TMR - The MSPaint Reject

bugmaniacbob

Was fun while it lasted
is an Artist Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
2 things to celebrate:

First, 100th reply to this thread! (yay)

Second, my own 500th post (yay)

So I'll reserve this post for any special, celebratory artwork I happen to think of.

And just so this isn't thought of as an unnecessary bump, here's a new piece of artwork:



Anorith gets Munchlax in a sort of body-lock and begins to squeeze...

Reminds me of a lemon squeezer. Except I don't like lemonade.

Have fun.
 
The Anorith and Munchlax looks pretty cool,as i like the way how the anorith "squeezes"the Munchlax.

Congrats on the 500th and 100th post/reply.
 
Here's your 101st post! Congratulations!

EDIT: Damn, beaten by toaster123.

Your stuff is really amazing, especially since it is made in Paint without a tablet or anything. I have to say that your Scyther and RegiRockBand stand out-but you have a lot of amazing pictures. Quite a few, too. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your art.
 

bugmaniacbob

Was fun while it lasted
is an Artist Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus

http://www.smogon.com/cap/pokemon/strategies/necturna
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[Overview]

<p>The beautiful queen of night, fair damsel and bright star, emerges from her resting-chamber with the grace of a fluid corpse. The ebon black of her skirt dappled with pale starlight, her arms swaying in the light breeze, she trickles with an air of disillusionment from her place of rest, a lone tear trickling down a face that has never seen the sun. All is serene, all is peaceful. But suddenly, something skitters between the dead trees. Awakening, she stands erect, her arms absolutely still. Then all at once, a cracking sound – her body splits in two, and then explodes. The creature within the trees raises a puzzled eyebrow, and leaves very quickly.</p>

<p>Yes, this is Necturna, the adorable little flower with the ability to smash its own nonexistent shell. Don't let her pretty looks fool you – this clairvoyant cutie is one of OU's very deadliest Pokemon. How should this be so, I hear you cry? Well, Necturna has one party piece that no other Pokemon with her level of stats has – the ability to use Sketch once, and only once, to obtain any one move that she could not learn otherwise. Shell Smash? Sacred Fire? Necturna can do it all, and as such is one of the most feared Pokemon currently in existence. Coupled with a base 120 Attack stat, which gives her the strongest Power Whip in the game, you will appreciate the terror that Necturna strikes into the hearts of all sane battlers. With the ability to perform nearly every strategy in the game, how do you fight her? And don't think she's any pushover defensively, either. With 64/120 bulk on the special side, she can certainly take more than a few hits before going down.</p>

<p>However, all is not sunshine and rainbows and Armageddon. While Necturna does possess significant power, she is not at all fast – with only 81 base Speed, she cannot really sweep teams unless she boosts her Speed. However, this has its own problems, in that if she uses her Sketch slot on a set-up move, she cannot use it for a coverage move. Thus is the shrine maiden's biggest dilemma – do you want to set up, or do you want a coverage move? Without a set-up move, she cannot sweep, but without coverage moves, her power is severely limited. Her STAB options are weak outside of Power Whip and her coverage options are limited to Hidden Power on the special side and Stone Edge on the physical side. As such, she will often find herself stopped by the common Steel- and Dragon-types of OU, especially as her physical defensive ability leaves a fair amount to be desired. Thus, despite all her power, the femme flytrap will often find herself on the receiving end of a short back and sides from OU's favourite gardening implement for naughty foliage, the infamous hedge Scizor.</p>

[SET]
name: Shell Smash
move1: Shell Smash
move2: Power Whip / Horn Leech
move3: Shadow Claw
move4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Fighting
item: Life Orb
ability: Forewarn
nature: Naughty
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Gentlemen, prepare yourselves. What we have here is nothing short of the fastest and most powerful Shell Smash sweeper in the game – well, arguably Cloyster has greater power in its coverage attacks, but Necturna's Power Whip is still monstrously powerful after a boost, and is capable of OHKOing even Pokemon who resist it, such as Latios and Haxorus, after a boost. Shell Smash is, of course, the single most powerful set-up move in the game, and is able to boost Necturna's Attack stat to frighteningly high levels, while at the same time raising her Speed stat, so trying to outrun her is fruitless, as well as her Special Attack stat, which will become important later. With this kind of power at her disposal, combined with access to a 120 Base Power STAB attack with no drawbacks, it's not hard at all to see the appeal of Shell Smash Necturna as a powerful late-game sweeper.</p>

<p>Power Whip is, of course, said 120 Base Power STAB attack, and after a boost it will be hitting opponents like, well, a whip. With an express train attached to the end. And that's a good thing, because owing to Shell Smash's unfortunate side-effect of lowering Necturna's defensive stats, coupled with Life Orb recoil, if Necturna isn't killing everything in sight in one hit, then she's in trouble. For this reason, Power Whip is recommended despite its shaky accuracy, as power is absolutely everything where Shell Smash is concerned. Of course, that's not to say that other options aren't available. Horn Leech is a decently strong STAB attack that has a very nifty side-effect of draining HP from opponents, which can be useful to offset Life Orb recoil, and is also 100% accurate, saving you from the misery of missing a Power Whip against your opponent's Gliscor. However, it should be noted that, against the aforementioned Gliscor, Horn Leech can never OHKO without severe prior damage – and if the Gliscor carries Protect, it may not even 2HKO. Hence, the loss in power is colossal, so think very carefully before making your decision. It should be noted here that Leaf Blade, while apparently a happy compromise between power and accuracy, lacks both the ability of Power Whip to OHKO serious threats and the healing ability of Horn Leech, so should never be considered as a serious alternative.</p>

<p>After this fearsome display, Necturna's other offerings to the world of Shell Smash sweeping are a little more modest. Shadow Claw is her strongest Ghost-type STAB attack, and at 70 Base Power is a far cry from Power Whip, but is a necessary evil in order to enable Necturna to function well as a sweeper. Shadow Claw has far better neutral coverage than Power Whip, and as such can be used to take care of weakened opponents where Power Whip's accuracy may catch you out, as well as enabling her to OHKO troublesome foes such as Celebi and Latias. Shadow Claw also has some other nifty applications, such as 2HKOing Jirachi and Metagross, as well as OHKOing Dragonite with Stealth Rock support. In the last slot, we come on to the coverage moves. Now, one thing that Necturna always seems to be missing is coverage on Steel-types, which is unfortunate given their significant presence in OU. As such, the coverage move ought to focus on taking out these pesky Steel-types, first and foremost; however, this means that only Hidden Power is really a good enough option. Hidden Power Fire is the ideal choice, as with the boosts provided by Shell Smash and Life Orb, it enables you to OHKO Ferrothorn, Forretress, Scizor, and physically defensive Skarmory, though it should be noted that Jirachi and Metagross are almost always hit as hard, or harder, by Shadow Claw. However, if you choose Hidden Power Fire, you cannot really beat Heatran – while offensive variants can be 2HKOed by Shadow Claw with Stealth Rock support, Heatran will OHKO with Fire Blast before you get a chance to move twice – and you also lose power in the rain, meaning that you cannot OHKO any of the above Pokemon, and cannot even 2HKO specially defensive Skarmory. In order to surprise Heatran, you can run Hidden Power Fighting, but this will only 2HKO most variants, while being weaker than Hidden Power Fire against nearly all other OU Steel-types barring Lucario and Magnezone.</p>

<p>An alternative to Hidden Power would be to run Stone Edge instead, which comes off Necturna's much higher attacking stat, and as such has a fair bit more power behind it. Importantly, Stone Edge enables Necturna to OHKO offensive Heatran and Scizor, 2HKO Forretress, and gives her a chance to OHKO some offensive Dragonite even through Multiscale. With Shadow Claw taking care of Jirachi and Metagross, all would seem to be just peachy; however, this is forgetting that Ferrothorn still exists, and will waste no time in Gyro Balling Necturna back to whatever pestilence-ridden graveyard she originated from, or using Thunder Wave to call a halt to Necturna's sweep. While this is a flaw that can be brushed off – swapping Heatran for Ferrothorn as a counter, so to speak – this is forgetting Stone Edge's miserable accuracy. It is common knowledge that Stone Edge will miss at the worst moments, and putting both Power Whip and Stone Edge on a Pokemon whose every moment is a critical one is just asking for trouble. Save yourself the trouble, and go with Hidden Power.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>As has been previously mentioned, Necturna needs to be killing everything in essentially one hit, or her sweep will be ending rather prematurely. For this reason, Life Orb is essential for some crucial KOs – notably, the OHKO on Ferrothorn with Hidden Power Fire, the OHKO on Gliscor with Power Whip, and the 2HKO on Jirachi with Shadow Claw. In fact, Life Orb's power is pretty much indispensable. Another option, if you particularly wanted to go a bulky route, would be White Herb, so that Necturna could restore her defensive stats after having used Shell Smash, and thus making greater use of her rather impressive defensive ability. She loses the ability to OHKO Ferrothorn, but in exchange she isn't automatically steamrolled by Ferrothorn's Gyro Ball. Take your pick, but be warned that Life Orb will be better in about 90% of all cases. If you really must use White Herb, then Horn Leech may well seem to be a good idea to take advantage of Necturna's improved ability to take hits, but the loss of both Power Whip and Life Orb is a power drain that seriously impacts Necturna's ability to do, well, anything. The advice, then, is to stick with the power, unless you have some seriously dedicated support going on.</p>

<p>Necturna's EV spread is a fairly simple one. Maximum Attack and a Naughty nature are essential to get the most out of Necturna's power boost, and 252 EVs in Speed ensure that whatever happens, Necturna won't be getting outrun after a boost (unless, of course, your opponent happens to be running Ninjask or Timid Choice Scarf Latios). Importantly, the EVs enable Necturna to outpace Modest Heatran before a boost and some dangerous revenge killers, such as Modest Chlorophyll Venusaur under sunlight and Jolly Choice Scarf Terrakion, after a Shell Smash. If you desperately want to switch some EVs to HP to help take hits, then some important numbers to hit are as follows: 252 EVs beats Jolly Choice Scarf Terrakion; 208 EVs beats Jolly Choice Scarf Landorus; 108 EVs beats Timid Choice Scarf Rotom-W. Anything lower than that is just asking for trouble. Remember, of course, that these numbers assume you are running Hidden Power Fighting or Hidden Power Fire, and thus have a 30 Speed IV – if you do not run Hidden Power, you can run a 31 Speed IV, so can subtract 4 EVs to all of the above numbers. Note, also, that it is inadvisable to deviate from the standard 252 / 252 spread, as outrunning Terrakion is just too important, and those extra EVs will rarely make a difference in HP. A Naughty nature is chosen in order to increase the power of Necturna's attacking moves while at the same time not limiting the power of her special coverage moves – Naughty is chosen over Lonely as Necturna's Special Defense is high enough to bear the small decrease, whereas decreasing Defense has a more noticeable effect. In reality, the choice of nature should make little difference, but Necturna has a small chance to survive various moves such as Ferrothorn's Gyro Ball and Scizor's Bullet Punch with a Naughty nature, where she would have no chance at all to survive with a Lonely nature – even if she would faint subsequently due to Life Orb recoil anyway.</p>

