Overview
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While it has faced increased competition from the likes of Clefable as a defensive Calm Mind user, Suicune still manages to hold its ground in the Overused environment. Blessed with amazing mixed bulk and a relatively good defensive typing, Suicune has almost all of the tools it needs to be an excellent win condition for teams. Unfortunately for Suicune, a fast-paced and offensive metagame makes its once godly bulk now questionable. This weakness is only compounded by its subpar Speed and starting power.
Defensive Calm Mind
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name: CroCune
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Scald
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
nature: Bold
Moves
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Although Suicune's movepool is by no means extraordinary, it can still make perfect use of its flagship Calm Mind set, which has certainly stood the test of time. Calm Mind is used to boost Suicune's Special Attack and Special Defense simultaneously with the ultimate aim of a sweep. Scald is Suicune's only attacking move, and is chosen over other options such as Surf solely due to its burn chance. This makes up for Suicune's unboosted physical bulk and prevents Pokemon such as Dragonite and Gyarados from boosting in its face. Also notable is the fact that a Scald burn can also help wear down special walls more quickly. Because Suicune will be taking a plethora of hits while setting up, Rest is mandatory to heal off both damage and status. Sleep Talk is used alongside it so that Suicune can continue boosting and attacking while asleep.
Set Details
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In terms of items, Leftovers is the clear option for Suicune. This provides it with a form of residual recovery, which helps it obtain boosts. There are no other viable alternatives. The EV spread maximizes Suicune's physical bulk because Calm Mind will already be boosting its Special Defense. A Bold nature is used for the same reason.
Usage Tips
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This CroCune set is best brought out in the endgame. It is by no means an immediate threat, and will need to have its checks and counters either worn down or KOed, but it is highly problematic for fractured to deal with, and can be a threatening late-game sweeper given time.
The premise is simple: begin by setting up Calm Minds as soon as possible, and heal off damage and status using Rest. Note that it is generally not necessary to boost all the way up to +6, and attempting to do so comes with the risk of an untimely fatal critical hit. Scald can be used even before Suicune is fully set-up to burn threats, and after enough boosts, a combination of Scald and RestTalk should be sufficient for a both bulky and powerful boosted Suicune to come out on top.
Team Options
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Toxic Spikes users greatly improve the effectiveness of this set as most of Suicune's counters are vulnerable to them. Specifically, Pokemon that can wall Suicune's mono-attacking coverage or power or that are otherwise unthreatened by its power, such as Unaware Clefable, Blissey, and Quagsire, all fall to Toxic Spikes. Pokemon that can form a Fire / Water / Grass core with Suicune have excellent defensive synergy with it and are thus excellent partners. Examples of this include Mega Venusaur, Ferrothorn, and Heatran. Alternatively, one can run Suicune alongside wallbreakers such as Kyurem-B and Hydreigon, which can wear down Suicune's checks and set up a late-game Suicune sweep.
Other Options
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Despite having a very shallow movepool, Suicune does have a few other options it can play around with. The combination of Roar and Calm Mind allows Suicune to phaze opposing sweepers and gain the upper hand. However, the lost recovery from Rest makes this set mediocre at best. Tailwind is also an interesting option on more offensive sets. An EV spread of 112 HP / 252 SpA / 144 Spe allows Suicune to outpace +1 Haxorus after Tailwind, as well as Adamant Breloom before the boost. Such a set would most likely use Suicune's few other offensive options: Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and Hidden Power Electric or Grass. A Rain Dance set could be used to support teammates with Swift Swim while also strengthening Suicune's STAB at the same time.
Checks & Counters
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**Grass-types**: Grass-type Pokemon make excellent checks to Suicune and, in some cases, can even wall it or instantly overpower it. In particular, Roserade, Mega Venusaur, and to some extent Ferrothorn are excellent in this regard. On the other hand, Roserade possesses the immediate power to destroy Suicune with a combination of Sludge Bomb and Leaf Storm. Mega Venusaur walls Suicune with ease, being able to attack back with Giga Drain and Leech Seed. Ferrothorn can also somewhat check Suicune, but it hates being burnt. Therefore, the outcome of this matchup greatly depends on whether or not this happens.
**Water Absorb**: Due to the mono-attacking nature of Suicune's main set, it has great trouble bypassing Water-immune Pokemon such as Gastrodon and Vaporeon. However, most Pokemon under this category cannot directly take Suicune down, and must instead rely on status moves such as Toxic, which Suicune can heal off with Rest. As such, the head-to-head matchup between Suicune and these Pokemon is inevitably a long stall war. Nonetheless, Suicune's only real way of bypassing these Pokemon is through Toxic Spikes support.
**Phazers**: While Pokemon with phazing moves cannot directly beat Suicune in a one-on-one scenario, they are still excellent checks to a Calm Mind sweep. Latias, Goodra, and Slowking can all take Suicune's Scald and proceed to phaze it out with Roar or Dragon Tail.
**Unaware**: Unaware's mechanics allow Pokemon with this ability, such as Clefable and Quagsire, to easily sponge Suicune's boosted attacks and retaliate regardless of its Special Defense boosts.
**Taunt**: Taunt is a relevant check to Suicune if used before it begins stacking Calm Mind boosts because it prevents Suicune from using three out of four of its moves. Notably, Thundurus wields a Prankster-boosted Taunt in conjunction with super effective STAB in the form of Thunderbolt or Thunder to KO Suicune.
**Offense**: Pokemon such as Kyurem-B, Thundurus, and Thundurus-T can break through Suicune with sheer offensive power. For example, Kyurem-B with maximum investment in Attack achieves a 2HKO on Suicune with a Life Orb-boosted Fusion Bolt. It is important to note one can only rely on this strategy to beat Suicune before it has garnered too many boosts.
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