Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Pretty much any Pokemon appreciates Wish support (free HP is nice, who would've guessed), but generally the sweepers that benefit from it the most are those that can also provide defensive utility and would thus have reason to switch in regularly throughout the match (Gyarados and Salamence come to mind, as Intimidate and usable bulk/good defensive typing allow them to serve a pivot role against certain dangerous threats that most common Wishpassers would struggle with, like Heracross) or Pokemon particularly weak to hazards (something with a Stealth Rock weakness or something vulnerable to Spikes). Basically, to decide how much something is likely to benefit from Wish passing, ask yourself how often you expect it to take damage, whether that be direct damage from attacks or indirect damage from hazards, recoil, etc.
I personally love using bulky volt-turn cores to support setup sweepers. Cobalion's offensive pivot set has to be my favorite, since it gets nice role compression by setting rocks without being passive. Hydreigon's scarf set is another great choice that complements Cobalion and makes a solid volt-turn core that can fit on a wide variety of offensive teams. While I've never run a wish passer with this duo I could definitely see a Cobalion/Hydreigon/Alomamola core putting both wish passing and volt-turn to good use on the same team. Obviously pair them up with a fighting resist; Amaroq's suggestions of Gyarados or Salamence sound great.
Don't just pick any set up sweeper for your team. Try to identify what your team can handle and pick your set up sweeper from there. For example: If your team can't handle Krookodile well, don't pick a bulky Psychic type unless you want to lure it (Colbur) for a specific reason. If you build your team with a certain idea behind it, it will be much easier for you to actually execute your strategy in battle. On another note, WishPass often offers cleric support as well, so sweepers that despise status (Slowking, Cresselia, Gyarados, Cobalion, ...) can appreciate that.
Pretty much any Pokemon appreciates Wish support (free HP is nice, who would've guessed), but generally the sweepers that benefit from it the most are those that can also provide defensive utility and would thus have reason to switch in regularly throughout the match (Gyarados and Salamence come to mind, as Intimidate and usable bulk/good defensive typing allow them to serve a pivot role against certain dangerous threats that most common Wishpassers would struggle with, like Heracross) or Pokemon particularly weak to hazards (something with a Stealth Rock weakness or something vulnerable to Spikes). Basically, to decide how much something is likely to benefit from Wish passing, ask yourself how often you expect it to take damage, whether that be direct damage from attacks or indirect damage from hazards, recoil, etc.
I personally love using bulky volt-turn cores to support setup sweepers. Cobalion's offensive pivot set has to be my favorite, since it gets nice role compression by setting rocks without being passive. Hydreigon's scarf set is another great choice that complements Cobalion and makes a solid volt-turn core that can fit on a wide variety of offensive teams. While I've never run a wish passer with this duo I could definitely see a Cobalion/Hydreigon/Alomamola core putting both wish passing and volt-turn to good use on the same team. Obviously pair them up with a fighting resist; Amaroq's suggestions of Gyarados or Salamence sound great.
Thanks guys. I made a new team - only played a few games so far but it's been successful. Love the idea a bulky Gyarados and it's worked for me so far. I tried to fit Cobalion on but he didn't fit my team dynamic, so I didn't include him.
One Pokemon that I'm testing right now is Weezing, and was wondering what your opinions were on that Pokemon (not necessarily in a WishPass team, although he definitely does benefit from it).
I've paired him up with Umbreon and they seem to cover each other fairly well, although I don't see many Weezings in UU ladder so I'm wondering if I overlooked something that does the job better.