<p>As a general battle plan, you will want to save Necturna for late-game, at which point most of her counters will be either dead or weakened to the extent that Necturna can easily dispose of them in one hit. You will want to give yourself time to set up your hazards or other support moves, spread a bit of poison, or simply smash your opponent until they are little more than meat paste for Necturna to clean up. If you were to bring in Necturna early on in the game, there is very little to stop Scizor from jumping in while Necturna sets up and ending Necturna's plans with a quick Bullet Punch, whereas if you take the time to remove Scizor with Magnezone, Necturna will find her life a lot easier. Necturna has an advantage over other Shell Smash users in OU in that one is never entirely sure what set she is running, giving you the element of surprise over your opponent – bringing Necturna in once or twice in the early-game on a double switch can help reinforce the belief that Necturna is a Choice Band user, or similar. Because of this, Necturna has a tendency to force switches, so should have little trouble setting up on a bulky Water- or Grass-type, but once it comes to actually sweeping the opposing team, things can get tricky if you are not prepared.</p>

<p>With such power at her vine-tips, you would be well within your rights to ask yourself how Necturna could possibly be stopped. How, indeed? Well, a weakness to passive damage and rather disappointingly weak coverage moves play a part, but largely the fault lies with those pesky Steel-types, with their high Defense stats and Nintendo-approved "I am a strong Pokemon" badges. Even if you are running the coverage moves to beat them, they can still catch you out – Heatran has its STAB Fire-type attacks, and Jirachi is more than capable of running Fire Punch, which unlike Iron Head or Psychic can actually kill Necturna with a little residual damage, regardless of whether Necturna could 2HKO it or not. To be rid of them is tricky, but generally it will depend on what coverage move you are running. If Hidden Power Fire, then Heatran will be troublesome, and if Hidden Power Fighting, then Ferrothorn and Forretress will be troublesome. In fact, Skarmory, Heatran, Scizor, Jirachi, and Metagross will almost certainly be huge trouble regardless of your coverage move, particularly in the rain. To deal with them, the most desperate response is to look to trappers such as Dugtrio and Magnezone. Dugtrio can revenge kill Heatran, weakened Jirachi, and weakened Metagross lacking Bullet Punch with relative ease, but can't do toffee to Skarmory or Scizor. Magnezone, on the other hand, has a fairly easy time against Skarmory and Scizor, but specially defensive Jirachi and Metagross with Fire Punch and Earthquake, respectively, will give it trouble, and it must contend with Heatran's STAB Fire-type attacks on top of everything else. Even if a trapper isn't your thing, there is no such thing as a catch-all answer to every Steel-type. Heatran comes close, and can quite easily force out nearly all Steel-types in OU who would threaten Necturna, barring of course other Heatran, and possibly some others if protected by the rain. For this reason, Heatran makes a fairly good partner, and also has the benefit of luring in bulky Water-types that Necturna can switch in on and threaten, enabling her to set up a quick Shell Smash as they switch out. Speaking of Water-types, one of your own may be a worthwhile investment in order to make Heatran's job more difficult, as well as other Fire- or Steel-types. Vaporeon is particularly helpful for its ability to pass Wishes, so is able to possibly heal Necturna if your first sweeping attempt does not go as planned.</p>

<p>In terms of support, Necturna has few real requirements other than for the opposing team to be sufficiently weakened such that they can no longer stop her rampage. Entry hazard support is always welcome, but Stealth Rock is particularly crucial – not only does it enable Necturna to grab some pretty important KOs, such as the OHKO on Gliscor with Power Whip, but it also breaks Dragonite's Multiscale, thus allowing Necturna to go for the kill with Shadow Claw. There are plenty of decent Pokemon that can set it up, such as the aforementioned Heatran. Generally speaking, Spikes and Stealth Rock are far more valuable to Necturna than Toxic Spikes, as Necturna will want to break the opponent in one hit rather than stall them out. Deoxys-D makes for a useful Spiker, but can compound the weakness to Dark- and Ghost-type attacks shared by Necturna; similarly, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Forretress are all excellent Spikers, but can overlap somewhat with Necturna or Heatran, if you happen to be carrying one.</p>

<p>Since Necturna will essentially have only one shot at sweeping once she sets up a Shell Smash, it is in your best interests to make it worthwhile. For this reason, you may want to make it easier for Necturna not only to set up, but also to sweep, by setting up dual screens beforehand, hence making the most use of Necturna's ability to take hits – at least, before she sets up. Latias, Latios, and Espeon are all good choices – Latios is not only very fast, but can also buy Necturna a free switch and a free turn by using Memento after having set up the screens, although this is quite a big gamble to take, as if it goes wrong, you don't get a second chance. Similarly, Latias is just as fast, but gets Healing Wish instead of Memento, so can bring a weakened Necturna that has already failed to sweep once back to full strength for another attempt. Espeon, on the other hand, can discourage the opponent from attempting to use Taunt or Thunder Wave on the switch thanks to its Magic Bounce ability. All three of these tend to attract Pokemon such as Tyranitar and Scizor, however, whom Necturna will find difficult to set up on. On the other hand, Magnezone is an excellent dual screener in terms of resistances, and tends to draw in plenty of Ground-, Fighting-, and Grass-type Pokemon, such as Shaymin and Gastrodon, both of whom Necturna can switch in on fairly safely and, if necessary, bluff a Choice Band set to force a switch and gain a free turn to set up. Indeed, as previously mentioned, Magnezone is also a very useful partner regardless for its ability to trap and OHKO Skarmory and Scizor, among other Steel-types. On another note, Necturna may want some measure of weather control if running Hidden Power Fire in order to prevent the power of her coverage attacks from being compromised. As rain weakens Hidden Power Fire, Tyranitar or Ninetales may be a worthwhile investment to counter Politoed's intentions. However, if you aren't running a dedicated sun team then Ninetales is likely dead weight otherwise, and Tyranitar's sandstorm has the unfortunate effect of increasing passive damage to Necturna.</p>

<p>In lieu of being able to trap Steel-types, the alternative is, of course, to lure them out and weaken them, as few of them carry reliable recovery moves. For example, a Latios with Hidden Power Fire can lure in and OHKO a cocky Scizor, removing a deadly threat to Necturna from the game, but this is not the limit of their uses. As you would expect, Dragon-types are generally the most effective at this strategy; with hard-hitters such as Choice Band Haxorus and Salamence available, you can force the opponent's hand by forcing them to go to their Steel-types or biggest physical walls to take the inevitable Outrage, thus significantly weakening them and making them less able to deal with Necturna later on in the game. Of course, this strategy is not perfect; naturally, such a suicidal course of action can backfire and leave Necturna with few opportunities to set up, or let the opponent set up – in any case, a savvy opponent would immediately see your intention if Team Preview showed Necturna and 5 Dragon-types, so may elect to preserve their Steel-types for later. Regardless, including wallbreakers to make Necturna's job easier is a good idea, but don't be too blasé about using them.</p>

<p>On another note entirely, if you happen to want to use a Shift Gear or Swords Dance set, then this set is probably the one to base it off. Obviously, either Shift Gear or Swords Dance replaces Shell Smash as the Sketch move of choice, and both grant you a different boost. Since you are not boosting your Special Attack stat, Hidden Power of any kind is entirely outclassed by Stone Edge, so you will want to run Stone Edge for both of these sets, as well as an Adamant nature rather than Naughty. Note that Swords Dance sets may appreciate a Timid nature in order to enable them to outrun Timid Heatran, as without it they are somewhat lacking in the Speed department. Shadow Sneak is also far more viable on the Swords Dance set than it is on the Shell Smash set, as unlike the Shell Smash set, quite a lot can outrun Swords Dance Necturna, and the things that can strike first are not limited to Bullet Punch Scizor. Do note, however, that while both of these sets can boost to a significant degree without any kind of drawback, they are both generally inferior to Shell Smash as they lack the raw offensive potential and Speed at the same time, despite the lack of defensive drops.</p>

<p>As a final note, variants of the Shell Smash set given are generally inferior. While mixed sets can get along nicely thanks to the combination of power and coverage, purely physical and purely special variants tend to lack one or the other, respectively. While it has been demonstrated above that a purely physical set of Shell Smash / Power Whip / Shadow Claw / Stone Edge can work, it is largely inferior to the mixed set owing to both coverage and accuracy issues; both Power Whip and Stone Edge on one very volatile set can be problematic more often than not, and the inability to hit Ferrothorn for decent damage, or to OHKO pretty much any Steel-types, is greatly unfortunate. By contrast, a purely special set of Shell Smash / Giga Drain / Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fire has massive issues with power, as Necturna does not have a Power Whip variant on the special side (SolarBeam doesn't really cut the mustard with the omnipresence of Tyranitar and Politoed), not to mention the sorely lacking base 85 Special Attack stat.</p>

[SET]
name: Choice
move1: Power Whip
move2: Shadow Sneak / Shadow Claw
move3: Sacred Fire
move4: Stone Edge
item: Choice Band / Choice Scarf
ability: Forewarn
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>While it is possible to obtain incredible power through Necturna's sweeping sets, this is not to say that this is the only route that Necturna can take. Her single use of Sketch is indeed well used by providing a very potent set-up tool, such as Shell Smash or Quiver Dance, but at the same time, going for straightforward power is an entirely plausible option. The natural conclusion of this train of thought is, of course, that Necturna ends up with some preposterously powerful legendary exclusive move like, oh, say… Sacred Fire.</p>

<p>With a Choice Band equipped and lacking a set-up move, Necturna attains greater immediate power, greater effective bulk, and greater coverage, all in exchange for losing the ability to sweep teams. Hence, this variant of Necturna is primarily to be played in a supporting role. With a Choice Band, she can use her ferocious power to tear through opposing teams, and with a Choice Scarf, she can use her impressive Speed to act as a bulky revenge killer. Of course, the big thing that sets Necturna apart from those of a similar ilk is, of course, access to Sacred Fire, which is not only a very powerful attacking move which grants good coverage against Steel-types, but also an excellent utility move in its own right for its 50% chance to burn the opponent (or 47.5% if you factor in its accuracy), which can make the opponent regret switching their Tyranitar in. Throw in a powerful STAB move, a STAB priority move, and some filler, and you have one of the most monstrous Choice Pokemon in the game on your hands.</p>

<p>Power Whip is your STAB move of choice for the humungous strength and lack of side-effects besides low accuracy, and has some pretty impressive power behind it too. While not quite at Shell Smash levels, a Choice Band Power Whip is still capable of 2HKOing Latios and Hydreigon with Stealth Rock, so there is very little that can safely switch in, particularly with the threat of Sacred Fire behind it. Shadow Sneak is a useful priority move for the Choice Band set, and can be used to revenge kill Pokemon weak to it such as Alakazam and Latios, as well as weakened sweepers – for reference, a Choice Band Shadow Sneak will snip a minimum of 25% off a bulky Dragonite. However, Shadow Sneak is rather weak when used by the Choice Scarf variant, and the priority is less useful when you already outspeed nearly everything, so Shadow Claw is a more powerful option, which should be used over Shadow Sneak on the Choice Scarf set. Lastly, Stone Edge is Necturna's only real extra coverage, and will most often be filler – it does have some merit in catching threats such as Dragonite and Salamence off-guard, though.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Necturna's EVs and nature do not, surprisingly, change with her item, as she sits in a Speed tier full of things that she simply must outspeed, so maximum Speed and Attack are both essential. To this end, a Jolly nature and 252 EVs in Speed enable Choice Band Necturna to outrun Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite, while also enabling Choice Scarf Necturna to outpace Jolly Dragonite after a Dragon Dance. The ability to outrun Mamoswine and tie with Gyarados and other Necturna is also important. Generally speaking, the ability to outrun these threats is more important than any other application her EVs could have; however, it is certainly possible to run a bulkier spread if you value Necturna's ability to switch in, though if such is the case you would probably be better off with a different Choice user. A spread of 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe with an Adamant nature grants greater bulk and offensive presence while enabling her to outrun most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom, although the HP EVs do not do anything in particular, so for the most part the given EV spread is superior.</p>

