Overview
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Pros:
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name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Psyshock / Pyschic / Shadow Ball
move 3: Hyper Beam / Shadow Ball
move 4: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire
ability: Pixilate
item: Choice Specs
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 204 SpA / 8 Spe
nature: Modest
Moves
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name: Flexible
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Hyper Beam / Psyshock / Psychic / Helping Hand
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire / Helping Hand
move 4: Detect
ability: Pixilate
item: Pixie Plate / Life Orb / Sitrus Berry
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 204 SpA / 8 Spe
nature: Modest
Moves
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Pros:
- STAB Pixilate Hyper Voice is absurdly strong, with a typing that hits most Pokemon for massive neutral damage (which is usually well over 50%)
- Hits adjacent foes (dual target)
- Fairy-typing that is immune to Draco Meteors and resists Sucker Punch, Close Combat, Drain Punch
- Rise of Intimidate, Will-o-Wisp, and Physically Defensive Pokemon: things that do not affect Sylveon and instead leave opposing teams weak to Special moves
- Great Special Defense and HP
- Not a Mega, so leaves room for a Mega
- Pretty good coverage moves
- Wallbreaking capabilities (although this is perhaps less important in VGC) in Hyper Beam and Choice Specs
- Pretty slow
- Poor Defense and easily targeted down by Physical Pokemon
- Low flexibility if running Specs
- Predictable and generally uses the same move (Hyper Voice) all the time, so opponents are now generally prepared
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name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Psyshock / Pyschic / Shadow Ball
move 3: Hyper Beam / Shadow Ball
move 4: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire
ability: Pixilate
item: Choice Specs
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 204 SpA / 8 Spe
nature: Modest
Moves
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- Hyper Voice hits absurdly hard. Spam it.
- Hyper Voice is like it hits for two Pokemon worth of damage, if unresisted by the opposing duo. This leaves your ally free to do whatever it wants.
- It is risky to lock yourself into another move; don't do this unless you're one-to-one against a Heatran or similar situation.
- Psyshock and Psychic for Venusaur, Amoonguss, Gengar. With Choice Specs, Psyshock can OHKO Gengar, but Gengar takes at least two hits to KO Sylveon with Sludge Bomb. Psychic may be more useful considering Venusaur runs more Physical investment.
- Hyper Beam will break Special walls. Psyshock actually does a poor job of breaking Special walls because of its lackluster power and the fact that Special walls in VGC run Physical investment.
- Shadow Ball is for Mega Metagross and Aegislash. However, you should just switch out against Mega Metagross as it is the one thing Sylveon has no chance against. Mega Metagross can outspeed and OHKO with Iron Head. Aegislash is 2HKOed by Shadow Ball, but Aegislash can also 2HKO Sylveon with Flash Cannon. Pray that it isn't running Iron Head.
- HP Ground will OHKO Heatran most of the time with Specs. HP Fire is for Scizor, but Scizor is not very popular and useful in VGC 2015.
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- I just need to reiterate that Specs STAB Pixilate Hyper Voice hits absurdly hard.
- 252 HP and 44 Def allows Sylveon to live a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Return.
- 252 HP and 108 Def allows Sylveon to live an Adamant Mega Kang's Return. But too much Physical bulk is not recommended, as it detracts from power.
- Will easily live a Flash Cannon from max SpA Aegislash due to natural Special bulk.
- 8 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cresselia (that is, 0 Speed IVs and a hindering nature). 0 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cress under Trick Room. Either is possible, but I prefer the 8 Speed version to just speed creep a little bit.
- Modest nature to maximize damage, which is the priority here.
- This is the most common Sylveon set.
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- Spam Hyper Voice. It drops foes HP to below 50% if unresisted and if the opposing Pokemon aren't incredibly bulky like Cresselia and Suicune.
- Sylveon both supports other Pokemon well and is easy to support using other Pokemon. A combo like Sylveon and Mega Kangaskhan (for Fake Out support and for high Physical damage) can pick up some KOs early on in the game.
- Sylveon has impressive bulk (not wonderful, but impressive). It can usually live a Landorus Therian's Earthquake plus another Special attack and then hit back hard using Hyper Voice.
- Even though you are running HP Ground for Heatrans and Shadow Ball for Aegislash and Metagross, you will probably find yourself never using these moves, unless it's down to a one-on-one. You'll mostly lock yourself into Hyper Voice to wreck anything that doesn't resist Fairy. Thus, when running Choice Specs over the Choice Scarf set or the Flexible set, it is more important to have proper support Pokemon for Sylveon, since Sylveon can't cover its own back and is easily outsped.
- A good and frequent scenario is to lead with Specs Sylveon to put a severe dent on the opposing team early on. After this, you have room to switch it out for later. (If you ended with Sylveon, then Sylveon is locked into that one move.) For example, you may switch Sylveon out when you see Mega Metagross come in, and then bring it back out as your final Pokemon later on to take down the Metagross using a Specs Shadow Ball.
- That said, Sylveon is also a great late-game cleaner.
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- Support using Fire-type and Fighting-type Pokemon, like Charizard, Heatran, Arcanine. These will hit Sylveon's worst enemies: Aegislash, Heatran, Mega Metagross, Scizor, Mega Mawile.
- Earthquaking Pokemon are not recommended for opposing Fire-type Pokemon because (1) Specs Sylveon doesn't have Protect to save it and (2) Fire-types these days these days are airborne (Charizard, Rotom Heat) or carry Intimidate and/or Will-o-Wisp (Arcanine, Entei). The good news is that these Pokemon aren't hard to take down using lots of strong Special moves.
- Tailwind and Trick Room and Icy Wind are very much appreciated. Cresselia can provide Trick Room and Icy Wind as well as Helping Hand support.
- Intimidaters like Landorus, Salamence, Scrafty also work.
- A fast Fake Out will allow Sylveon to get off a Hyper Voice on the first turn.
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name: Flexible
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Hyper Beam / Psyshock / Psychic / Helping Hand
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire / Helping Hand
move 4: Detect
ability: Pixilate
item: Pixie Plate / Life Orb / Sitrus Berry
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 204 SpA / 8 Spe
nature: Modest
Moves
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- Hyper Voice hits absurdly hard. Spam it.
