STOP USING BLOOD TOTEM
[OVERVIEW]
- Fantastic ability in Magic Guard grants it an immunity to all forms of residual damage, even Life Orb recoil, making it a pain to face for offensive and defensive teams
- Solid Special Attack
- Magic Guard also makes Sigilyph very self-sufficient, requiring little support to remain effective
- Good type coverage, hitting a good majority of the meta for at least neutral damage
- Can perform a myriad of roles, allowing to fit on many playstyles
- Decent Speed tier, outspeeding Timid Meloetta and below
- Has reliable recovery in Roost
- Its Speed still leaves it outsped by some Pokemon such as Jolteon, Sneasel, Mega Glalie, and Flygon
- Pursuit trapped by common Pokemon such as Drapion, Spiritomb, and Houndoom
name: Life Orb
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Heat Wave
move 3: Air Slash
move 4: Roost / Energy Ball / Dark Pulse
item: Life Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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- Psychic is Sigilyph's most powerful STAB and hits decently hard with a Life Orb boost
- Heat Wave hits Steel-types such as Escavalier, Bronzong, Durant, and Mega Steelix
- Air Slash has good neutral coverage and most notably 2HKOs Houndoom
- Roost provides Sigilyph with reliable recovery
- Energy Ball hits Seismitoad, Rhyperior, Quagsire, Alomomola, and Jellicent
- Dark Pulse allows Sigilyph to hit Psychic-types such as Delphox, Meloetta, and Uxie
- Dazzling Gleam hits Scrafty and Spiritomb
- Signal Beam is another option to hit Malamar in particular, as well as other Psychic-types such as Meloetta and Uxie
- Calm Mind can also be used to give Sigilyph late-game cleaning potential, at the cost of coverage
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- Maximum Special Attack EVs allow it to hit as hard as possible
- Maximum Speed EVs plus Timid nature allows Sigilyph to outspeed as many Pokemon as possible
- Magic Guard is absolutely mandtory, as it prevents residual damage from burn or poison, and more importantly makes it take no damage from Stealth Rock
- Life Orb is chosen for the considerable boost in power and has no recoil thanks to Magic Guard
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- Sigilyph safely switches in on more passive Pokemon and Scald users such as non-Knock Off Alomomola, Amoonguss, non-Hex Jellicent, and Qwilfish, though it must watch out for Thunder Wave from the latter
- After Sigilyph has been safely brought in, begin using its powerful attacks to overwhelm the opponent
- Use Roost against Pokemon that cannot do much back or on forced switches, though using Roost can give free switch in to a Pursuit trapper
- Be wary of Pursuit trappers such as Houndoom, Drapion, and Spiritomb, as all of them are immune to Psychic, though they do not appreciate taking Air Slash
- Though Sigilyph is immune to the effects of burn and poison, it is still crippled significantly by Thunder Wave and is still vulnerable to sleep
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- Jolteon and Rotom-C are good partners, as are immune and resist Electric-type attacks respectively, and can bring is Sigilyph safely with Volt Switch
- Virizion pairs well thanks to its resistance to Electric-, Rock-, and Dark-type attacks and appreciates Sigilyph's ability to threaten Amoonguss and Roselia, opening up an opportunity for Virizion to sweep
- Durant is good offensive partner, because it is able to switch in on Mega Glalie and threaten with Iron Head, while Sigilyph is able to take down problematic Pokemon such as Alomomola, Qwilfish, and non-Hex Jellicent
- This set can struggle with Meloetta and Delphox, so Houndoom makes for an excellent partner, because it naturally outspeeds both Pokemon, can use them as set up bait, and trap them with Pursuit
- Mega Steelix is immune to Electric and resists Rock, switches in Mega Glalie relatively well, and provides Stealth Rock support, in return, Sigilyph takes out Alomomola, non Choice Scarf Emboar, and Hitmonlee
- Substitute Dugtrio is a great partner, as it traps Pokemon that give Sigilyph issues such as Houndoom, Drapion, and Delphox
- Togetic is an interesting partner due to its ability to take on Spiritomb, as well as its ability to pass Nasty Plot boosts to Sigilyph, making it a nightmare for slower teams
name: Focus Sash
move 1: Psyshock
move 2: Dazzling Gleam
move 3: Heat Wave
move 4: Thunder Wave
item: Focus Sash
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Psyshock is the Psychic-type STAB of choice as it OHKOs Virizion and Venomoth after Stealth Rock
- Dazzling Gleam lets Sigilyph act as an emergency check to Tyrantrum and Dragon Dance Scrafty
- Heat Wave nails Steel-types including Mega Steelix, Escavalier, and most notably Durant
- Thunder Wave cripples any other fast set up sweeper for another teammates to take care of after Sigilyph goes down. It also cripples common switch ins to Sigilyph such as Houndoom and Delphox.