<p>As the Sketch moveslot is not dedicated to any particular set-up move, there is a reasonably large potential for customisation to suit your team's needs. Sacred Fire is almost always the best choice for its pure overall utility, but that's not to say that other options aren't there. V-create has much more immediate power than Sacred Fire – almost twice as much, in fact – which means that Necturna actually has enough power to OHKO physically defensive Skarmory and Jirachi, which is a big plus. However, Sacred Fire can easily 2HKO both of the above regardless, and is arguably more useful in rain, given its chance to burn, even though only V-create will even come close to 2HKOing them in rain. V-create's side-effect, however, is crippling, as Necturna will likely be forced to switch out after using it once, given the drops to Speed and the defensive stats, essentially giving your opponent a free turn. Close Combat and Hi Jump Kick are alternatives that are not weakened by the rain, as well as getting a possible OHKO on Heatran, who is otherwise a pretty solid stop to Choice Necturna. However, both have negative side-effects, and neither has the same utility as Sacred Fire in terms of being able to burn opponents, not to mention that neither of them can even 2HKO defensive Jirachi and Skarmory. While these are the only options really worth mentioning in terms of the Sketch moveslot, it should be mentioned in passing that Horn Leech can help Necturna stay alive for longer by draining HP, but the loss in power from Power Whip is immense, so be careful you don't ruin your Necturna by trying to keep her alive.</p>

<p>As a Choice Band user, Necturna works fairly well as a wallbreaker thanks to her high damage output, as well as the ability to burn opponents, which can not only neuter the opponent's efforts but also spread passive damage around. However, it should be made clear that any attempt to simply spam Sacred Fire endlessly will end in disaster – Sacred Fire's 8 PP are all well and good when the battle begins, but you will find that they can be drained away very quickly, and a sharp opponent will be keeping count. So, you are advised to play conservatively with your trump card. Necturna is also, notably, the only Choice Band user in OU who is also a spinblocker, adding another dimension to her use. Necturna tends to lure in Steel-types such as Skarmory and Jirachi, both of whom she can promptly 2HKO with Sacred Fire, although this ability is greatly limited in the rain, as in this case she will fail to even 3HKO them. As previously mentioned, V-create's ability to OHKO these Steel-types makes Necturna a far more effective lure, as the Steel-types don't get the opportunity to switch out, but the surprise will only work once.</p>

<p>Heatran is another big problem if you aren't running Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick, as even Stone Edge cannot 2HKO defensive variants, and if Necturna happens to be locked in on Power Whip or Sacred Fire, she might as well be wearing a sign around her neck saying "stomp me". As you really don't want to be giving Heatran a free rein, a Water-type is a good investment. Starmie is a useful Pokemon to bring along thanks to its access to Rapid Spin, as well as its ability, Natural Cure, so that it does not fear Toxic quite as much. Vaporeon is also helpful, particularly as it can heal Necturna with Wish, and Rotom-W is another notable partner. All three of these can also combat Salamence and Gyarados, should they attempt to take advantage of a Necturna locked into an ineffective attack with Intimidate.</p>

<p>Weakening the opponent's Steel-types, or even killing them outright, can pave the way for powerful attackers to clean up the rest of your opponent's team. Alakazam is a notable cleaner, thanks to its immunity to passive damage owing to its Magic Guard ability, making it impossible to simply wear down, and its base 135 Special Attack stat and base 120 Speed stat don't hurt either. With problematic Steel-types such as Scizor and Jirachi removed, there is little that can stand in the way of Alakazam's rampage. Latios is another notable example, but exchanges immunity to passive damage, plus a small amount of Speed and power, for Dragon-type STAB and a slightly altered movepool. These Pokemon are, of course, late-game cleaners rather than true sweepers – for an example of the latter, who would benefit from the removal of Steel-types more than others, you need look no further than Salamence or Dragonite – Dragonite's mono-attacking sets in particular will appreciate the removal of the only Pokemon that resist its STAB attacks.</p>

<p>It should be noted, again, that Necturna's ability to wear down the opposition stems not only from her ability to break everything she touches, but also in her ability to keep entry hazards on the field. By blocking Rapid Spin, your precious entry hazards remain on the field, and can continue to wear down the opposing team, and so it is advisable to make the most use of this that you can if using Choice Necturna. Good hazard setters include Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Tentacruel – Tentacruel is particularly notable for its ability to combat Heatran, as well as drawing out Earthquakes for Necturna to switch in on. In addition, it can also use Rapid Spin, and can absorb Toxic Spikes, thus preventing Necturna from being poisoned, which is helpful as Necturna is rather susceptible to that particular menace, and will want to minimise passive damage as much as is possible.</p>

<p>As for Choice Scarf, the method of play is more akin to that of a revenge killer or momentum gainer, with of course the added bonuses of being able to possibly clean up weakened teams and to block Rapid Spin, as well as possibly being able to burn a threat in an emergency. Necturna is fast enough to outpace most of the faster threats in the metagame, including the aforementioned Alakazam and Latios, and is more than capable of OHKOing both of them. While Choice Scarf Necturna has a noticeable lack of power compared to the Choice Band set, she still has fairly potent offensive ability between STAB Power Whip and Sacred Fire, and thanks to Necturna's famed unpredictability, can often force out threats by her mere presence alone. For example, a Dragonite that had set up a Dragon Dance in expectation of a sweep may switch out rather than risk the possibility of Necturna carrying Icicle Crash or some similar move.</p>

<p>Lastly, it ought to be noted that, owing to Necturna's general unpredictability as well as the relative prevalence of her Choice sets, an Expert Belt can be exceptionally useful on Necturna in order to bluff a Choice set – an opponent who switches Scizor into what appears to be a Necturna locked into Power Whip will feel greatly chuffed, right up until the point at which Necturna promptly OHKOes his Scizor with Sacred Fire. As Necturna's Choice sets, while threatening, are quite easily walled owing to the number of Pokemon that resist the individual attacks, the use of an Expert Belt to make Necturna into a lure of sorts can be greatly rewarding. Beware, however, that this ruse will only work once.</p>

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move1: Toxic Spikes
move2: Shadow Claw
move3: Rapid Spin / Will-O-Wisp / Power Whip
move4: Pain Split / Recover
item: Leftovers
ability: Forewarn
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>On most Pokemon with access to every single boosting move in the game, you would be justified in assuming that offensive sets would take precedence over more defensive ones. Necturna, however, is an entirely different cookie. While it is generally true any one support move is not as amazing as any one set-up or coverage move, this would be forgetting that Necturna already has a fairly stellar support movepool regardless, which includes such gems as Toxic Spikes and Will-O-Wisp, and the Sketch move serves to augment this natural ability. Necturna is also a fairly competent special wall, capable of even surviving an offensive Air Balloon Heatran's Fire Blast (though admittedly unable to do anything back at all), and acting as a decent response to Pokemon such as Celebi, Latias, and most Water-types.</p>

<p>Toxic Spikes is an excellent support move, and is only made better by Necturna's spinblocking ability, courtesy of her Ghost typing. Bulky Necturna is, in fact, one of the very best spinblockers in the game; the standard Timid Life Orb Starmie cannot even 2HKO with Ice Beam, factoring in Leftovers, while Necturna can easily 2HKO back with Shadow Claw, or even OHKO with Power Whip. In fact, Necturna can fairly easily beat all of OU's common Rapid Spinners, with the exception of the rare Cloyster, as well as possibly SubToxic Tentacruel and Payback Forretress. As such, this variant of Necturna can be a valuable piece in any team that likes its entry hazards where they are, such as stall or balanced teams. Unfortunately, Necturna cannot prevent Tentacruel or Roserade from simply switching in to remove the Toxic Spikes, so you may want to find some other method of removing them before setting up, as well as making use of other entry hazards as well as Toxic Spikes.</p>

<p>As far as the Sketch slot goes, you will want to find a way to complement these already desirable traits to their greatest extent. One of the best ways to do this is by turning Necturna into a spinner in her own right – and she can be surprisingly good at the job, too. The fear of Necturna's Choice and set-up variants means that the opponent will generally immediately switch to a Steel-type, which means that more often than not, Necturna can get off a free Rapid Spin without fear. And of course, if the opponent cottons on to this and decides to send in their Ghost-type, Shadow Claw will generally make quick work of them, though it should be noted that it cannot 2HKO defensive Jellicent. If you do decide to run Rapid Spin, then Necturna will generally appreciate a recovery move more than anything else. Sadly, the most reliable recovery she gets naturally is Pain Split, though this is certainly no bad thing, as Necturna's low HP can actually benefit her in this situation, since she can switch in on Blissey or Vaporeon quite easily and recover nearly all of her HP in one turn. In general, Pain Split is a useful tool to keep Necturna alive for longer, but its applications can be limited, and you may find yourself wanting some more reliable form of recovery.</p>

<p>If such is the case, then you may prefer to elect to use your Sketch slot on Recover, which greatly increases Necturna's lifespan as well as her special walling capabilities. This eliminates the need for Pain Split entirely; however, it also eliminates Necturna's ability to use Rapid Spin, so you should consider whether Necturna's continued presence or the absence of entry hazards would benefit your team more. Of course, if you do decide to use Recover, this leaves you with the dilemma of what to include instead of Rapid Spin. Will-O-Wisp is an excellent support alternative that rather helpfully patches up Necturna's somewhat sub-par Defense stat, but on the other hand tends to overlap somewhat with Toxic Spikes, as a burned opponent cannot then be poisoned. If you do not want to go for the support option, you can go for the "destroy all" option with Power Whip. Notably, Power Whip allows you to OHKO Starmie as well as 2HKO Donphan, Cloyster, and Tentacruel, all of whom Shadow Claw can barely touch, thus making Necturna arguably a more effective spinblocker, as well as also enabling Necturna to 2HKO Jellicent, which Shadow Claw cannot do. Note that while Horn Leech might seem to be a good alternative given the defensive nature of this set, its power is poor and its healing is unnecessary alongside Recover.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While the number of support moves that Necturna could theoretically use is vast indeed, the number that ought to be used is fairly small. While Necturna's spinblocking ability may suggest that Spikes or Stealth Rock would be a useful complement, in reality this brings Necturna further into conflict with the similar Ferrothorn, who arguably performs better in the role of hazard setter and specially defensive Grass-type – thus if you are using Necturna, it is typically better to try to emphasise her advantages over Ferrothorn, which are usually best served by reliable recovery and access to Rapid Spin. One move that could see use is Dragon Tail, to take greater advantage of the entry hazards and switches that Necturna creates by shuffling the opponent's team and racking up the damage. Aside from this, though, generally the given options will be superior in most cases.</p>

<p>Maximum Special Defense is necessary in order to make the most use of Necturna's impressive defensive ability on the special side, as well as to make Starmie as easy to deal with as possible, as a large part of Necturna's charm comes from her ability to beat the common spinners of OU. Hence, 252 EVs in both HP and Special Defense along with a Careful nature are strongly recommended. This also improves Necturna's ability to come in on Pokemon such as Vaporeon and Rotom-W and start setting up entry hazards, as well as taking on dangerous, specially inclined Pokemon such as Virizion, Celebi, and Latias. This leaves only 4 EVs unallocated – while it matters little where they go, generally Attack is the best option for the minor added punch. Alternatively, you could put them in Speed in order to outpace other Necturna who don't invest in Speed, as well as defensive Gyarados.</p>