- Psyshock, Psychic, Shadow Ball are not as great on this set as they were on Choice Specs, because they don't hit hard enough to pick up knockouts (instead causing Sylveon to get KOed).
- Hyper Beam is still a reliable hard hitter.
- Helping Hand becomes an option for dealing with Pokemon that resist Fairy. For example, Helping Hand boosted Mega Kangaskhan Sucker Punch OHKOs Mega Metagross (252 Atk / 252 Spe).
- Hidden Power Ground still hits Heatran for 60 to 70%, which puts it in easy KO range for any move that it doesn't resist.
- Detect (Protect) is an interesting move on Sylveon. More on this in Usage Tips.
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- STAB Pixilate Hyper Voice hits absurdly hard even without Choice Specs. It is still capable of bringing the vast majority of the tier to under 50% HP if unresisted.
- 252 HP and 44 Def allows Sylveon to live a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Return.
- 252 HP and 108 Def allows Sylveon to live an Adamant Mega Kang's Return. But too much Physical bulk is not recommended, as it detracts from power.
- Will easily live a Flash Cannon from max SpA Aegislash due to natural Special bulk.
- 8 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cresselia (that is, 0 Speed IVs and a hindering nature). 0 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cress under Trick Room. Either is possible, but I prefer the 8 Speed version to just speed creep a little bit.
- Modest nature to maximize damage, which is the priority here.
- Pixie Plate is generally preferred over Life Orb. This is because you'll be spamming Hyper Voice most of the time, and Pixie Plate makes Hyper Voice almost as powerful as Life Orb does without the drawback. Sylveon is fairly bulky, and Life Orb detracts from its bulk. (This is unlike glass cannons like Greninja, who don't care about the HP loss due to Life Orb.)
- Pixie Plate also can fake a Choice item or a Sitrus Berry, for an element of surprise when you bring out the Protect (Detect) on Sylveon.
- Sitrus Berry is possible, but not recommended because Sylveon is too easily KOed by Physical moves. However, it would allow Sylveon to live a Double-Edge from Mega Kangaskhan.
- The advantage of Life Orb is that it allows Sylveon to OHKO Heatrans. Will OHKO a 48 HP / 0 SpD Heatran 100% of the time. 19% chance to OHKO a 252 HP / 0 SpD Heatran.
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- Compared to Specs Sylveon, this set synergizes better with the rest of the team. While Specs Sylveon depends heavily on its teammates to support it, the flexible set carries its own weight a bit more.
- This set allows Sylveon to cripple Heatran, whose Flash Cannon cannot OHKO Sylveon unless the Heatran is holding Choice Specs.
- Because Sylveon is normally deemed a huge threat that carries Choice Specs most of the time, the opponent tends to focus on knocking it out quickly. This allows Sylveon to draw the attacks away while Protecting (Detecting). Meanwhile, Sylveon's ally Pokemon can set up a Tailwind or deal heavy damage. By setting up a Tailwind, you'll find that in the following turn Sylveon can outspeed the Pokemon which it had problems dealing with the previous turn. Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Salamence are both examples.
- If running with Tailwind, Sylveon should be EVed with 76 Spe to outspeed Pokemon with base 111 Speed or below (like Thundurus, Gengar, Latios, Mega Metagross, Mega Gallade, Terrakion, Garchomp, Mega Kangaskhan, Zapdos). 220 Spe at the cost of bulk would allow Sylveon to outrun Adamant Scarfed Landorus, which is a common threat in VGC 2015.
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- Work in progress.
Overview
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Although Sylveon was not that popular in VGC 2014, it spiked in usage at the start of 2015, becoming the fourth most used Pokemon on the Pokemon Global Link online ladder. This can be attributed mostly to (1) the return of Landorus Therian with its great defenses and Intimidate ability, (2) the arrival of other Intimidaters like Mega Salamence and Arcanine (which also carries Will-o-Wisp), (3) the overall weakness of the VGC 2015 meta to high powered Special Attackers, and (4) its Fairy immunity to Dragon-type (and those Draco Meteors) and Fairy resistances against Dark-type (Sucker Punch) and Fighting-type (Low Kick, Close Combat, Drain Punch).
With Pixilate and STAB, Hyper Voice gets a power of 175, which is only 20 less than a STAB Draco Meteor and 10 more than a STAB Hydro Pump. But the fact that Hyper Voice hits all adjacent foes (that is, it damages both of the opponents Pokemon but not your ally) pressures the opponent immensely, because even if he chooses to Protect on one Pokemon, the other would still take the full blast of Hyper Voice. Furthermore, such a hard hitting dual target move gives your ally Pokemon room to do whatever it wants, like setting up a Power-Up Punch, or unleashing a Draco Meteor.
But note that with the rise of Lando T and Mega Mence, Bisharp has also rose in usage, wielding Defiant that gives it +1 Attack whenever it is Intimidated as well as a Speed of 70 that allows it to just outspeed Sylveon. There are also many Special walls that try to deal with Sylveon. However, it is relatively easy for Sylveon to work around these checks, and shine in VGC 2015.
Oh, and did I mention that Sylveon is not even a Mega?
Flexible
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name: Flexible
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Hyper Beam / Psyshock / Psychic / Helping Hand
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire / Helping Hand
move 4: Detect
ability: Pixilate
item: Pixie Plate / Life Orb / Sitrus Berry / Wise Lens
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 204 SpA / 8 Spe
nature: Modest
Moves
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With Pixilate and STAB, Hyper Voice gets a power of 175, which is only 20 less than a STAB Draco Meteor and 10 more than a STAB Hydro Pump. But the fact that Hyper Voice hits all adjacent foes (that is, it damages both of the opponents Pokemon but not your ally) pressures the opponent immensely, because even if he chooses to Protect on one Pokemon, the other would still take the full blast of Hyper Voice. Furthermore, such a hard hitting dual target move gives your ally Pokemon room to do whatever it wants, like setting up a Power-Up Punch, or unleashing a Draco Meteor.