As someone who has used Weezing extensively and at a high ladder ranking, I feel I can speak to your question. First off, Weezing is a terrific physical wall with one of the best typings/ability combinations in UU as it's only weak to Psychic moves thanks to levitate. Now Moldbreaker as an ability is a thing so watch out for that, really only Haxorus is relevant. Now Weezing's bulk is impressive, 65/120/70 makes him really tough to bring down on the physical side. I will post some calcs below,
252+ Atk Mega Aerodactyl Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 118-139 (35.4 - 41.7%) -- 83.2% chance to 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
+1 252+ Atk Mega Aerodactyl Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 177-208 (53.1 - 62.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Adaptability Mega Beedrill U-turn vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 55-65 (16.5 - 19.5%) -- possible 7HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Mega Swampert Waterfall vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Weezing in Rain: 153-181 (45.9 - 54.3%) -- 5.9% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
+2 252 Atk Cobalion Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 129-153 (38.7 - 45.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 126-149 (37.8 - 44.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Crunch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 132-156 (39.6 - 46.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Krookodile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 141-166 (42.3 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Heracross Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Weezing: 99-117 (29.7 - 35.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery
^ Those are a ton of the physical threats in UU, all of which it can come in and Will-O-Wisp and cripple them for the rest of the match assuming Will-O-Wisp hits and no flinch from Mega Swampert and Mega Sharpedo. Weezing has a diverse movepool including Will-O-Wisp and one of the most impactful moves in the game, Toxic Spikes. So it's able to spread dual status which helps to weaken and pressure the opponent, helping to open up the game for Weezing's teammates.
The last two moveslots for Weezing are open for discussion, I run Pain Split to give Weezing some form of recovery even if it's unreliable and Fire Blast to hit those fighting/steels and Heracross as well as Forretress who likes to try and spin away T-spikes. Other options include STAB Sludge Bomb, Haze, and Clear Smog to stop physical set up sweepers. Thunderbolt is another option for Gyarados, but thunderbolt limits Weezing's ability to counter other threats like sub Cobalion if not invested in more spA, so watch out. Finally, Taunt is an option if you invest 44 evs into speed to speed creep uninvested Umbreon and Chesnaught.
Negatively, Weezing is a free switch in for Alakazam, Reuniclus and Espeon as there is nothing Weezing can do to them, so be sure to run a counter to Psychics if using Weezing. Additionally, Weezing has sub-par special bulk, so don't leave it in against powerful special attackers. Chandelure (Flash Fire) and Fire Types like Entei and Darmanitan are also annoying for Weezing to face as you can't burn them and can't hit them hard enough, so they have somewhat of a free switch in as well. I often just T-spike when expecting a fire switch in and try and force the spinner/defogger/poison type in afterwards. Additionally, much like pretty well any slow bulky wall (the likes of Blissey and Alomomola), Taunt pretty well shuts down Weezing and limits it's effectiveness.
Overall, I think it's an underrated Pokemon in the UU tier, and is one of the most consistent physical walls in the tier. If you play to it's strengths and support it well, it can be an effective pokemon!
1) Mixed defense is probably the best atm, but if I had to go with one of the options you listed, PhysDef.
2) Definitely WishTect lol, Wish + Toxic is pretty bad considering your only form of recovery can't be guaranteed, which severely cuts down on Florges's survivability. Wish + Synthesis is also a decent option.
1) Mixed defense is probably the best atm, but if I had to go with one of the options you listed, PhysDef.
2) Definitely WishTect lol, Wish + Toxic is pretty bad considering your only form of recovery can't be guaranteed, which severely cuts down on Florges's survivability. Wish + Synthesis is also a decent option.