<p>As a spinblocker and a Toxic Spiker, Necturna's manner of support naturally favours those that wish to stall out their opponents as well as those that require passive damage in order to sweep the opponent's team. Naturally, such a manner of support is deeply helpful to set-up sweepers, such as Lucario and Terrakion, who will no doubt find it quite easy to rampage through the opposing team given sufficient weakening. As previously mentioned, Necturna's spinblocking ability lends a great deal less risk to putting your faith in entry hazards, so making the most use of this that you can is important. Skarmory is an excellent choice to set up either Spikes or Stealth Rock, and can also deal with the Dragon-types that Necturna cannot handle, although admittedly they share a weakness to Fire-types. Finally, if carrying Rapid Spin, then Necturna is an excellent partner to Pokemon that fear Stealth Rock, such as Volcarona and Dragonite. Volcarona no longer has 50% of its health stripped every time it switches in, and Dragonite gets to keep its Multiscale intact when it switches in, thus greatly increasing their effectiveness. It's also helpful in general for Choice users, Volt-turn teams, and any other category of Pokemon that is required to switch in and out often.</p>

<p>Even though Necturna is a strong special wall, her five weaknesses to common attacking types render her somewhat vulnerable to a large number of opposing Pokemon. Her typing would tend to favour a physical wall, but her stats favour a special wall – in this way, Necturna has something along the lines of "Claydol syndrome" to contend with. While an excellent stop to most Water-type attackers, such as Starmie and Rotom-W, these Pokemon are frequently paired with Pokemon that Necturna will struggle with, such as Tornadus and Dragonite on rain teams. To best these Flying-type fiends, a Steel-type such as specially defensive Jirachi is advised, and can be beneficial in other ways as well, as they can also combat Tyranitar and Scizor to an extent as well. However, Jirachi should watch out for Crunch and U-turn. Also, most Steel-types will be unable to deal with Heatran, who is a very great threat, so a bulky Water-type may be advisable. If running Rapid Spin, then Vaporeon is typically a good choice for its access to Wish, somewhat covering the problem of healing, and if running Recover, then a rapid spinner such as Starmie or Tentacruel may be more advisable. Latias is also a good option to deal with Heatran as well as other threatening Pokemon such as Venusaur, Jirachi, and Dragon-types, though it does share Ghost- and Dark-type weaknesses with Necturna.</p>

[SET]
name: Quiver Dance
move1: Quiver Dance
move2: Giga Drain
move3: Shadow Ball
move4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Fighting
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Forewarn
nature: Modest
evs: 68 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Don't be fooled, my dears; that isn't fear that Necturna is quivering with. Rather, if you happen to see our leafy little damsel shaking like, well, a leaf, you ought to be prepared for a fair amount of fright on your own part. This is Necturna's Quiver Dance set, the special sweeper's answer to the physical sweeper's Shell Smash, and while she certainly doesn't have the raw destructive power of the Shell Smash variant, she more than makes up for it with a surprising amount of survivability and an enviable ability to set up quickly and without fuss.</p>

<p>Surely she can't be that bad, I hear you cry. Well, certainly Necturna's miserable base 85 Special Attack stat and lack of any reliable offensive moves over 80 BP somewhat hurts her capabilities, but the applications of Quiver Dance extend far beyond mere brute force. Unlike most Quiver Dancers in the game, Necturna does not possess a weakness to Stealth Rock, and while she does not have the higher Special Attack, Speed, and access to Sleep Powder and Petal Dance of her spiritual sister, Lilligant, she does have her own advantages in her access to STAB Shadow Ball, and significantly higher defensive stats, meaning that she can usually set up more than one Quiver Dance with relative ease. With Quiver Dance boosting her already stellar Special Defense, and Leftovers and Giga Drain to heal her, Necturna can set up with relative ease on most weaker special attackers, and even on some things that, ordinarily, would threaten her.</p>

<p>While setting up with Quiver Dance, Giga Drain is a useful offensive tool that, like Horn Leech on the physical side, can restore Necturna's HP every time she inflicts damage with it, which is immensely helpful to offset the HP lost through the opponent pounding away, hoping to break her. Shadow Ball is Necturna's second STAB attack, and achieves fairly good coverage alongside Giga Drain on almost everything in OU, save for those pesky Steel-types. To deal with them, as ever, Necturna has her standard special coverage attack in Hidden Power, the fact that she doesn't actually have any other coverage moves notwithstanding. Hidden Power Fire is generally the more useful, as it hits Jirachi, Scizor, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, and Metagross for super effective damage, but is greatly weakened in the rain and necessitates a 30 Speed IV. Hidden Power Fighting gets a stronger hit on Heatran and Hydreigon, but does not hit the above threats for quite so much damage.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread is subject to a good amount of alterations to hit different targets, but the given spread is designed with Quiver Dance boosts in mind. Notably, after a single Quiver Dance you can outrun all unboosted Pokemon of base 115 Speed or lower, as well as Choice Scarf Tyranitar. It also means that Necturna beats most Scizor, Tyranitar, and Breloom without a boost. Offensive ability is maximised with a Modest nature and 252 EVs in Special Attack, and the remaining EVs are allocated to HP to enable Necturna to take hits more easily. It is important to note that the extra 4 EVs in Speed are due to Hidden Power – since you are forced to use a 30 Speed IV for both Hidden Power types, an extra 4 EVs are necessary to make up the difference. If you want, it is entirely possible to make inroads on Necturna's Speed or Special Attack in order to run a more bulky spread – while the loss in power is significant, the ability to garner more Quiver Dance boosts may be more appealing to you, as Necturna's ability to set up on opponents and to stay alive after having set up is increased. As a note, Necturna would require 252 HP and 84 Defense EVs minimum in order to avoid the 2HKO from Choice Band Scizor's Bullet Punch, factoring in Leftovers, though this is not necessary if you are carrying Hidden Power Fire. A simple 252 / 252 spread may also appeal in order to outrun Modest Heatran and Adamant Dragonite unboosted, or even a Timid nature if you are seriously worried about being outrun. The spread given is a happy medium between the two, but feel free to experiment.</p>

<p>As far as the item is concerned, Leftovers is typically the more convenient choice as without any reliable recovery, Necturna may find herself getting worn down quite quickly as she sets up, and thus Leftovers provides the passive healing necessary to facilitate boosting up to respectable levels. It also helps to supplement Giga Drain's healing. On the other hand, it does leave a Pokemon that already suffers from chronic power shortage somewhat on the ineffective side until she gets a chance to boost her stats, and as such, Life Orb may be preferred to give Necturna a little extra power. Do be careful, however, as the recoil from Life Orb can seriously impact on Necturna's ability to set up successfully, and you may find yourself relying more on Giga Drain than you would be comfortable with – thus exchanging survivability for raw power. The power difference is notable – Pokemon such as Heatran and Tyranitar can be 2HKOed after a boost with the appropriate move where they would otherwise be 3HKOed, but then Necturna may not survive for long enough to get the two hits in.</p>

<p>Generally speaking, the biggest threats to Quiver Dance Necturna are strong physical attackers that can take a hit, as well as specially defensive Steel-types. Examples of the former include Scrafty and Dragonite, while examples of the latter include Jirachi and Heatran. Strong physical attackers are hard to get rid of as an entire group, so your best bet may be to set up Reflect with something like Latias to stall them, or even to prepare for Pokemon such as Scizor with Magnezone in the wings. A Reflect would also help with Necturna's weakness to priority attacks, such as those from Mamoswine and Scizor. In the case of Jirachi and Heatran, you may want to include a Dugtrio to be sure of getting rid of them. Dugtrio can also rather helpfully get rid of Tyranitar, Chansey, and Blissey, all of whom will present a challenge to surpass – while Chansey and Blissey cannot threaten Necturna directly, Chansey is not even guaranteed to be 2HKOed after six Quiver Dances and a Life Orb, so can theoretically stall Necturna out with Toxic and Protect. If Dugtrio is not your ideal Pokemon, you may want to consider a Rotom-W or Politoed to deal with Jirachi and Heatran – The rain that Politoed brings is a double-edged sword, however, as although it is immensely helpful in weakening Fire-type attacks, enabling you to set up more easily on weak Hidden Power Fires, and even on some powerful Fire-types, it does weaken the power of your own Hidden Power Fire, so should only be used if you are using Hidden Power Fighting. Note that physical Jirachi sets are far more threatening to Necturna than special ones – indeed, you may even be able to use a special Jirachi as set-up fodder if you carry Leftovers. Also, Wobbuffet can be helpful in order to get rid of Chansey and Blissey, by using Tickle repeatedly until they are weak enough to be finished off by a Pursuit user, and can also secure a turn for Necturna to set up, thanks to Encore.</p>

<p>As a final note, if you happen to be running a Tail Glow set, then this is the ideal set to use, though with Tail Glow in place of Quiver Dance, obviously. Of course, as you do not receive any Speed boosts from Tail Glow, it is generally better to run Timid and 252 Speed EVs, as you will want to outrun as much as you are able to, and should not be short on power thanks to the three-stage boost of Tail Glow. Note that Necturna is much more susceptible to revenge killing with this set, however.</p>

[SET]
name: Substitute + Quiver Dance
move1: Quiver Dance
move2: Substitute
move3: Shadow Ball
move4: Hidden Power Fighting
item: Leftovers
ability: Forewarn
nature: Modest
evs: 68 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Quiver Dance Necturna is remarkably potent, but is held back by a number of factors. While there is not much that can be done about limited coverage and a lack of power, this set attempts to solve two of Necturna's most pressing issues – firstly, her weakness to status effects, and secondly, her weakness to priority attacks. This is achieved through the use of the move Substitute, thought of by some as the best move in the game, and an excellent tool both for scouting and for protection. While Chansey would ordinarily be a fairly impassable stop to Quiver Dance Necturna, with Substitute in tow, Necturna blocks Toxic and is immune to Seismic Toss, so Chansey is pretty much helpless. Substitute also helps by blocking Jirachi's Thunder Wave and Toxic from Politoed, as well as scouting, just in case the opponent attempts to switch a Timid Choice Scarf Heatran in on a Quiver Dance, thus enabling you to see the opponent's immediate response to the danger of Necturna without fear. The inevitable downside to this is, of course, that Necturna is further limited in her coverage, with only two slots available for attacking moves.</p>

<p>Happily, Necturna happens to have perfect two-move coverage available to her in the shape of STAB Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting. Unhappily, of course, perfect coverage is not always enough for a sweeper that ideally wants to be doing as much damage as is possible, and even more unfortunately, the loss of Giga Drain renders Necturna greatly susceptible to passive damage and being worn down, and thus making her somewhat more vulnerable to revenge killing if she doesn't have that all-important Substitute up. The lack of a Fire-type move, too, hurts her ability to take on powerful Steel-types such as Jirachi and Scizor, thus meaning that the list of Pokemon she can take down without a significant number of boosts is greatly reduced.</p>