The second moveslot goes usually to Hyper Beam, which allows Sylveon to break walls like Cresselia and Suicune when absolutely necessary. (For this, some Speed investment could help in outspeeding Cresselia and Suicune. We'll get to that later.) Psyshock is hardly ever needed. You might think Psyshock would help damage Special walls, but in VGC most Specially Defensive Pokemon also run Defense investment, and Psyshock has lackluster power with STAB. Psychic is possible, but also not great.
Hidden Power Ground hits Heatran, and is usually preferred over Hidden Power Fire, which hits Scizor, a Pokemon that has fallen in usage in VGC 2015. Both of these moves hit Metagross and Aegislash for less than 50% damage. You may be tempted to run Shadow Ball over HP Ground and HP Fire, but Shadow Ball fails to KO either of these two Pokemon without Choice Specs (Choice Specs set is below). It is much better to simply hit Heatran extremely hard with HP Ground. That said, it is highly recommended that you run Ground-type or Fire-type allies, but more on this later.
Helping Hand is a useful move, but only sometimes. Remember that Sylveon is already a hard hitter it itself. If anything, it is probably better for Sylveon's ally to use Helping Hand on Sylveon. However, use it when you're faced with a Pokemon that won't budge to anything Sylveon has.
Set Details
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Pixie Plate allows Hyper Voice to gain another 1.2 times boost. Unless you need a 1.3 times boost and additional boost to HP Ground, Pixie Plate is recommended over Life Orb, since Sylveon is also a substantial Special wall (it usually takes at least three hits for a neutral damage Special move to KO Sylveon) that appreciates the bulk, unlike glass cannon sweepers such as Greninja that don't care about the HP loss.
The Defensive spread of 252 HP and 44 Def allows Sylveon to live a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Return 100% of the time. Any more investment to live Adamant Returns (252 HP and 108 Def) or Double Edges at the cost of power is not recommended, but of course possible.
8 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cresselia (that is, 0 Speed IVs and a hindering nature). 0 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cress under Trick Room. This is really your choice. It is not hard to outspeed Cress and Suicune. 212 Speed would outspeed 0 Speed investment Cress and Suicune and 216 would outspeed 0 Speed Rotoms, but these Pokemon tend to Speed creep, so running Speed investment is risky.
It is also possible to just run 252 Special Attack and 252 Speed.
Usage Tips
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Sylveon serves as a great partner to any Pokemon. It has great natural Special bulk and great offensive presence. As aforementioned, Hyper Voice is almost like Sylveon doing two Pokemon's worth of damage. It is also extremely hard for the opponent to OHKO Sylveon with a Special move. Heatran and Aegislash can't OHKO it with Flash Cannon. Neither can Mega Gengar with Sludge Bomb. In fact, Sylveon can usually live a Landorus Therian's Earthquake plus another Special attack. Just watch out for Bisharp's and Metagross' Iron Head.
Many would expect a Choice item on Sylveon, so a Protecting Sylveon can be a surprise. Thinking that Sylveon were Choiced, the opponent may double into Sylveon, allowing Sylveon's ally Pokemon to get a free attack off while Sylveon Protects. Of course, don't rely on this always to work.
Another beauty of this set is that it destroys Heatran. Many would consider Heatran a very reliable check to Sylveon, and neglect Sylveon's presence when they bring Heatran onto the field. This is when a HP Ground can deliver serious damage to Heatran. Life Orb is often needed to KO, however. Hidden Power Fire would OHKO Scizor, but Scizor's usage has dropped to Heatran, so you may find HP Ground more useful.
Hyper Beam is useful on Assault Vested and other Specially Defensive opponents, especially when both of your Pokemon are Special attackers.
Team Options
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Sylveon becomes an absolute monster under Tailwind or Trick Room. It is hard hitting, dual target, and fast. Almost nothing can stop it: not Bisharp, not Heatran, maybe only Mega Metagross. (Bisharp takes immense damage from Hyper Voice and Heatran is crippled by HP Ground. Under Tailwind, these two Pokemon don't get a chance to attack first.)
Still, it is important to provide Fire-type or Ground-type support, even if just for Metagross. Since Earthquake hurts Sylveon (being Defensively weak), a Fire-type is recommended, such as Charizard or Heatran. Remember that Sylveon is not a Mega, so you can still use it alongside Mega Charizard Y. The other issue with Earthquake is that Fire-types are often airborne, as in the case of Rotom Heat and Charizard, or have Intimidate and Will-o-Wisp, as in the case of Arcanine.
Some would also run Sylveon alongside a support Pokemon, like Cresselia. Cresselia can lend Helping Hand support on Hyper Voices, or provide speed control in the form of Trick Room and Icy Wind. Suicune and Thundurus also fill this role, with Thundurus also having an offensive presence alongside Sylveon.
Choice Specs
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name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Psyshock / Pyschic
move 3: Hyper Beam / Shadow Ball
move 4: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire
ability: Pixilate
item: Choice Specs
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 204 SpA / 8 Spe
nature: Modest
Moves
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With Choice Specs, Hyper Voice does an absurd amount of damage. In addition to Pixilate and STAB, Hyper Voice gets a power of 262, which is only slightly worse than a STAB Specs Draco Meteor. But the fact that Hyper Voice hits all adjacent foes (that is, it damages both of the opponents Pokemon but not your ally) pressures the opponent immensely, because even if he chooses to Protect on one Pokemon, the other would still take the full blast of Hyper Voice. Furthermore, such a hard hitting dual target move gives your ally Pokemon room to do whatever it wants, like setting up a Power-Up Punch, or unleashing a Draco Meteor.
If running Choice Scarf, the second moveslot should go to Hyper Beam, since Psyshock or Psychic aren't powerful enough to do substantial damage even when Super Effective. (See below for the Scarf set.) But with Choice Specs, Psyshock and Psychic should be more than capable of 2HKOing Venusaur and Amoonguss, as well as OHKOing Gengar. (Gengar can't OHKO Sylveon with Sludge Bomb).
Choice Specs Hyper Beam can OHKO some of the bulkiest Pokemon in VGC 2015, severely crippling Cresselia, Suicune and Milotic.
Hidden Power Ground hits Heatran, and is usually preferred over Hidden Power Fire, which hits Scizor, a Pokemon that has fallen in usage in VGC 2015. With Choice Specs both of these moves can hit Metagross and Aegislash for over 50% damage.
