and Grass-types and boasting a useful 30% chance to poison the foe. Giga Drain is a secondary STAB move that pairs well with Life Orb to heal off recoil and helps Roserade last longer, though the power can be underwhelming against bulky Water-types like Suicune. Magical Leaf is a reliable alternative that benefits from Technician, hitting 90 Base Power and ignoring evasion in case of an emergency. However, Roserade typically struggles against most common evasion boosters anyway, so the accuracy isn't a major draw. Leaf Storm is Roserade's most powerful Grass-type STAB move, capable of OHKOing Suicune and Rotom-W reliably without a Life Orb, but the Special Attack drops can turn Roserade into setup fodder, which is not preferable on a Pokemon that wants to maintain momentum for its team. Roserade needs Extrasensory to avoid being walled by Poison-types like Gengar and Mega Venusaur, as well as to hit Blaziken on the switch. Technician-boosted Hidden Power Fire beats Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Scizor, which otherwise completely wall Roserade; this is especially useful since the former is immune to Sleep Powder. In contrast, Hidden Power Ice makes Roserade more vulnerable against Steel-types but allows it to effectively lure Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Mega Salamence. However, it needs to run Focus Sash for this, as all of them outspeed Roserade. If one of the coverage slots isn't necessary, Sleep Powder is an option to let it punish switches and turn potentially bad matchups into favorable ones, all while keeping its Focus Sash intact.
Set Details
========
Technician is used almost exclusively for a stronger Hidden Power, though this is one of the primary reasons to use Roserade over other Grass-types anyway. Natural Cure is an alternative if Roserade is not running Hidden Power to let it function as a switch-in to Scald and status moves; otherwise, Technician should always be used. The listed EV spread is designed to be used with Hidden Power Fire. Special Attack and Speed investment is optimized to ensure no EVs are wasted while maximizing damage output and ensuring that Roserade is as fast as possible, with the remaining EVs going into HP for a slight increase in bulk. A spread of 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe is recommended with Hidden Power Ice since it does not impact the Special Attack or Speed IVs like Hidden Power Fire does.
Modest is the preferred nature to ensure Roserade can reliably KO threats such as Hippowdon and Azumarill. Timid can be used to outspeed Jolly Mamoswine and get the jump on Adamant Mega Charizard X and Mega Kangaskhan to hit them with Sleep Powder, though the power drop is noticeable and it loses out KOs against the aforementioned threats. Life Orb gives Roserade a noticeable power boost, though Focus Sash is preferred so that it can function as an effective lure to its common checks. Expert Belt is a slightly weaker alternative to Life Orb if running four attacking moves, since Roserade covers a wide range of threats thanks to Technician Hidden Power. The lack of recoil can help Roserade survive longer and bluff another item, but unlike Life Orb, it fails to provide enough power to OHKO Mega Gengar with Extrasensory. Hidden Power Ice should not be used if Roserade runs Life Orb, though, since Roserade needs the Focus Sash to lure Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Mega Salamence.
Usage Tips
========
The item choice makes a big impact on how Roserade should be played. Focus Sash Roserade is best used as a lead or immediately after a partner is KOed to keep its Focus Sash intact. This makes it difficult to beat Roserade one-on-one, especially with the threat of Sleep Powder. Focus Sash Roserade can also lure a multitude of threats like Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Mega Salamence, so keeping Focus Sash intact is incredibly important. Life Orb Roserade doesn't have the same cushion that its Focus Sash set has, so it's more effective when used later in the game once its checks and counters have been removed or paralyzed by a partner.
Roserade's average Speed and low physical bulk mean that it has a difficult matchup against many of the format's physical powerhouses like Mega Kangaskhan, Garchomp, and Mega Salamence. However, it has advantageous matchups against common Water- and Grass-types such as Suicune, Azumarill, Rotom-W, Serperior, and Breloom, so being aware of both the good and bad matchups is important. Sleep Powder can be used to take advantage of these favorable matchups, and it's generally a safe move against Pokemon that are unlikely to stay in against Roserade. However, the move's shaky accuracy can be costly, so it's sometimes better to attack anyway if the foe might have a move that threatens Roserade, such as Knock Off from Azumarill or Ice Beam from Suicune.
Team Options
========
Steel-types like Mega Mawile and Aegislash have great synergy with Roserade, serving as good switch-ins to all of Roserade's weaknesses except Fire. Both also beat Mega Kangaskhan, which otherwise has little trouble beating Roserade regardless of its item. In return, Natural Cure lets Roserade handle status moves aimed at Mega Mawile, notably allowing Roserade to switch safely in to Scald. Fire-types like Rotom-H, Heatran, Talonflame, Blaziken, and both Charizard formes beat Steel-types for Roserade if it forgoes Hidden Power Fire, as it has no way to handle them without it. Rotom-H in particular beats Talonflame, which otherwise destroys Roserade if it lacks Focus Sash, and Blaziken deals with Mega Kangaskhan. Roserade can also handle Water-types as well as switch into Electric-type moves aimed at Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y.