<p>While it is arguable that this set is inferior in some ways to SubCM Jirachi, which is faster, stronger, and has more resistances it can use to set up with, Necturna's Ghost-typing, which gives it a great deal of more important immunities than Jirachi, including to Rapid Spin, are enough to set it apart, and give it a niche as an entirely different Pokemon.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread has not changed from that of the standard Quiver Dancer – the same EVs are necessary to outrun the same targets, and the same power is needed more than ever. The given EV spread allows you to outrun positive base 115 Speed Pokemon after a boost, as well as Jolly Choice Scarf Tyranitar, while enabling Necturna to outrun most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom when unboosted, while maximising offensive potential and dumping the remaining EVs in HP. Note that you may want to increase your defensive investment in order to hit specific targets – for example, 168 HP EVs ensures that your Substitutes cannot be broken by standard 0 SpA Tentacruel's Ice Beam after a Quiver Dance boost. The extra HP may well be helpful, as this set potentially suffers even more from a lack of power than the standard Quiver Dancer, as Leftovers is the primary item, since Life Orb, on top of Substitute and possibly sandstorm damage, without the presence of Giga Drain to mitigate it, would mean that Necturna is worn down very quickly indeed. Hence, the extra HP to make Substitutes that much more sturdy could be worthwhile in order to grab those vital extra Quiver Dances, but beware of compromising Necturna's ability to perform when unboosted. Thus, Leftovers is the primary item, as without Giga Drain to fall back on, Necturna needs all the healing she can get.</p>

<p>This Necturna variant does not carry Fire-type attacks, and as such benefits greatly from rain support, which dampens the power of the Fire-type attacks that many special sweepers would otherwise attempt to use to put an end to her. With the protective blanket of rain, Necturna is free to set up with relative impunity – until, of course, the opponent switches in a physical attacker. Thus, Politoed makes a fairly good partner, and again aids in being able to take on Heatran and other problem Pokemon. Thanks to Substitute, this variant of Necturna will generally be able to easily overcome Chansey and Blissey, and can even set up on some Heatran and Hydreigon, but will struggle far more against the specially defensive Steel-types that Hidden Power Fighting does not hit for super effective damage, such as Skarmory, Jirachi, and Scizor. Thus, a Magnezone or Rotom-W is advised in order to defeat these foes – Heatran, while strong against them, will have its Fire-type attacks weakened in rain, so if you are running Politoed, is an unwise choice.</p>

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move1: Calm Mind
move2: Giga Drain / Shadow Ball
move3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Fighting
move4: Blue Flare / Recover
item: Leftovers
ability: Forewarn
nature: Modest
evs: 72 HP / 252 SpA / 184 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Now, I know what you're thinking. Why would you ever want to give Necturna, a Pokemon who has access to every set-up move in the game, Calm Mind as a set-up move, rather than the considerably more frightening Quiver Dance? Well, there's only one reason why you would, and that's to save your Sketch slot. Unlike Quiver Dance, Necturna learns Calm Mind naturally, meaning that she can afford to run a big, powerful coverage move, or even an extra utility move, which can solve the problem of staying alive as well as partially helping with the issue of power and coverage; however, this is not to say that these great improvements come problem-free. Without the boost to Speed provided by Quiver Dance, it is far more difficult for Necturna to straight-up sweep the opponent, as she is far more susceptible to revenge killing. Hence, this Necturna would seem to have greater merit on a team that is prepared to invest as great an effort as possible into taking out fast, physical threats, as they will not hesitate to end Necturna, should her sweep begin prematurely.</p>

<p>As Quiver Dance Necturna's biggest problem is with Steel-types, you will naturally want a coverage move that can make it easier to break them. Blue Flare is given here for its somewhat ridiculous power and decent accuracy, and its ability to hit every Steel-type in OU, bar Heatran, for super effective damage. As an illustration of its power, Blue Flare will do a minimum of 64% to specially defensive Jirachi after a Calm Mind boost, and even has a small chance to OHKO other variants. Unfortunately, there are few other options in terms of powerful coverage moves; there are no extremely strong special Ground-type moves, and the best that the Fighting-type has to muster is Focus Blast, which any sensible battler will avoid like the plague if they have an alternative – that accuracy is something that cannot be worked around. Blue Flare is not quite as powerful as one might like, with no Life Orb and only a measly base 85 Special Attack stat behind it, not to mention being weakened by rain, but it is something it has over the Quiver Dance set, and means that slower Steel-types are not nearly as threatening. Interestingly enough, Blue Flare is stronger than STAB Shadow Ball against neutral opponents.</p>

<p>As for the other two moves, a STAB move is fairly necessary, with Giga Drain getting the nod here for its healing effect, which is more or less necessary in order to allow Necturna to maintain her HP at a reasonable level, and is also one of Necturna's most powerful STAB options – though, that isn't saying much. Finally, you will want to find a coverage move that adequately complements Grass- and Fire-type coverage – which is collectively resisted by Dragon- and Fire-types. As such, you will want a coverage move to beat them, but one that hits both for super effective damage is hard to come by. Hidden Power Ice is your best bet to take out Dragonite, Latios, and other dangerous Dragons, but cannot touch Fire-types at all. On the other hand, Hidden Power Ground allows you to fare better against Heatran and Ninetales, amongst other things, but leaves you helpless against nearly all Dragon-types in OU. Hidden Power Fighting can act as a halfway house, enabling you to at least damage Heatran and Hydreigon, but can't do anything besides that. Shadow Ball is a decent alternative if you prefer, as it is at least a STAB move, so has greater power against neutral opponents, but Heatran and Dragonite will still walk all over you. Its most important application is its ability to hit other Calm Mind sweepers, such as Latios, Latias, and Reuniclus, for super effective damage, so they cannot set up alongside you – whether or not this is important enough to warrant losing coverage elsewhere is your decision.</p>

<p>This is not, however, to say that this strategy is the only trick up Calm Mind Necturna's rather bulging sleeve. Necturna can, for example, follow the path of Calm Mind Reuniclus and use Recover, solving nearly all of her problems with being worn down over time. With it, Giga Drain is no longer necessary, and so Shadow Ball can replace it, with Hidden Power Fighting as coverage, giving Necturna her well-loved perfect coverage in a mere two moveslots. The downside to this tactic is, of course, that Necturna suffers from a rather severe power shortage, and as such will need to accrue many more Calm Mind boosts to present a credible threat.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>As far as other options for your Sketch slot go, there are very few that are worth talking about. You could always try going for a more powerful STAB attack, but the only one over 100 Base Power without a drawback is Seed Flare, and the extra power you get from it really isn't enough to justify using it over Blue Flare, or even using it over Giga Drain, the healing effect of which is invaluable to any set lacking reliable recovery. There are very few other options you could use at all, unless of course you happened to be running a rain team and wanted to annoy the opponent with a boosted Hydro Pump, or Hurricane or Thunder, but really there are so many better Pokemon for doing this that it isn't even funny. On the non-attacking side, you could try running Spore to incapacitate a difficult opponent, but it can only really be used once, owing to Sleep clause.</p>

<p>The EVs are, again, designed to give the maximum possible attacking prowess while at the same time compromising between Necturna's bulk and her ability to outrun things – hence Modest and 252 EVs in Special Attack pushes her to the limit of her offensive ability, while 184 Speed EVs allows her to outrun most Tyranitar, Scizor, and Breloom, while also tying with bulky Rotom-W, and the remainder are dunked in HP. As ever, you can always run 252 EVs in order to outrun Modest Heatran and Adamant Dragonite if that appeals to you. The reason for the discrepancy between this set's Speed EVs and the others' is because Hidden Power Ice enables you to run a 31 Speed IV, so the extra 4 EVs are not needed; of course, if you are running Hidden Power Fighting, you would need to add another 4 EVs on to outrun the same targets. At the same time, a more physically defensive or specially defensive spread is always an option if you are willing to sacrifice some power for sake of longevity – this option is particularly appealing alongside Recover, where not being 2HKOed by most attackers would generally be considered an asset. Also, for the item, Leftovers is chosen for that precise reason – if Necturna cannot survive long enough to get enough boosts, she is dead weight, and unlike Quiver Dance Necturna, cannot rely on outrunning opponents to get away with using Life Orb, either – Necturna will be required to take more than a few hits on her way through the opponent's team. By all means use Life Orb if you want to, but don't expect many chances to put that power to use.</p>

<p>Unlike many of Necturna's sets, the counter list changes significantly depending on your coverage moves. If running Hidden Power Ice, you are extremely vulnerable to Heatran, Ninetales, and others of an inflammable nature – hence, you may be advised to call upon the services of Dugtrio to remove them. Dugtrio is also useful for its ability to take out Chansey and Blissey, both of whom are greatly threatening to this set, as well as Tyranitar, who can survive a Giga Drain and attack back with Crunch. In addition, Dugtrio can also ensure the destruction of a weakened Liquid Ooze Tentacruel in a pinch, who while rare, can present rather a prickly problem for our dear little shrine maiden. Water-types, such as Vaporeon, Politoed, and Starmie, also work well for this purpose, but you should not run Politoed if also running Blue Flare; although the dampening of Necturna's Fire weakness is nice, losing out on one of the set's biggest perks is deeply unfortunate. Politoed is a nice bonus if you are not running Blue Flare, though.</p>

<p>Running Hidden Power Ground or Hidden Power Fighting leaves you particularly vulnerable to Salamence, Dragonite, and all their little draconic friends. These are somewhat harder to combat than Fire-types owing to their great unpredictability and power, not to mention diversity, although the previously mentioned Water-types work fairly well, and specially defensive Steel-types such as Jirachi and Heatran do a pretty good job as well. If all else fails, you may have to rely on a revenge killer such as Choice Scarf Terrakion to get rid of them in the end. In addition, if you are not running Shadow Ball, you will find yourself in trouble against other Calm Mind users, who can boost alongside you and then proceed to stall you out – Latias, Jirachi, and Reuniclus come to mind especially, given their access to STAB Psyshock. Latias, Latios, and Reuniclus can be removed using a Pursuit user, or something that threatens them, such as Scizor or Tyranitar. Calm Mind Jirachi can be got rid of using the aforementioned Dugtrio or Water-types if weakened, or a Latias of one's own can set up Calm Minds before Roaring it out, though two Calm Mind users on the same team is generally a bad idea.</p>

<p>As for the Recover variant, just like the Substitute + Quiver Dance set and any other that relies on pure Ghost + Fighting coverage, Necturna will run into issues with power, particularly against specially defensive Steel-types, or indeed any Steel-types at all. Scizor, Skarmory, Jirachi, and Heatran are the main offenders, and each is more than capable of reducing Necturna to tears before a single punch is thrown. To deal with them, the standard emergency procedure is to go immediately to Magnezone in the case of Scizor and Skarmory, though Jirachi and Heatran may need different checks, depending on the variant. Rotom-W or another similar Water-type would be a useful investment, and again, Dugtrio is your friend should you be properly desperate.</p>

[SET]
name: Soak
move1: Soak
move2: Power Whip
move3: Shadow Claw
move4: Stone Edge / Substitute / Toxic Spikes
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Forewarn
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Can anyone say "limitless diversity"? Yes, indeed, Necturna gets a good many toys to play with, though most of them are rather useless on her. One very notable exception to the rule, however, is exemplified in this set. Soak is a little-known move that is only learned by Water-types (except Azurill, who doesn't count), which turns the opponent into a pure Water-type – which is fairly meaningless to those who learn it, as they aren't much more competent at taking on other Water-types than they are taking on any other type in the game. Thus you would expect Necturna to make the same use of this move as she does of Reflect Type and Splash – however, when this move is given to a Grass-type, it takes on a whole new meaning. By turning the switch-in into a Water-type, not only do they likely no longer possess STAB on their moves, but they are also made weak to Grass-type attacks – and let us not forget that Necturna happens to have the strongest Power Whip in the game.</p>