Shadow Ball is possible for Aegislash and Metagross. With Choice Specs, Shadow Ball actually does a substantial amount of damage.
Helping Hand is a useful move, but only sometimes. Remember that Specs Sylveon is already a hard hitter it itself. If anything, it is probably better for Sylveon's ally to use Helping Hand on Sylveon for an insane Hyper Voice.
Set Details
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Choice Specs Sylveon just hits absurdly hard.
The Defensive spread of 252 HP and 44 Def allows Sylveon to live a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Return 100% of the time. Any more investment to live Adamant Returns (252 HP and 108 Def) or Double Edges at the cost of power is not recommended, but of course possible.
8 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cresselia (that is, 0 Speed IVs and a hindering nature). 0 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cress under Trick Room. This is really your choice. It is not hard to outspeed Cress and Suicune. 212 Speed would outspeed 0 Speed investment Cress and Suicune and 216 would outspeed 0 Speed Rotoms, but these Pokemon tend to Speed creep, so it's risky.
It is also possible to just run 252 Special Attack and 252 Speed or 252 HP. Even without HP investment, Sylveon has really good Special bulk. It usually takes a neutral damage Special move at least three hits to KO Sylveon. However, you may find the lack of any Physical bulk a little frustrating.
Usage Tips
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Sylveon serves as a great partner to any Pokemon. It has great natural Special bulk and great offensive presence. As aforementioned, Hyper Voice is almost like Sylveon doing two Pokemon's worth of damage. It is also extremely hard for the opponent to OHKO Sylveon with a Super Effective Special move. Heatran and Aegislash can't OHKO it with Flash Cannon. Neither can Mega Gengar with Sludge Bomb. With some Defense investment, Sylveon can usually live a Landorus Therian's Earthquake plus another Special attack. Just watch out for Bisharp's and Metagross' Iron Head, which can OHKO under any normal circumstance.
This set is really designed to spam Hyper Voice. Even though you are running HP Ground for Heatrans and Shadow Ball for Aegislash and Metagross, you will probably find yourself never using these moves, unless it's down to a one-on-one. You'll mostly lock yourself into Hyper Voice to wreck anything that doesn't resist Fairy. When running Choice Specs over the Choice Scarf set or the Flexible set, it is more important to have proper support Pokemon for Sylveon, since Sylveon can't cover its own back and is easily outsped.
Most would probably choose to lead with Specs Sylveon to put a severe dent on the opposing team before it can do anything. Because Sylveon is Specs, leading with it gives you room to switch it out and save it for later, possibly changing your choice of move the next time you bring it in. For example, you may switch it out when you see Mega Metagross come in, and then bring it back out as your final Pokemon later on to take down the Metagross using a Specs Shadow Ball.
Team Options
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Sylveon becomes an absolute monster under Tailwind or Trick Room. It is hard hitting, dual target, and fast. Almost nothing can stop it: not Bisharp, not Heatran, maybe only Mega Metagross. (Bisharp takes immense damage from Hyper Voice and Heatran is crippled by HP Ground. Under Tailwind, these two Pokemon don't get a chance to attack first.)
It is important to provide Fire-type or Ground-type support. Since Earthquake hurts Sylveon (being Defensively weak), a Fire-type is recommended, such as Charizard or Heatran. Remember that Sylveon is not a Mega, so you can still use it alongside Mega Charizard Y. The other issue with Earthquake is that Fire-types are often airborne, as in the case of Rotom Heat and Charizard, or have Intimidate and Will-o-Wisp, as in the case of Arcanine.
Some would also run Sylveon alongside a support Pokemon, like Cresselia. Cresselia can lend Helping Hand support on Hyper Voices, or provide speed control in the form of Trick Room and Icy Wind. Suicune and Thundurus also fill this role, with Thundurus also having an offensive presence alongside Sylveon.
Choiced Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Hyper Beam
move 3: Shadow Ball / Psyshock / Psychic / Helping Hand
move 4: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire
ability: Pixilate
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Modest / Timid
Moves
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With Pixilate and STAB, Hyper Voice gets a power of 175, which is only 20 less than a STAB Draco Meteor and 10 more than a STAB Hydro Pump. But the fact that Hyper Voice hits all adjacent foes (that is, it damages both of the opponents Pokemon but not your ally) pressures the opponent immensely, because even if he chooses to Protect on one Pokemon, the other would still take the full blast of Hyper Voice. Furthermore, such a hard hitting dual target move gives your ally Pokemon room to do whatever it wants, like setting up a Power-Up Punch, or unleashing a Draco Meteor.
The second moveslot should go to Hyper Beam. Hyper Beam allows Sylveon to break walls like Cresselia and Suicune when absolutely necessary. (For this, some Speed investment could help in outspeeding Cresselia and Suicune. We'll get to that later.)
The third moveslot is really up for grabs. If you do run Psyshock, you may find that it is hardly ever needed. You might think Psyshock would help damage Special walls, but in VGC most Specially Defensive Pokemon also run Defense investment, and Psyshock has quite lackluster power. Often Psychic would do more damage to Pokemon like Venusaur and Amoonguss. In either case, without Choice Specs, Psyshock or Psychic aren't powerful enough to do substantial damage even when Super Effective. The same goes for Shadow Ball, because Shadow Ball also fails to KO either Metagross or Aegislash without Choice Specs (Choice Specs set is above), and instead Sylveon takes tons of damage from a STAB Flash Cannon or Iron Head (which OHKOs). That said, it is highly recommended that you just run Ground-type or Fire-type allies, but more on this later. Helping Hand is a useful move, but only sometimes. Remember that Sylveon is already a hard hitter it itself. If anything, it is probably better for Sylveon's ally to use Helping Hand on Sylveon.
Hidden Power Ground hits Heatran, and is usually preferred over Hidden Power Fire, which hits Scizor, a Pokemon that has fallen in usage in VGC 2015. Both of these moves hit Metagross and Aegislash for less than 50% damage.
Set Details
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The key Pokemon that 252 Speed Timid Sylveon (184 Speed at Level 50) outspeeds are max Speed Raikou (183 Speed), 252 Speed Aerodactyl and Mega Gengar (182), Mega Lucario (180), Thundurus (179), and max Speed base 110 Speed Pokemon like Latios, Mega Gallade, Gengar and Mega Metagross (178).