- Tailwind is another option to temporarily boost the Speed for Sigilyph's teammates, giving slower Pokemon such as Choice Specs Exploud a way to terrorize offensive teams
- Energy Ball is good move to heavily damage Quagsire, Seismitoad, Rhyperior, and Alomomola
- Ice Beam hits both Flygon and Togetic; two prominent Defoggers, making Sigilyph pair well with hazard stacking teams
- Hypnosis, while inaccurate, can be potentially useful for shutting a problematic Pokemon
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- Maximum Special Attack EVs allow it to hit as hard as possible
- Maximum Speed EVs plus a Timid nature are used to ensure it outspeeds as many Pokemon as possible
- Magic Guard grants an immunity to all forms of residual damage, letting it preserve its Focus Sash until it has been directly hit, therefore letting it act as a revenge killer
- An alternative moveset consisting of Thunder Wave / Roost / Calm Mind / Air Slash is an option to spread around paralysis with ease and setup against more defensive Pokemon
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- Because this set primarily acts as a revenge killer, Sigilyph should not be brought in directly to any attack, rather it should be brought in after a Pokemon faints
- Sigilyph acts as a great emergency check to Dragon Dance Scrafty and Rock Polish Tyrantrum, so try to preserve its Sash if setup sweepers are present
- Against faster Pokemon that Sigilyph cannot deal much damage to, use Thunder Wave to cripple the foe, allowing a teammate to finish it off with ease
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- Without a Life Orb to boost Sigilyph's attacks, it tends to struggle breaking through bulkier Pokemon such as Alomomola and Jellicent so Virizion makes an excellent partners, as it threatens both with its Grass STAB and uses them as set up bait
- This set acts a blanket check to many Pokemon on offense, so partners such as Choice Band Drapion and Mega Glalie pair well, as they are both held back by Flygon and Durant respectively, both of which Sigilyph is able to revenge kill
- U-turn and Volt Switch users including Flygon, Rotom-C, Jolteon, and Eelectross pair well because Sigilyph wants to preserve its Focus Sash, thus cannot directly switch into attacks
- Mega Steelix is immune to Electric and resists Rock, switches in Mega Glalie relatively well, and provides Stealth Rock support, in return, Sigilyph revenge kills Choice Scarf Emboar, Dragon Dance Scrafty, and Hitmonlee
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Psycho Shift
move 2: Calm Mind
move 3: Air Slash
move 4: Roost
item: Flame Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Psycho Shift in conjunctiohn with Flame Orb, allows Sigilyph to burn its foes
- Calm Mind boosts its Special Attack and Special Defense, making it powerful and harder to take down
- Air Slash is chosen over Sigilyph's Psychic-type STAB, as it has no immunities
- Roost lets Sigilyph stay healthy throughout the match
========
- Maximum Speed EVs with a Timid nature are used to allow Sigilyph to outspeed as many Pokemon as possible
- Maximum HP EVs are used to make Sigilyph more bulky, letting it set up Calm Mind with more ease
- Magic Guard is chosen, as it grants an immunity to all forms of residual damage
- Flame Orb lets Sigilyph cripple foes with burns and makes it immune to other crippling status such as sleep and paralysis
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- This set is a terror for defensive teams, especially once its Flame Orb is activated, as it is effectively immune to status and uses a good majority of defensive Pokemon as set up bait
- Early-game while its checks and counters are present, use Psycho Shift to cripple many of its switch ins including Drapion and Sneasel or get chip damage with Air Slash
- Psycho Shift also gives Sigilyph as easier time breaking through bulkier Pokemon and lets it more comfortably set up against slower physical attackers such as Mega Steelix
- Once its answers are weakened, proceed to set up Calm Mind
- Make sure that Sigilyph has its Flame Orb activated before it switches into any status move, as sleep or paralysis greatly hinders this set's effectiveness
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- Knock Off absorbers such as Mega Steelix and Mega Camerupt pair very well, as Sigilyph takes heavy damage if not is OHKOd by the move and dislikes its item being removed. Virizion in particular takes advantage of Knock Off users, by getting an Attack boost from Justified and resists Electric- and Rock-type moves aimed at Sigilyph.