<p>As such, when played correctly, this set can actually beat most of Necturna's ordinary counters. With a Life Orb, even physically defensive Skarmory, usually one of Necturna's deadliest enemies, has a small chance to be OHKOed by Power Whip, factoring in Stealth Rock and one round of Leftovers recovery, and other common Steel-types don't stand a chance against it. Of course, this all relies entirely on your catching them on the switch – but so dangerous are Necturna's sweeping sets, most battlers will immediately switch to a Steel-type rather than risk Necturna being able to set up for free. Even if your opponent switches out their Steel-type, they are unable to switch in their best check to Necturna, so Necturna can deal with the switch-in much more easily. Between Soak and Power Whip, there is very little that an opponent can do, but remember that it takes a turn to use Soak, and that turn is one that an opponent can easily use to their advantage, once they know your set.</p>

<p>Of course, using Soak on the first turn will telegraph that you are about to use a Grass-type attack, and as there are seven types in total that resist Grass, it will not be hard for the opponent to recover from the initial surprise, especially as they will then know that you do not carry a Fire-type attack. As such, you cannot simply rely only on Soak and Power Whip to carry you through. In the last two slots, Stone Edge and Shadow Claw provide you with any coverage that you may need against un-soaked opponents, and Shadow Claw also doubles as a reliable, accurate weapon to use against weakened opponents.</p>

<p>Of course, you may decide that you want to take further advantage of Soak in other ways, and can exchange the generally useless Stone Edge for something a little more interesting. Substitute is a nifty choice, as it helps with prediction immensely, something that will be perpetually needed on such a set as this, especially for deciding whether to use Soak or not. Unfortunately, it can result in Necturna getting worn down very quickly indeed with Life Orb, so is only advisable with Leftovers. On the other hand, Soak will force plenty of switches, so Toxic Spikes, which Necturna learns naturally, can be helpful to take maximum advantage of this fact, and also to deter non-Steel-types from switching in. Regrettably, however, although Soak removes the immunities of Steel-types and Poison-types to poison, Toxic Spikes cannot be used to poison them, as you can only Soak them after they have already switched in.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Alternative moves that have some degree of merit on this set include Shadow Sneak, Horn Leech, and Leaf Blade. Shadow Sneak gets the nod for its priority, which can be useful to finish off a foe that Power Whip just failed to KO, and is particularly useful as Necturna is not terribly fast, despite the maximum Speed investment given. On the other hand, owing to Power Whip's inaccuracy, you may want to have a second Grass-type STAB move, either to finish off weakened Pokemon that you want to be sure of killing, or simply to attack foes where Power Whip's added bite makes no difference. For example, while Power Whip is easily capable of OHKOing 248 HP Scizor after a Soak, Leaf Blade will do the job 100% of the time, rather than 85% of the time, and likewise, Horn Leech will also OHKO 100% of the time with Stealth Rock support. While Leaf Blade's extra power can be very helpful, notably in the above case, Horn Leech can also be very helpful to regain HP lost by Substitute or Life Orb, and the threat of a super effective attack means that a good deal of HP can be gained back. However, generally the given options will be sufficient for the most part.</p>

<p>A Jolly nature and 252 Speed EVs are necessary in order to outrun two of Necturna's biggest threats, Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite, and thus can attack them before they have a chance to move. Although an Adamant nature, when paired with Life Orb, would allow you to OHKO just about every single Steel-type in OU, including Skarmory, a Jolly nature will more than suffice when paired with Stealth Rock, and the extra Speed will generally aid you far more than the extra Attack. There is little else to say about the EV spread, other than that the last 4 EVs are placed in Defense rather than HP in order to allow the creation of a maximum of 5 Substitutes, but this rarely comes into play owing to the presence of Life Orb or, indeed, Leftovers. Speaking of items, Life Orb is typically the best choice for the added power, which can make the difference between an OHKO and a 2HKO on many of the targets you want to be hitting, but Leftovers increases survivability and can offset the passive damage from Substitute, if you are carrying it, and Necturna can still OHKO defensive Heatran after a Soak, but misses out on more bulky Pokemon, such as Skarmory.</p>

<p>Thanks to Soak, Necturna is capable of taking on almost any Pokemon in existence, so in terms of partners, it is less a case of what you can do for Necturna, but what Necturna can do for you. As this Necturna set will be forcing plenty of switches, Spikes and Stealth Rock are a good idea to take advantage, racking up the passive damage on the opponent. In addition, as this Necturna set will be functioning as a lure more than anything else, and will be able to take down or severely damage most Steel-types, teammates who can take advantage of their absence are recommended. These include Psychic-type cleaners such as Alakazam and Latios, as well as set-up sweepers such as Dragonite and Scizor. Lastly, since this Necturna has no way to recover her health, you may want to include a Wish passer such as Vaporeon or Blissey, especially if you also happen to be carrying Substitute.</p>

[SET]
name: Substitute
move1: Substitute
move2: Power Whip
move3: Sacred Fire / Close Combat
move4: Shadow Claw
item: Life Orb
ability: Forewarn
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>When Necturna isn't boosting her stats, one of the biggest problems she has is that in order to significantly damage the opponent, she will have to predict the opponent fairly well. There are a lot of Pokemon that are faster than her, and plenty that have the ability to seriously damage her, and her STAB moves are resisted by a not inconsiderable number of Pokemon. Now, ask any self-respecting Hydreigon, Alakazam, or Terrakion how one deals with the problem of having plenty of power and coverage but having to predict to be effective, and they will reply, "If all else fails, go with Substitute". The number of applications of this one move is truly colossal – one can use it to block out damaging status, prevent stat reductions, and most importantly, can use it as the opponent switches out to gather a free turn, in which the momentum is undoubtedly on the user's side. If Necturna uses Substitute, then she is protected for at least one turn, and can use the appropriate move to eliminate whatever is in her way.</p>

<p>As ever, Necturna has her excellent STAB Power Whip to make use of, not to mention Shadow Claw, both of which are strong enough to deal with the majority of opponents she should face. Wait, hold on… aren't we forgetting something here? Ah yes, the Sketch move! As this variant of Necturna is physical, there is nothing to stop her from going the route of the Choice Band set and using Sacred Fire, and arguably Sacred Fire is even more viable here than on the Choice set, as the presence of Substitute means that you are less likely to waste your precious Sacred Fire PP on ineffective match-ups, and can plan ahead accordingly. However, this is not to say that Sacred Fire is the only option available. With Substitute, Necturna is able to get a free hit on Heatran, but with a moveset of Power Whip / Shadow Claw / Sacred Fire, she can barely touch it. Close Combat remedies this with aplomb, handily dispatching even defensive Heatran with Stealth Rock support. While you may wonder why one wouldn't use Hi Jump Kick for the same purpose, the negative effect of Hi Jump Kick, even if it occurs far less often, is far more severe than that of Close Combat, and an assured KO on Heatran is far more valuable than the additional power.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While Sacred Fire and Close Combat are typically the best options for that all-important Sketch slot, a nod must be given at this point to Focus Punch, that move so often combined with Substitute. Focus Punch's power is tremendous, and Substitute prevents its drawback from being too onerous, as when Necturna is behind a Substitute, she cannot be flinched, and thus, the opponent will find themselves on the receiving end of a 150 Base Power Fighting-type attack. Even with this much power, it is a lesser option as Close Combat is easily adequate enough to OHKO all its important targets, chiefly Heatran and Hydreigon, and Focus Punch is not advisable unless you are safely behind a Substitute, so cannot be used to revenge kill. In addition, you may like to use Horn Leech in place of Power Whip in order to recover HP lost using Substitute, but the loss in power from Power Whip is not inconsiderable.</p>

<p>A casual observer may wonder why, here, a Life Orb is the item given, where it has been impressed upon them in the remainder of the analysis that Life Orb, on top of Substitute damage, without a form of healing, constitutes an unacceptable amount of passive damage, resulting in Necturna being worn down far too quickly. The answer is that, owing to the nature of this set, Necturna really needs to be doing as much damage as she can with a single attack, as once her Substitute is gone, she is vulnerable. Life Orb is necessary, for example, to 2HKO Skarmory with Sacred Fire, and OHKO Heatran with Close Combat, both with Stealth Rock damage. The healing that Leftovers provides is simply not enough to offset the loss in power from Life Orb. This means, of course, that Necturna will be worn down pretty quickly, so a user of Wish is strongly advised to keep Necturna healthy.</p>

<p>Following along this theme, an Adamant nature is suggested over a Jolly one; while the loss in Speed means that deadly foes such as Timid Heatran and Jolly Dragonite outrun you, without the extra power of Adamant, a lot of the assured KOs mentioned above suddenly look a lot less sure of themselves. Of course, if you are not carrying any moves that can hurt Dragonite or Heatran anyway, then not being able to outrun them is generally less important, and even if you are, then if you are behind a Substitute, then you can KO Heatran with Close Combat and possibly burn Dragonite with Sacred Fire regardless of whether or not they are faster than you. With that said, being able to hit them before they hit you still has its merits, by way of Necturna actually being able to function as a revenge killer if need be, as well as being able to keep your Substitute should they switch in as you place your Substitute up.</p>

<p>As far as the EVs are concerned, there is little worthy of note. Maximum Attack and maximum Speed are absolutely necessary in order to hit as hard as possible and to outrun same-natured Heatran and Dragonite, respectively, with the remaining EVs thrown into Defense in order to allow Necturna to form 5 Substitutes at most, although between Life Orb and sandstorm this is unlikely to ever occur. You can also, alternatively, run a bulkier spread if you want to, and try for a lower Speed tier, but this is generally inferior as Necturna will be losing health rapidly regardless, and as such will want to hit first as often as she can without compromising power at the same time.</p>

<p>As with Necturna's other hard-hitting sets, this one primarily acts as a lure in order to take out Pokemon that would ordinarily threaten it, and hence open up gaps in the opponent's team for other Pokemon that are threatened by the same Pokemon to take advantage of. While this set is weaker than the Choice Band set and does not have the indiscriminate killing power of the Soak set, it does have the advantage of being able to easily predict an opponent's moves – Necturna's versatility is so threatening that even switching in will almost always cause a switch, and as such it is fairly easy to set up a Substitute and hence gain an immediate advantage over the opponent. As such, the most valuable partners to this set are, of course, those that gain the most from the gaps that Necturna creates. If using Sacred Fire, your best bet for teammates are generally those that would find trouble with Ferrothorn, Scizor, Forretress, Skarmory, Metagross, and Jirachi. For example, Starmie would ordinarily have trouble with Ferrothorn, Gengar would have trouble with Scizor, Gliscor would have difficulties with Skarmory, and Alakazam would have great trouble with Jirachi. In general, strong physical attackers that are also troubled by Steel-types, such as Haxorus, Tyranitar, and some Gyarados, make decent partners here. On the other hand, if you have Close Combat, then partners that will appreciate the absence of Heatran become more desirable. Such Pokemon include Scizor, Jirachi, and Celebi lacking Earth Power.</p>

[SET]
name: Belly Drum
move1: Belly Drum
move2: Horn Leech
move3: Shadow Sneak
move4: Stone Edge
item: Leftovers
ability: Forewarn
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Necturna certainly isn't short on set-up options, but one which you won't generally see bandied about on the competitive stage is Belly Drum, a curious move which, in exchange for half of Necturna's HP, maximises her Attack and sends any sensible Pokemon with a semblance of respect for its own mortality running and hiding under the nearest futon. Well, that's what would happen in a perfect world. Unfortunately, the same reasons for the non-existence of Belly Drum Charizard and Linoone still apply here – on just 50% of her health, or less if she is attacked as she sets up, she almost screams "Scizor bait". That's not to say that this set is entirely useless, though. It needs a great deal of support, prediction, and above all luck to be successful, but when it does work, there is nothing more satisfying that Necturna can produce. Well, competitively speaking, anyway.</p>