You may choose to sacrifice a bit of Speed or Special Attack for more bulk, but remember to strike a balance between the desired bulk, but it is recommended that you run at least 232 Speed and Timid Nature just to outspeed base 110 Speed Pokemon.
Usage Tips
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Scarfed Sylveon is fast (well, faster) but also still incredibly powerful. Hyper Voice still 2HKOs anything that doesn't resist Fairy and that isn't Specially Defensive. However, base 60 Speed isn't great even after Choice Scarf. The greatest advantage of this set is the element of surprise, as few would expect Choice Scarf on Sylveon.
In this case, Sylveon can be paired with another fast Pokemon (faster than base 100 Speed or base 110 Speed) to pick up some surprise KOs. For example, if running Greninja and Sylveon, most opponents would expect Greninja to attack first, and then Sylveon can be taken out with a Physical move like Kangaskhan's Double Edge. However, Since Scarfed Sylveon outspeeds Kangaskhan, the combination of Low Kick from Greninja and Hyper Voice from Sylveon can pick up an unexpected KO on Kangaskhan.
As aforementioned, Hyper Voice is almost like Sylveon doing two Pokemon's worth of damage, meaning the opponent had better be prepared. (Often they can be overprepared for Sylveon.) It is also extremely hard for the opponent to OHKO Sylveon with a Special move. Heatran and Aegislash can't OHKO it with Flash Cannon. Neither can Mega Gengar with Sludge Bomb. In fact, Sylveon can usually live a Landorus Therian's Earthquake plus another Special attack. Just watch out for Bisharp's and Metagross' Iron Head.
Team Options
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It is important to provide Fire-type or Ground-type support. Since Earthquake hurts Sylveon (being Defensively weak), a Fire-type is recommended, such as Charizard or Heatran. Remember that Sylveon is not a Mega, so you can still use it alongside Mega Charizard Y. The other issue with Earthquake is that Fire-types are often airborne, as in the case of Rotom Heat and Charizard, or have Intimidate and Will-o-Wisp, as in the case of Arcanine.
Some would also run Sylveon alongside a support Pokemon, like Cresselia. Cresselia can lend Helping Hand support on Hyper Voices, or provide speed control in the form of Trick Room and Icy Wind. Suicune and Thundurus also fill this role, with Thundurus also having an offensive presence alongside Sylveon.
Other Options
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Sylveon is in a comfortable Speed tier for Trick Room usage. It underspeeds Tyranitar (outspeeds under TR), Politoed, Magnezone, Heatran, Scizor, and Metagross - Pokemon that are great checks to Sylveon. (However, Amoonguss and Aegislash can still beat Sylveon.) It also underspeeds the vast majority of Dragon-types, which it can OHKO. Running minimum speed would also allow greater invest in Special Attack and bulk.
Checks & Counters
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The Steel-types: Mega Metagross, Mega Mawile, Heatran, Scizor, Aegislash, Mega Lucario
The Fire-types: Mega Charizard Y, Arcanine, Rotom Heat, Camerupt
The Poison-types: Gengar, Amoonguss, Mega Venusaur
Choice Band Scizor can OHKO Sylveon with Bullet Punch. Mega Metagross can KO with Iron Head. All of these Pokemon KO Sylveon before Sylveon can attack. On the other hand, Heatran and Aegislash wall Hyper Voice pretty hard, being both Physically and Specially Defense (unlike Scizor and Metagross which are Physical only), but they fail to OHKO with Flash Cannon. (Aegislash may run Iron Head, rarely.) Mawile can also take a Hyper Voice, and then it can OHKO with Iron Head.
To deal with Mega Metagross, Mega Mawile, Heatran, and Scizor, simply run HP Ground on Sylveon alongside your own Fire-type, such as Charizard, Chandelure, Heatran. Mega Lucario cannot KO with Bullet Punch and instead gets OHKOed (probably) with a neutral Hyper Voice. Pray that Lucario isn't running Adaptability Iron Head or Flash Cannon.
Gengar is ruined by Psyshock, but it's so frail that even Hyper Voice does a substantial amount of damage. A Sludge Bomb does not OHKO Sylveon.
Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss are harder to deal with. Psyshock doesn't do enough damage because they tend to run Defense investment. Your best bet is to rely on some other Pokemon.
Mega Charizard Y takes about 25% damage from no Specs Sylveon's Hyper Voice, and hits back pretty hard with Heat Wave or Overheat. However, Charizard is not fast and pretty frail. Terrakion can easily beat it. Terrakion can also Close Combat some of the Steel-types. Arcanine and Rotom Heat are generally not too big of a problem, since they can't do much to Sylveon (unless Arcanine runs Flare Blitz). Make sure you have some answer for these Pokemon.
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Although Sylveon was not that popular in VGC 2014, it spiked in usage at the start of 2015, becoming the fourth most used Pokemon on the Pokemon Global Link online ladder. This can be attributed mostly to (1) the return of Landorus Therian with its great defenses and Intimidate ability, (2) the arrival of other Intimidaters like Mega Salamence and Arcanine (which also carries Will-o-Wisp), (3) the overall weakness of the VGC 2015 meta to high powered Special Attackers, and (4) its Fairy immunity to Dragon-type (and those Draco Meteors) and Fairy resistances against Dark-type (Sucker Punch) and Fighting-type (Low Kick, Close Combat, Drain Punch).
With Pixilate and STAB, Hyper Voice gets a power of 175, which is only 20 less than a STAB Draco Meteor and 10 more than a STAB Hydro Pump. But the fact that Hyper Voice hits all adjacent foes (that is, it damages both of the opponents Pokemon but not your ally) pressures the opponent immensely, because even if he chooses to Protect on one Pokemon, the other would still take the full blast of Hyper Voice. Furthermore, such a hard hitting dual target move gives your ally Pokemon room to do whatever it wants, like setting up a Power-Up Punch, or unleashing a Draco Meteor.
But note that with the rise of Lando T and Mega Mence, Bisharp has also rose in usage, wielding Defiant that gives it +1 Attack whenever it is Intimidated as well as a Speed of 70 that allows it to just outspeed Sylveon. There are also many Special walls that try to deal with Sylveon. However, it is relatively easy for Sylveon to work around these checks, and shine in VGC 2015.