- Houndoom is thorn in Sigilyph's side due its Fire immunity and ability to pursuit trap Sigilyph so Substitute Dugtrio pairs well, as it is able to trap it, in addition to other Fire-types such as Emboar and Delphox
- Aromatisse and Togetic are good partners because of their ability to take down Spiritomb, which otherwise gives this set issues
- Powerful special attackers, in particular Mega Camerupt can still overwhelm Sigilyph, so Flygon pairs well, as it is able to switch in on most of its moves and threaten with STAB Earthquake
- Due its lacking initial power, offensive Pokemon such as Hitmonlee, Sneasel, Durant, and Jolteon pair well due to their ability to threaten faster Pokemon
Other Options
=============
- An offensive Calm Mind set with a moveset consisting of Calm Mind / Roost / Psyshock / Heat Wave with a Life Orb is another option to give Sigilyph more of an edge against more defensive teams
- Ice Beam an alternative coverage move that nets the OHKO on Tyrantrum and Flygon, as well as the 2HKO on Druddigon
- A commonly looked down upon set utilizing Cosmic Power, Psycho Shift, Roost, and Stored Power with a Flame Orb can be used, but is highly discouraged, because it takes a while for Sigilyph to start dealing Siginificant damage with Stored Power, is forced out easily, and is walled by Dark-types
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**Dark-types**: Due to their immunity to Sigilyph's most powerful STAB, most Dark-types are great switch ins for Sigilyph. Houndoom is quite possibly Sigilyph's worst enemy, as not only is it immune to Psychic, but it also is immune to Heat Wave thanks to Flash Fire, and takes very little damage from Energy Ball, though it does not appreciate taking a Life Orb-boosted Air Slash or being crippled by Thunder Wave. To retaliate, Houndoom can use Sigilyph to set up Nasty Plot, Pursuit trap, and revenge kill with Sucker Punch. Other Dark-types such as Spiritomb and Drapion are also solid answers, as both do not really mind whatever coverage move Sigilyph throws at them, annihilate it with Knock Off and Sucker Punch respectively, and are able to trap with Pursuit. Malamar is bulky enough to to easily take Air Slash, boosts up against Sigilyph with Superpower and KOs with Knock Off. Malamar is able to heal off any status inflicted with Rest.
**Psychic-types**: While Sigilyph does have excellent coverage, it does not have much for other Psychic-types. Delphox in particular resists almost every move that Sigilyph has and as a result, uses it to set up Calm Mind, or hits it hard with Fire Blast. Meloetta takes Sigilyph's coverage moves very well due to its naturally high Special Defense, uses it to set up Calm Mind, and easily 2HKOes Sigilyph with Hyper Voice. Uxie is also a good answer, as it cripples Sigilyph with Thunder Wave and is able to U-turn into a teammate that revenge kills Sigilyph, though it does lose to Sigilyph's Calm Mind set.
**Faster Pokemon**: Faster offensive Pokemon such as Jolteon, Mega Glalie, Sneasel, Choice Scarf Rotom-C, and Choice Scarf Tyrantrum are all capabale of revenge killing Sigilyph, but none of them are able to safely switch in thanks to Sigilyph's great power and wide array of coverage. Sneasel is notable, as it threatens Sigilyph with its dual STAB, is immune to Psychic, and traps with Pursuit.
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