<p>Necturna has all the right tools to make a successful Belly Drum sweeper. A decently strong STAB move that also happens to restore HP, a good STAB priority move, and a decent if totally inaccurate coverage move are all needed in some capacity, and Horn Leech, Shadow Sneak, and Stone Edge fill these roles admirably. Unfortunately, there is one piece of the shortbread missing – by using up her Sketch slot on Belly Drum, Necturna cannot hit Steel-types. And that's a problem. A big problem. Couple that to the fact that Shadow Sneak will not usually be doing enough to crush revenge killers before they can get a hit in, and the problem gets worse.</p>

<p>However, this is not really the way to approach this set. Necturna can still perform competently as a 3-attack Pokemon and answer to Water-types, and can provide a vital utility or pivot role on the team. Shadow Sneak is a useful tool for revenge killing troublesome opponents, even if it is very weak without the aid of Life Orb or even an Adamant nature, and Horn Leech and Leftovers ensure that Necturna will likely stay above 50% HP for the majority of the battle. However, when times get tough, as they always do, Necturna can pull out a Belly Drum in the late-game, and perhaps this gambit will be enough to break the opponent's team. And even if it isn't, at least you can say you tried.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Given that this is a set that relies even more highly on being able to KO the opponent before they have a chance to act than the Shell Smash set, you would wonder why damage output is not maximised first – why, exactly, one uses Jolly and Leftovers, as opposed to Adamant and Life Orb? Well, it's really a case of high-risk, high-reward versus conservative play. With Adamant and a Life Orb, you will be losing 50% of your health on a Belly Drum, and 10% every subsequent turn, meaning that along with hazards and other passive damage, if you cannot get a Horn Leech off quickly enough, Necturna is likely to die very quickly indeed. Leftovers healing, by contrast, supplements that of Horn Leech and makes it easier to get off a Belly Drum in the first place, but makes Necturna a bit less capable once it's all set up. As for why a Jolly nature would be used over an Adamant nature, Necturna really wants to be outrunning as much as she can, especially as Stone Edge is capable of OHKOing all variants of Heatran after a boost. However, given that there are many KOs that Necturna will find far more comfortable with an Adamant nature than a Jolly nature, such as the OHKO on specially defensive Skarmory with Stone Edge, so an Adamant nature is usually preferred.</p>

<p>In general, there are two things that need removing in order for this set to successfully sweep an opposing team – firstly, opposing Steel-types, and secondly, opposing fast things that can tank a +6 Shadow Sneak, such as Hydreigon. Scizor is a particularly menacing foe – Bullet Punch will destroy Necturna if she just used Belly Drum – but Ferrothorn, Metagross, and physically defensive Skarmory are all troublesome as well. Rotom-W is an excellent stop to Scizor, Skarmory, and Metagross, but has big problems with Ferrothorn; as such, you may want to employ a Heatran of your own to take them on. Opposing fast things simply need to be identified and removed quickly – generally, anything fast that resists Ghost-type attacks will give Necturna a very hard time.</p>

[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move1: Ingrain
move2: Baton Pass
move3: Substitute
move4: Horn Leech / Shadow Claw
item: Leftovers
ability: Forewarn
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Baton Pass may seem a strange choice for Necturna's Sketch move, as Necturna does not happen to learn any boosting moves naturally, besides the rather vanilla Calm Mind, and in any case, Espeon can pull off a Calm Mind Baton pass set so much better, thanks to Magic Bounce and higher Speed, that it does not merit even discussing. However, Necturna does learn one move that makes her almost unique as a Baton Passer – Ingrain. This move prevents Necturna from being forced out, and more importantly, prevents any Pokemon she Baton Passes to from being forced out either, thus rendering one of most teams' common responses to Baton Pass chains almost entirely void. Necturna is, indeed, the only Pokemon besides Smeargle to get the Baton Pass + Ingrain combination, meaning that Baton Pass chain teams have a rather more formidable weapon than Smeargle to start them off.</p>

<p>Necturna is, indeed, the only fully-evolved Ghost-type besides Drifblim to get Baton Pass, which gives her a significant niche on Baton Pass teams that may require her resistances. Generally, due to Necturna's lack of any meaningful boosts she can pass on, she works better in a full Baton Pass chain team, as opposed to as a standalone Baton Passer – though that's not to say that she cannot be used as such if the mood takes you. Baton Pass and Ingrain are, as mentioned, the core moves of the set – it is generally useful to delegate one other slot to passing something useful, and one for you to do something with when you inevitably end up getting Taunted. One would think that Calm Mind could slot in here if it were ever needed, but as a rule, Substitute is generally more effective, even though Necturna can only pass 83 HP Substitutes, as they can protect another teammate along the chain should the need arise. As for the attacking move, Horn Leech is more useful for the healing effect, which can help in keeping you healthy, while Shadow Claw has arguably better neutral coverage and a higher critical hit rate. Take your pick.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While one would think that Speed would be of the essence, in truth, Necturna is not ever going to be really fast enough regardless of how much Speed she runs, so running a specially defensive spread is typically more rewarding, as it enables Necturna to capitalise on her best stats, stay around for longer, and likely survive for long enough to get a Baton Pass away, as being able to take most special attacks comfortably is a large advantage. Maximum HP and Special Defense with a Careful nature are thus givens, while the remaining EVs are placed in Defense. The boosted HP also means that your Substitutes are a little meatier, and will help the team a little bit more. If you do want to run some Speed, however, 184 Speed EVs are a good benchmark in order to outrun Tyranitar, Breloom, and Scizor. Even so, you should always make sure to maximise HP first, and then invest from there. Leftovers is always a useful item in order to recover your HP, but Mental Herb has advantages to its use in order to recover from Taunt and get a Baton Pass away.</p>

<p>As previously mentioned, this set will typically work best in a Baton Pass chain – since Necturna is not passing any useful boosts, she will require other partners to help pick up the slack. Such useful Baton Passers to choose from include Gliscor, Vaporeon, Espeon, Celebi, and Scizor. If you are passing to a physical sweeper, Scizor and Gliscor are typically more useful as they can both pass Speed and Attack boosts, and Scizor is capable of passing Defense boosts as well. On the other hand, if passing to a special sweeper, then Celebi can pass Nasty Plot boosts and Espeon can pass Calm Mind boosts. Generally you will want to include as many boosts as you can in the chain, not simply Attack and Speed, so that your final recipient, upon whose shoulders the success of your entire strategy rests, can have the utmost chances of success – though if your opponent has Haze, you were doomed before you began. Typically the best recipients are those that are both powerful and immune to Toxic Spikes, such as Heatran or Lucario, but any Pokemon that is slow and powerful can work well, such as Metagross, Marowak, or Heracross. And of course, if you want to annoy your opponent to the utmost extent, you can always use Sunkern or Kakuna.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>To be perfectly honest, it would probably be quicker and easier to list all the things that Necturna can't do. With one use of Sketch to her name, literally every move in the game is open to her – the limit, indeed, is only as far as your imagination sees fit. And, of course, what her stats permit. Trawl about a bit, through her kit, and you'll have to admit, there's very little that's unfit. Well, all the same, I'll have a go, but don't be a bit split if there's something I omit.</p>

<p>We have already discussed some of Necturna's other set-up options in the Additional Comments of some of the above sets – Swords Dance and Shift Gear in Shell Smash, and Tail Glow alongside Quiver Dance. But one last set-up move that has not been discussed as of yet is Coil. On paper at least, it seems like a fantastic idea. Boosting Necturna's beefy Attack stat, while at the same time patching up her lacklustre Defense stat, as well as improving her accuracy such that Stone Edge and Power Whip go to 100% accuracy after one boost is all very good, and somewhat reminiscent of Curse Snorlax. However, it runs into the same problems as Curse Snorlax in that it is worn down very quickly indeed, and more to the point, is made short work of by Heatran, Skarmory, and a far greater number of Pokemon than her other sets. In short, it really isn't worth using.</p>

<p>In terms of other complete sets that are theoretically usable, Choice Specs is one of them, and indeed, a set of Leaf Storm / Blue Flare / Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Ice looks promising. However, Necturna's 85 base Special Attack really lets her down here, and more to the point, nearly any Grass-type you could care to name can do it better. Not even Blue Flare and Necturna's Ghost typing can save it. Another interesting idea for a set is a non-boosting Life Orb variant with Power Whip / Stone Edge / Sacred Fire / Shadow Sneak, as a useful utility Pokemon. It could, indeed, also use Hi Jump Kick over Sacred Fire, or even use Pain Split for recovery. However, such a set is generally forgotten in favour of either the Choice or the Substitute sets, depending on what you are seeking to accomplish. It is by no means outclassed, however, and can be a force to be reckoned with in its own right, not least because of its own unexpectedness.</p>

<p>Some might wonder why, when Necturna has every coverage move in the entire game available to it, the only coverage moves that will ever be Sketched are Sacred Fire, possibly Close Combat or Hi Jump Kick, maybe V-create, and if you are going special, then Blue Flare. One may wonder, indeed, why all of these moves are Fire- or Fighting-type, and the simple answer is, of course, that these are the highest-powered moves in the game with the best coverage alongside Necturna's Grass- and Ghost-type moves. As far as other moves go, there are few that are of significant note, but plenty that are worth mentioning in passing. Eruption is an alternative to Blue Flare, but is weaker than the latter if Necturna falls under 87% of her maximum HP. On the physical side, Bolt Strike is an immensely strong option that can hit Flying-types for good damage, but as the only one worth hitting is Dragonite, and Necturna can hit Water-types with her STAB moves anyway, it is hardly worth the bother. On the special side, Blizzard and Focus Blast are nifty options to hit Dragonite and Heatran with, respectively, but are extraordinarily inaccurate and will ruin you as often as they save you. Blizzard may be of more note if you are using Necturna on a hail team, but as Necturna is quite solidly beaten by just about every threat to hail teams already, she is not the most advantageous Pokemon to place in that situation.</p>

<p>Staying with the weather theme, it is worth noting that Hydro Pump, Thunder, and Hurricane are all useful moves to take advantage of the rain that a partner Politoed brings with, but only Hydro Pump gets the boost from rain, and indeed only Hydro Pump will really hit targets that you couldn't hit already, although even its coverage does significantly overlap. If using Necturna on a sun team, SolarBeam becomes an option, as it works well in tandem with sun-boosted Blue Flare, and does not even have to be Sketched, but if your opponent switches in a Politoed or Tyranitar then you're a bit stuffed. Secret Sword is an option on Calm Mind sets to beat Chansey, Blissey, and specially defensive Heatran with, but if you're that worried about these threats, then maybe the Substitute + Quiver Dance set is a better bet. Lastly, if you are still lacking a move of an odd type, you can always equip a Plate item and use Judgment, though even Arceus's holy rain of death is somewhat pathetic when given to a Necturna. Oh, and you pretty much lose your item slot.</p>

<p>Most of Necturna's other offensive options are outclassed by what has already been given, but all those irritating little non-attacking moves are still very much around. Spore is the big one, and can be helpful in order to allow Necturna to more or less totally remove a Steel-type from the game, or else allow Dugtrio to come in for free and remove it. However, the loss of your Sketch slot can be crippling, especially as Spore is essentially a one-use move if you can't catch the Pokemon you put to sleep, thanks to Sleep Clause. Final Gambit can be a useful move despite Necturna's pathetic base 64 HP stat, but stripping 236 HP off an opponent can be a useful way of carving a path for another sweeper to clean up, especially if you manage to catch Heatran or Jirachi. Final Gambit is also useful in that no Ghost-type in their right mind would want to switch in, for fear of Shadow Claw. Indeed, it is more useful than Explosion, as Necturna will often draw in Steel-types, and Explosion will generally do very little to them.</p>