Oh, and did I mention that Sylveon is not even a Mega?
Flexible
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name: Flexible
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Hyper Beam / Psyshock / Psychic / Helping Hand
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire / Helping Hand
move 4: Detect
ability: Pixilate
item: Pixie Plate / Life Orb / Sitrus Berry / Wise Lens
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 204 SpA / 8 Spe
nature: Modest
Moves
========
With Pixilate and STAB, Hyper Voice gets a power of 175, which is only 20 less than a STAB Draco Meteor and 10 more than a STAB Hydro Pump. But the fact that Hyper Voice hits all adjacent foes (that is, it damages both of the opponents Pokemon but not your ally) pressures the opponent immensely, because even if he chooses to Protect on one Pokemon, the other would still take the full blast of Hyper Voice. Furthermore, such a hard hitting dual target move gives your ally Pokemon room to do whatever it wants, like setting up a Power-Up Punch, or unleashing a Draco Meteor.
The second moveslot goes usually to Hyper Beam, which allows Sylveon to break walls like Cresselia and Suicune when absolutely necessary. (For this, some Speed investment could help in outspeeding Cresselia and Suicune. We'll get to that later.) Psyshock is hardly ever needed. You might think Psyshock would help damage Special walls, but in VGC most Specially Defensive Pokemon also run Defense investment, and Psyshock has lackluster power with STAB. Psychic is possible, but also not great.
Hidden Power Ground hits Heatran, and is usually preferred over Hidden Power Fire, which hits Scizor, a Pokemon that has fallen in usage in VGC 2015. Both of these moves hit Metagross and Aegislash for less than 50% damage. You may be tempted to run Shadow Ball over HP Ground and HP Fire, but Shadow Ball fails to KO either of these two Pokemon without Choice Specs (Choice Specs set is below). It is much better to simply hit Heatran extremely hard with HP Ground. That said, it is highly recommended that you run Ground-type or Fire-type allies, but more on this later.
Helping Hand is a useful move, but only sometimes. Remember that Sylveon is already a hard hitter it itself. If anything, it is probably better for Sylveon's ally to use Helping Hand on Sylveon. However, use it when you're faced with a Pokemon that won't budge to anything Sylveon has.
Set Details
========
Pixie Plate allows Hyper Voice to gain another 1.2 times boost. Unless you need a 1.3 times boost and additional boost to HP Ground, Pixie Plate is recommended over Life Orb, since Sylveon is also a substantial Special wall (it usually takes at least three hits for a neutral damage Special move to KO Sylveon) that appreciates the bulk, unlike glass cannon sweepers such as Greninja that don't care about the HP loss.
The Defensive spread of 252 HP and 44 Def allows Sylveon to live a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Return 100% of the time. Any more investment to live Adamant Returns (252 HP and 108 Def) or Double Edges at the cost of power is not recommended, but of course possible.
8 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cresselia (that is, 0 Speed IVs and a hindering nature). 0 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cress under Trick Room. This is really your choice. It is not hard to outspeed Cress and Suicune. 212 Speed would outspeed 0 Speed investment Cress and Suicune and 216 would outspeed 0 Speed Rotoms, but these Pokemon tend to Speed creep, so running Speed investment is risky.
It is also possible to just run 252 Special Attack and 252 Speed.
Usage Tips
========
Sylveon serves as a great partner to any Pokemon. It has great natural Special bulk and great offensive presence. As aforementioned, Hyper Voice is almost like Sylveon doing two Pokemon's worth of damage. It is also extremely hard for the opponent to OHKO Sylveon with a Special move. Heatran and Aegislash can't OHKO it with Flash Cannon. Neither can Mega Gengar with Sludge Bomb. In fact, Sylveon can usually live a Landorus Therian's Earthquake plus another Special attack. Just watch out for Bisharp's and Metagross' Iron Head.
Many would expect a Choice item on Sylveon, so a Protecting Sylveon can be a surprise. Thinking that Sylveon were Choiced, the opponent may double into Sylveon, allowing Sylveon's ally Pokemon to get a free attack off while Sylveon Protects. Of course, don't rely on this always to work.
Another beauty of this set is that it destroys Heatran. Many would consider Heatran a very reliable check to Sylveon, and neglect Sylveon's presence when they bring Heatran onto the field. This is when a HP Ground can deliver serious damage to Heatran. Life Orb is often needed to KO, however. Hidden Power Fire would OHKO Scizor, but Scizor's usage has dropped to Heatran, so you may find HP Ground more useful.
Hyper Beam is useful on Assault Vested and other Specially Defensive opponents, especially when both of your Pokemon are Special attackers.
Team Options
========
Sylveon becomes an absolute monster under Tailwind or Trick Room. It is hard hitting, dual target, and fast. Almost nothing can stop it: not Bisharp, not Heatran, maybe only Mega Metagross. (Bisharp takes immense damage from Hyper Voice and Heatran is crippled by HP Ground. Under Tailwind, these two Pokemon don't get a chance to attack first.)
Still, it is important to provide Fire-type or Ground-type support, even if just for Metagross. Since Earthquake hurts Sylveon (being Defensively weak), a Fire-type is recommended, such as Charizard or Heatran. Remember that Sylveon is not a Mega, so you can still use it alongside Mega Charizard Y. The other issue with Earthquake is that Fire-types are often airborne, as in the case of Rotom Heat and Charizard, or have Intimidate and Will-o-Wisp, as in the case of Arcanine.
Some would also run Sylveon alongside a support Pokemon, like Cresselia. Cresselia can lend Helping Hand support on Hyper Voices, or provide speed control in the form of Trick Room and Icy Wind. Suicune and Thundurus also fill this role, with Thundurus also having an offensive presence alongside Sylveon.