Roserade appreciates Stealth Rock support to secure KOs against threats like Suicune and Hippowdon, so Garchomp and Mamoswine make for effective partners that also appreciate Roserade's ability to beat these threats for them. Paralysis support from Cresselia or Slowbro makes Roserade's job much easier by helping it outspeed the numerous threats above the base 90 Speed range. Both also help against Mega Kangaskhan, which gives Roserade huge issues, and Slowbro can comfortably deal with Talonflame. Gengar, despite stacking a Psychic weakness, pairs well with Roserade due to Mega Gengar's ability to trap and remove walls like Cresselia, Chansey, and Blissey. It can also spread burns against common physical threats like Mega Kangaskhan, Garchomp, and Mega Mawile, which all trouble Roserade. Gyarados has great synergy with Roserade as well, handling Fire-types that give Roserade trouble and appreciating Roserade's ability to switch into Electric-type moves. In return, Roserade handles Fairy-types such as Sylveon and Azumarill for Mega Gyarados.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Choice Scarf is an alternative to allow Roserade function as a revenge killer due to its wide offensive movepool. Timid Choice Scarf Roserade outspeeds all relevant Pokemon with the exception of faster Choice Scarf users, while Modest lets it outspeed up to base 140 Speed Pokemon. Assault Vest lets Roserade more comfortably switch in to special attackers, with Giga Drain healing some of the damage it takes. This item is notable for letting Roserade survive Ice Beam from Greninja to beat it with Hidden Power Fire. However, Assault Vest sets lack the power of Life Orb and Expert Belt as well as the safety of Focus Sash. Roserade can run a bulkier Natural Cure set with Black Sludge and a Calm nature on teams that want Mega Venusaur's resistances but don't want to use up the Mega slot. It can also utilize Rest thanks to Natural Cure, but this forces it to switch out immediately. In general, Mega Venusaur or Amoonguss are still better options for a bulky Grass-type, though Roserade's offensive presence is enough to set it apart from these two.
Energy Ball is an alternative to Magical Leaf if Roserade opts for Natural Cure over Technician, though it doesn't have any advantages otherwise. Shadow Ball is an option to hit Aegislash if Roserade is running something in place of Hidden Power Fire and also hits Psychic-types like Latios on the switch. However, the move has few uses otherwise, and Aegislash is hit harder by Technician Hidden Power Fire anyway. Hidden Power Rock can be used to hit Talonflame, both Charizard formes, and Volcarona on the switch; Roserade can't afford to stay in against them unless it's running Focus Sash. However, if running Focus Sash, the recoil that Talonflame takes will put it in range of Sludge Bomb, so Hidden Power Rock isn't always needed to beat Talonflame. Dazzling Gleam hits Dragon-types like Latios while still hitting Garchomp, Mega Salamence, and Dragonite. It also hits Mega Sableye harder than any of Roserade's other moves, but otherwise Hidden Power Ice is a better option for Dragons.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fire-types**: Talonflame, both Charizard formes, Blaziken, and Heatran completely stop Roserade, either outspeeding it or walling it and OHKOing with any Fire-type move. However, all of these bar Heatran need to be wary of Focus Sash and being put to sleep or surprised by Hidden Power Rock or Extrasensory.
**Steel-types**: If Roserade lacks Hidden Power Fire, Steel-types like Mega Mawile, Scizor, Aegislash, and Ferrothorn wall it completely, and most of them threaten it with physical moves. Ferrothorn in particular is immune to Sleep Powder, so it has little trouble setting up Stealth Rock in front of Roserade.
**Multi-Hit Moves**: Mega Kangaskhan, +2 Cloyster, and Choice Scarf Mamoswine can reliably beat Roserade with Return or Icicle Spear without fear of being put to sleep by a Focus Sash Roserade. Roserade's low physical bulk means that it risks being KOed by Mamoswine's Icicle Spear even if Mamoswine only gets two hits.
**Poison-types**: If Roserade lacks Extrasensory, it has no way to deal with opposing Poison-types, and it takes neutral damage from them due to being part Grass-type. Mega Gengar and Mega Venusaur both beat Roserade with ease, and Mega Venusaur in particular is immune to Sleep Powder and doesn't take much damage from Hidden Power due to Thick Fat.
**Special Walls**: Roserade's Special Attack isn't as high as that of other wallbreakers, so numerous special walls have little trouble stopping Roserade. Chansey and Blissey in particular take little damage from Roserade, and neither is particularly bothered by Sleep Powder or being poisoned by Sludge Bomb due to Natural Cure.
**Psychic-types**: Many Psychic-types are naturally faster than Roserade, so Pokemon like Latios, Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Alakazam can threaten to OHKO it. They must be wary of retaliation by a coverage move or being put to sleep if Roserade has a Focus Sash, though they otherwise have little trouble dealing with it. Cresselia also doesn't mind what Roserade does to it other than the occasional Shadow Ball and typically isn't bothered by Sleep Powder.
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