<p>Trick can be a useful and unexpected tool for the Choice sets, but since you are likely to get Scizor, Heatran, or Jirachi switching in, they are unlikely to be bothered by the item swap too much, unless you manage to catch Skarmory or Forretress. More importantly, though, this means you must forgo the use of Sacred Fire and all other super-powered moves, which is a high price to pay. Necturna learns Gravity naturally, so can be a vital player on a Gravity team, if of course you are the sort of person who enjoys making life difficult for themselves. Finally, Spikes and Stealth Rock are available as an accompaniment to Toxic Spikes, a la Forretress or Cloyster. Necturna makes an excellent hazard setter, as previously mentioned, since she also doubles as a spinblocker; however, as was also previously mentioned, there are far better options for that all-important Sketch slot on support sets in the shape of Rapid Spin and Recover.</p>

<p>Is this all that Necturna can do? Of course not. She can annoy the opponent with a SubSeed strategy composed of Substitute and Leech Seed, she can shuffle the opponent's team with Roar or Dragon Tail, she can ruin the opponent's Calm Mind Reuniclus with Heart Swap, she can trap the opponent with Spider Web or Magma Storm and break them with Perish Song. Lunar Dance? Transform? Tailwind? Acid Spray? Trick Room? You name it, and Necturna can do it.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>How does one beat the most versatile Pokemon in OU, if not the game? Well, in the case of Necturna, the answer is apparently "Steel-types". But we'll get to that later. In order for Necturna to be able to defeat Steel-types, to a great extent she has to rely on Fire-type attacks, which are greatly weakened by the presence of rain, so if you happen to have both Politoed and a Steel-type on your team, Necturna is going to have her work cut out. Remember that Necturna is at her most dangerous when you do not know her set – once you have identified that, as well as her Sketch move, then stomping the poor little miko into rather creepy goo becomes a much easier feat.</p>

<p>As far as most sets are concerned, their reliance on Fire-type attacks, particularly those that can use Sacred Fire, makes them particularly vulnerable to Heatran. In fact, even a Shell Smash-boosted Life Orb Hidden Power Fighting cannot OHKO offensive Heatran, and defensive variants are not even 2HKOed without Stealth Rock support. In return, Heatran offers a fairly solid OHKO on most variants with Fire Blast or a 2HKO with Lava Plume, though this may change depending on whether the Necturna in question is under the rain, or has Quiver Dance or Calm Mind boosts. Specially defensive Heatran will typically struggle more with the special sets, contrary to what you would expect, and offensive Heatran must watch out for Shell Smash-boosted Stone Edge as well as Close Combat from the lure sets, as well as the rare Hidden Power Ground.</p>

<p>Necturna's other big foe is Dragonite, who can take a Shadow Claw from Shell Smash Necturna if its Multiscale is unbroken and attack back with a STAB Dragon-type attack or Fire Punch; rain variants can easily OHKO with STAB Hurricane, and defensive variants can set up Dragon Dance on Necturna that have nothing to hit them with. It can also recover with Roost if need be. However, Stone Edge and Shadow Claw from Shell Smash Necturna will OHKO with Stealth Rock support, hence breaking Multiscale, and unless Dragonite has Substitute or Lum Berry, it must fear the burn from Sacred Fire, as if it is burned, it becomes more or less useless.</p>

<p>Back with the Steel-types, Skarmory is an excellent stop to nearly all Necturna under the rain, as physically defensive variants are not even 2HKOed by Choice Band Sacred Fire under the rain, while Skarmory can easily OHKO back with Brave Bird. In fact, the only move Necturna has that can KO Skarmory is a Choice Band V-create. Hidden Power Fire is also doing pitiful damage, and Fighting-type moves are no threat to Skarmory's defensive stats. It can also Whirlwind Necturna away if she is behind a Substitute. While Ferrothorn and Forretress cannot take a Fire-type attack at all, they can take just about everything else perfectly well. Ferrothorn can then hit back with Gyro Ball, and Forretress has Payback. However, all of these Pokemon can have difficulty with special variants. Magnezone probably also deserves a mention here, though the most it can muster against Necturna is Flash Cannon</p>

<p>One Pokemon that deserves its own individual mention as a near flawless counter is specially defensive Jirachi, who can take nearly any special attack that Necturna can dish out, as well as most physical ones barring Sacred Fire, especially in the rain, and cripple her with Thunder Wave or simply end her with Iron Head. Note that most special variants may actually struggle against Quiver Dance and Calm Mind Necturna, thanks to Necturna's excellent Special Defense stat, unless of course they have Calm Mind themselves, in which case Necturna cannot really win unless she has Shadow Ball. Note, however, that a Shell Smash-boosted Shadow Claw can 2HKO defensive Jirachi, so be careful. Metagross deserves a mention as being in a similar boat, but with an emphasis on the physical side as opposed to the special side.</p>

<p>Chansey and Blissey can beat pretty much all special sets by Toxic stalling them to oblivion while Necturna can do barely anything back, but if Necturna runs Substitute and Quiver Dance, she can dodge the initial Toxic and use them as set-up fodder, and physical sets laugh at the fat pink blobs. Tentacruel can also annoy Necturna hoping to set up on it with a Substitute + Toxic set, and can also frustrate Necturna's attempts to drain its HP with Liquid Ooze, though most Tentacruel will prefer Rain Dish.</p>

<p>Alongside Dragonite, other Dragon-types are worth mentioning. Hydreigon, like Heatran, resists everything Necturna commonly carries and can fry her with Fire Blast, but is beaten by any Fighting-type move and cannot switch repeatedly into strong Grass-type attacks. Latias and Latios work well against special sets that do not carry Ghost-type moves, but will be crushed by any other set. Salamence deserves special mention for Intimidate, as well as access to Fire Blast and powerful STAB Dragon-type attacks. Gyarados works for the same reasons, but does not resist Grass-type attacks, so can die quite quickly. Finally, if you don't have Stone Edge or a Ghost-type move, Volcarona can easily beat Necturna with its STAB Fire-type attacks, or even set up Quiver Dance against special variants.</p>

<p>When all's said and done, though, the easiest way to get rid of Necturna for good is to revenge kill her by preying on its weaker defensive side. Scizor is the poster ant-mantis-thing for this, and can easily get rid of a Shell Smash or Belly Drum Necturna with Bullet Punch, and can down any other Necturna lacking a Fire-type move in two hits as well, though it must beware of Magnezone lurking in the wings. Mamoswine does a similar job with Ice Shard. If all else fails, though, any strong physical attacker will work relatively well. Haxorus, Terrakion, Metagross, and the like are all fully capable of taking down Necturna given the correct opportunity – assuming, of course, that she does not outrun them. Remember that Necturna is immune to Fake Out, Quick Attack, ExtremeSpeed, Mach Punch, and Vacuum Wave, and resists Aqua Jet, so be careful about which priority moves you use.</p>
 

bugmaniacbob

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Some activities done in the Avatar Requests thread:




Sandslash, shockingly enough, done for Spike64.

Oh, and two versions of my latest Bug sketch drawing:




Illumise wipes out Crobat with a surprise Thunderbolt (I'll be honest, I was surprised Illumise could actually learn Thunderbolt). Actually, Illumise can't even OHKO with Stealth Rock damage and a Life Orb boost, which is pretty pathetic, and from me, that's saying something. I really like how Illumise turned out, though, even though you can't really see it in these versions.

Interesting fact for the day: Both Illumise and Volbeat are based on fireflies. Firefly larvae are glow-in-the-dark, and in some larvae the jaws have evolved to administer stomach juices - complete with acid - along their jaws in special grooves when they bite their prey.
 

bugmaniacbob

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First bit of artwork for the Smog, though you may have seen it already:



Of course, this version is resized to a point at which most of the detail is invisible; more becomes apparent if you look at it full size (although it exceeds the maximum size for artwork, so I have put it in Hide tags for those who want to look at it. I think that the Suspects came out pretty well here, my favourite here being Latias. If you are interested, Scizor, Salamence and Tyranitar are, of course, the top of OU and therefore judges (as none of Heatran, Gyarados or Metagross were capable of holding anything), the jury I took by random sampling, and for the prosecution, Flygon and Lucario represent the outclassed (Lucario as a Swords Dancer, Flygon for obvious reasons). I hope you like it.

 

bugmaniacbob

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BIG UPDATE - A couple of choice tidbits for you today.

Firstly, I've edited the OP to include anchor links to all the bug drawings - so I can both find them easily and know how many more are up for completion.

Second, an old thing I found on my computer (dating back to the Kitsunoh test, I think)



Note - I didn't actually draw the waterfall effects, of course.

And - Teenage Mutant Ninja... turtle things!



Hope you like.
 
Very nice artwork. I really like it, especially the TMNT one. I also like the one of all the Kitsuno. If you are still taking reguests, would it be possible for you to make me an avatar? One with Regice in it, obviously. As for everything else, I don't care.
 
I love your work here! The MS Paint feeling to your drawings is so interesting in my opinion, and is what really draws me to them. Awesome job.
 
IMO the masks of Blastoise and Torkoal should be swapped. A bit of contrast tends to make things look better than if its the same colour; note that none of the ninja turtles have a green mask. Other than that awesome.
 

bugmaniacbob

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Wow - more replies to the TMNT picture than anything else done in this thread.

Very nice artwork. I really like it, especially the TMNT one. I also like the one of all the Kitsuno. If you are still taking reguests, would it be possible for you to make me an avatar? One with Regice in it, obviously. As for everything else, I don't care.
Of course. Do you mean one of the Regice that I have drawn already, or a new one tailored to you?

Here:



The first two are ones that I have already drawn before, while the other two are ways that I interpreted "Royal Regice" - in other words, a crown, a gown and a frown (metaphorically speaking, of course). Although you can't see it here, the crown has 'Regice' inscribed on it in braille.

If you let me know which one you like, I can add text or anything else and upload it avatar size.
 
Thanks a lot. I really like the third one (with just the crown). It looks really good. If you could just make it avatar-sized that would be great.
 
Well, there you go. I really like it. Thanks a lot again. Not to bug (no pun intended) you, but I would also like to see a Dialga and a Garchomp fighting.
 

bugmaniacbob

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Well, there you go. I really like it. Thanks a lot again. Not to bug (no pun intended) you, but I would also like to see a Dialga and a Garchomp fighting.
Sure, here you are:

http://i50.tinypic.com/15e8y9g.jpg

I've been a bit too gracious with Garchomp's proportions here (He's supposed to be about a third of Dialga's height, here it's about half) but otherwise I'm happy with how these two turned out.

Also, the latest (quickie) bug drawing:



Volbeat surprises Altaria with an Ice Punch. Well, I would be surprised too if a firefly tried to punch me...

Fact of the month: Some female fireflies are known to mimic the lights of other types of firefly, attracting males to them. These males are drawn in by the lights, expecting a mate, but are then caught and devoured by the females. Thus giving rise to their nickname, the "femme fatale bugs".

So remember that you haven't had the worst of it.
 

Alchemator

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Not entirely keen on the bug pic, but the Dialga and Garchomp is absolute gold - well drawn and shaded whilst keeping your stylistic sense of humor. It's the "Lolwut?" expression in Dialga's face and eyes!

<3 :D
 
Sure, only... when I drew it I completely overlooked the lava and poison effects, so I'll add them in later. In the meantime, is this sort of what you were expecting?

really, really late reply but thanks heaps! that gives a real edge to the awesomeness that is tentazard
 

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