Choice Specs
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name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Psyshock / Pyschic
move 3: Hyper Beam / Shadow Ball
move 4: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire
ability: Pixilate
item: Choice Specs
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 204 SpA / 8 Spe
nature: Modest
Moves
========
With Choice Specs, Hyper Voice does an absurd amount of damage. In addition to Pixilate and STAB, Hyper Voice gets a power of 262, which is only slightly worse than a STAB Specs Draco Meteor. But the fact that Hyper Voice hits all adjacent foes (that is, it damages both of the opponents Pokemon but not your ally) pressures the opponent immensely, because even if he chooses to Protect on one Pokemon, the other would still take the full blast of Hyper Voice. Furthermore, such a hard hitting dual target move gives your ally Pokemon room to do whatever it wants, like setting up a Power-Up Punch, or unleashing a Draco Meteor.
If running Choice Scarf, the second moveslot should go to Hyper Beam, since Psyshock or Psychic aren't powerful enough to do substantial damage even when Super Effective. (See below for the Scarf set.) But with Choice Specs, Psyshock and Psychic should be more than capable of 2HKOing Venusaur and Amoonguss, as well as OHKOing Gengar. (Gengar can't OHKO Sylveon with Sludge Bomb).
Choice Specs Hyper Beam can OHKO some of the bulkiest Pokemon in VGC 2015, severely crippling Cresselia, Suicune and Milotic.
Hidden Power Ground hits Heatran, and is usually preferred over Hidden Power Fire, which hits Scizor, a Pokemon that has fallen in usage in VGC 2015. With Choice Specs both of these moves can hit Metagross and Aegislash for over 50% damage.
Shadow Ball is possible for Aegislash and Metagross. With Choice Specs, Shadow Ball actually does a substantial amount of damage.
Helping Hand is a useful move, but only sometimes. Remember that Specs Sylveon is already a hard hitter it itself. If anything, it is probably better for Sylveon's ally to use Helping Hand on Sylveon for an insane Hyper Voice.
Set Details
========
Choice Specs Sylveon just hits absurdly hard.
The Defensive spread of 252 HP and 44 Def allows Sylveon to live a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Return 100% of the time. Any more investment to live Adamant Returns (252 HP and 108 Def) or Double Edges at the cost of power is not recommended, but of course possible.
8 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cresselia (that is, 0 Speed IVs and a hindering nature). 0 Speed allows Sylveon to outspeed minimum Speed Cress under Trick Room. This is really your choice. It is not hard to outspeed Cress and Suicune. 212 Speed would outspeed 0 Speed investment Cress and Suicune and 216 would outspeed 0 Speed Rotoms, but these Pokemon tend to Speed creep, so it's risky.
It is also possible to just run 252 Special Attack and 252 Speed or 252 HP. Even without HP investment, Sylveon has really good Special bulk. It usually takes a neutral damage Special move at least three hits to KO Sylveon. However, you may find the lack of any Physical bulk a little frustrating.
Usage Tips
========
Sylveon serves as a great partner to any Pokemon. It has great natural Special bulk and great offensive presence. As aforementioned, Hyper Voice is almost like Sylveon doing two Pokemon's worth of damage. It is also extremely hard for the opponent to OHKO Sylveon with a Super Effective Special move. Heatran and Aegislash can't OHKO it with Flash Cannon. Neither can Mega Gengar with Sludge Bomb. With some Defense investment, Sylveon can usually live a Landorus Therian's Earthquake plus another Special attack. Just watch out for Bisharp's and Metagross' Iron Head, which can OHKO under any normal circumstance.
This set is really designed to spam Hyper Voice. Even though you are running HP Ground for Heatrans and Shadow Ball for Aegislash and Metagross, you will probably find yourself never using these moves, unless it's down to a one-on-one. You'll mostly lock yourself into Hyper Voice to wreck anything that doesn't resist Fairy. When running Choice Specs over the Choice Scarf set or the Flexible set, it is more important to have proper support Pokemon for Sylveon, since Sylveon can't cover its own back and is easily outsped.
Most would probably choose to lead with Specs Sylveon to put a severe dent on the opposing team before it can do anything. Because Sylveon is Specs, leading with it gives you room to switch it out and save it for later, possibly changing your choice of move the next time you bring it in. For example, you may switch it out when you see Mega Metagross come in, and then bring it back out as your final Pokemon later on to take down the Metagross using a Specs Shadow Ball.
Team Options
========
Sylveon becomes an absolute monster under Tailwind or Trick Room. It is hard hitting, dual target, and fast. Almost nothing can stop it: not Bisharp, not Heatran, maybe only Mega Metagross. (Bisharp takes immense damage from Hyper Voice and Heatran is crippled by HP Ground. Under Tailwind, these two Pokemon don't get a chance to attack first.)
It is important to provide Fire-type or Ground-type support. Since Earthquake hurts Sylveon (being Defensively weak), a Fire-type is recommended, such as Charizard or Heatran. Remember that Sylveon is not a Mega, so you can still use it alongside Mega Charizard Y. The other issue with Earthquake is that Fire-types are often airborne, as in the case of Rotom Heat and Charizard, or have Intimidate and Will-o-Wisp, as in the case of Arcanine.
Some would also run Sylveon alongside a support Pokemon, like Cresselia. Cresselia can lend Helping Hand support on Hyper Voices, or provide speed control in the form of Trick Room and Icy Wind. Suicune and Thundurus also fill this role, with Thundurus also having an offensive presence alongside Sylveon.
Choiced Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Hyper Beam
move 3: Shadow Ball / Psyshock / Psychic / Helping Hand
move 4: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire
ability: Pixilate
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Modest / Timid
Moves
========
With Pixilate and STAB, Hyper Voice gets a power of 175, which is only 20 less than a STAB Draco Meteor and 10 more than a STAB Hydro Pump. But the fact that Hyper Voice hits all adjacent foes (that is, it damages both of the opponents Pokemon but not your ally) pressures the opponent immensely, because even if he chooses to Protect on one Pokemon, the other would still take the full blast of Hyper Voice. Furthermore, such a hard hitting dual target move gives your ally Pokemon room to do whatever it wants, like setting up a Power-Up Punch, or unleashing a Draco Meteor.
The second moveslot should go to Hyper Beam. Hyper Beam allows Sylveon to break walls like Cresselia and Suicune when absolutely necessary. (For this, some Speed investment could help in outspeeding Cresselia and Suicune. We'll get to that later.)
The third moveslot is really up for grabs. If you do run Psyshock, you may find that it is hardly ever needed. You might think Psyshock would help damage Special walls, but in VGC most Specially Defensive Pokemon also run Defense investment, and Psyshock has quite lackluster power. Often Psychic would do more damage to Pokemon like Venusaur and Amoonguss. In either case, without Choice Specs, Psyshock or Psychic aren't powerful enough to do substantial damage even when Super Effective. The same goes for Shadow Ball, because Shadow Ball also fails to KO either Metagross or Aegislash without Choice Specs (Choice Specs set is above), and instead Sylveon takes tons of damage from a STAB Flash Cannon or Iron Head (which OHKOs). That said, it is highly recommended that you just run Ground-type or Fire-type allies, but more on this later. Helping Hand is a useful move, but only sometimes. Remember that Sylveon is already a hard hitter it itself. If anything, it is probably better for Sylveon's ally to use Helping Hand on Sylveon.
Hidden Power Ground hits Heatran, and is usually preferred over Hidden Power Fire, which hits Scizor, a Pokemon that has fallen in usage in VGC 2015. Both of these moves hit Metagross and Aegislash for less than 50% damage.
Set Details
========
The key Pokemon that 252 Speed Timid Sylveon (184 Speed at Level 50) outspeeds are max Speed Raikou (183 Speed), 252 Speed Aerodactyl and Mega Gengar (182), Mega Lucario (180), Thundurus (179), and max Speed base 110 Speed Pokemon like Latios, Mega Gallade, Gengar and Mega Metagross (178).
You may choose to sacrifice a bit of Speed or Special Attack for more bulk, but remember to strike a balance between the desired bulk, but it is recommended that you run at least 232 Speed and Timid Nature just to outspeed base 110 Speed Pokemon.
Usage Tips
========
Scarfed Sylveon is fast (well, faster) but also still incredibly powerful. Hyper Voice still 2HKOs anything that doesn't resist Fairy and that isn't Specially Defensive. However, base 60 Speed isn't great even after Choice Scarf. The greatest advantage of this set is the element of surprise, as few would expect Choice Scarf on Sylveon.
In this case, Sylveon can be paired with another fast Pokemon (faster than base 100 Speed or base 110 Speed) to pick up some surprise KOs. For example, if running Greninja and Sylveon, most opponents would expect Greninja to attack first, and then Sylveon can be taken out with a Physical move like Kangaskhan's Double Edge. However, Since Scarfed Sylveon outspeeds Kangaskhan, the combination of Low Kick from Greninja and Hyper Voice from Sylveon can pick up an unexpected KO on Kangaskhan.
As aforementioned, Hyper Voice is almost like Sylveon doing two Pokemon's worth of damage, meaning the opponent had better be prepared. (Often they can be overprepared for Sylveon.) It is also extremely hard for the opponent to OHKO Sylveon with a Special move. Heatran and Aegislash can't OHKO it with Flash Cannon. Neither can Mega Gengar with Sludge Bomb. In fact, Sylveon can usually live a Landorus Therian's Earthquake plus another Special attack. Just watch out for Bisharp's and Metagross' Iron Head.
Team Options
========
It is important to provide Fire-type or Ground-type support. Since Earthquake hurts Sylveon (being Defensively weak), a Fire-type is recommended, such as Charizard or Heatran. Remember that Sylveon is not a Mega, so you can still use it alongside Mega Charizard Y. The other issue with Earthquake is that Fire-types are often airborne, as in the case of Rotom Heat and Charizard, or have Intimidate and Will-o-Wisp, as in the case of Arcanine.
Some would also run Sylveon alongside a support Pokemon, like Cresselia. Cresselia can lend Helping Hand support on Hyper Voices, or provide speed control in the form of Trick Room and Icy Wind. Suicune and Thundurus also fill this role, with Thundurus also having an offensive presence alongside Sylveon.
Other Options
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Sylveon is in a comfortable Speed tier for Trick Room usage. It underspeeds Tyranitar (outspeeds under TR), Politoed, Magnezone, Heatran, Scizor, and Metagross - Pokemon that are great checks to Sylveon. (However, Amoonguss and Aegislash can still beat Sylveon.) It also underspeeds the vast majority of Dragon-types, which it can OHKO. Running minimum speed would also allow greater invest in Special Attack and bulk.
Checks & Counters
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The Steel-types: Mega Metagross, Mega Mawile, Heatran, Scizor, Aegislash, Mega Lucario
The Fire-types: Mega Charizard Y, Arcanine, Rotom Heat, Camerupt
The Poison-types: Gengar, Amoonguss, Mega Venusaur
Choice Band Scizor can OHKO Sylveon with Bullet Punch. Mega Metagross can KO with Iron Head. All of these Pokemon KO Sylveon before Sylveon can attack. On the other hand, Heatran and Aegislash wall Hyper Voice pretty hard, being both Physically and Specially Defense (unlike Scizor and Metagross which are Physical only), but they fail to OHKO with Flash Cannon. (Aegislash may run Iron Head, rarely.) Mawile can also take a Hyper Voice, and then it can OHKO with Iron Head.
To deal with Mega Metagross, Mega Mawile, Heatran, and Scizor, simply run HP Ground on Sylveon alongside your own Fire-type, such as Charizard, Chandelure, Heatran. Mega Lucario cannot KO with Bullet Punch and instead gets OHKOed (probably) with a neutral Hyper Voice. Pray that Lucario isn't running Adaptability Iron Head or Flash Cannon.
Gengar is ruined by Psyshock, but it's so frail that even Hyper Voice does a substantial amount of damage. A Sludge Bomb does not OHKO Sylveon.
Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss are harder to deal with. Psyshock doesn't do enough damage because they tend to run Defense investment. Your best bet is to rely on some other Pokemon.
Mega Charizard Y takes about 25% damage from no Specs Sylveon's Hyper Voice, and hits back pretty hard with Heat Wave or Overheat. However, Charizard is not fast and pretty frail. Terrakion can easily beat it. Terrakion can also Close Combat some of the Steel-types. Arcanine and Rotom Heat are generally not too big of a problem, since they can't do much to Sylveon (unless Arcanine runs Flare Blitz). Make sure you have some answer for these Pokemon.
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