So I have been working on putting together a team, and while doing random battles, came across the sigilyph strategy with cosmic/stored power. I wanted to use that on a team, and put a ninjask with it, to BP speed to it to make stored power even stronger and outspeed everything. However, I hit a roadblock, and can't decide what to put that will compliment these two. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Sigilyph @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Psycho Shift
- Cosmic Power
- Stored Power
- Roost
So I have been working on putting together a team, and while doing random battles, came across the sigilyph strategy with cosmic/stored power. I wanted to use that on a team, and put a ninjask with it, to BP speed to it to make stored power even stronger and outspeed everything. However, I hit a roadblock, and can't decide what to put that will compliment these two. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Sigilyph @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Psycho Shift
- Cosmic Power
- Stored Power
- Roost
I suggest you don't use them since it's not a good strategy at all and those two aren't close to good in UU
If you want anything close to a sweeper like that then just use Calm Mind / Stored Power or Psyshock / Morning Sun / Dazzling Gleam Espeon since it does what you want pmuch
While this is a cool set, it's not a very good set. It only works well in randbats because there's no team preview so your opponent may not keep the right checks healthy (if they have them at all), and often has no answer left by the time you reveal it. In UU, Sigilyph is obvious from team preview and most people will keep the right pokemon healthy to handle this particular gimmick and prevent it from setting up. If you have your heart set on this strategy, then Alakazam can run a similar set that does the job way better. This is still a bit gimmicky and completely walled by dark-types, but it's worlds better than that Sigilyph set:
This Alakazam thrives as an unexpected win-con, with most opponents simply never considering the possibility of a bulky Alakazam. After a single barrier it comfortably lives every non-STAB knock off in the tier, and will easily set up on scarfers that would revenge a typical Alakazam set. The EV's allow it to outspeed Heracross, whose toxic orb and band sets can OHKO with Megahorn even when you're at +2, and Entei, who can 2HKO with Banded Flare Blitz when you're at +2 but gets recover-stalled if you can get to +4. If you really want you can run Flame Orb instead of Leftovers to make yourself more resistant to status, but it telegraphs the set fairly strongly and also means you'll be relying much more heavily on recover. Pair this Alakazam with pokemon that can lure and beat dark-types, since they must be removed before this Alakazam can sweep.
Reuniclus is still your better bet in general for a bulky magic guard sweeper, in particular because it's bulkier before it boosts and can run Focus Blast to beat dark-types, but Alakazam is pretty cool due to its high speed and the total surprise factor you can get with a set like this. If you're the gambler type and are okay living with the constant threat of a single crit ruining your day, this can be a fun set.
252 Atk Heracross Megahorn vs. +2 252 HP / 160+ Def Alakazam: 248-294 (78.9 - 93.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Flare Blitz vs. +2 252 HP / 160+ Def Alakazam: 192-226 (61.1 - 71.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Machamp Knock Off vs. +2 252 HP / 160+ Def Alakazam: 152-180 (48.4 - 57.3%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Adaptability Mega Beedrill U-turn vs. +2 252 HP / 160+ Def Alakazam: 224-264 (71.3 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
This set really doesn't work too well in UU... or any tier for that matter. It's just not worth running a full team slot to do something so niche. Combusken in NU and Scoliopede in OU do a good job of passing speed boost, but that's because they have decent attacking stats for their respective tiers. You're spending a moveslot, not a teamslot, to speed pass with them. If you want to spend an entire team slot on helping your team set up, then I'd recommend using something like Cresselia with Light Screen and Reflect, or Whimsicott with Memento. You can easily fit other roles into the same set, while the team support they provide is more general purpose and doesn't lock you into something as fragile and one-dimensional as Ninjask.
So I've been trying to build a balanced team around Mandibuzz, as it's one of my favorite mons, but unfortunately I don't get to use it much. What set is better in this meta for Mandibuzz, physically defensive or specially defensive, and what kind of partners would you recommend for him? I'm sort of stuck rn xD
EDIT: The moves I'm using right now is Foul Play / Roost / Taunt / Defog if that matters for teammates.
So I've been trying to build a balanced team around Mandibuzz, as it's one of my favorite mons, but unfortunately I don't get to use it much. What set is better in this meta for Mandibuzz, physically defensive or specially defensive, and what kind of partners would you recommend for him? I'm sort of stuck rn xD
EDIT: The moves I'm using right now is Foul Play / Roost / Taunt / Defog if that matters for teammates.
When I use Mandibuzz, I normally find SpD to be way better as it can take on the Nidos once it Knock Offs their Life Orb. That set is normally Roost / Taunt / Toxic or Foul Play / Knock Off. This particular set has to worry about Cobalion setting up as it takes little from Mandibuzz moves.
That being said if you want to keep your current set, Phys Def Mandibuzz is better in which case you will want to run 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 Spe as the Speed allows you to Taunt 0 Speed Gligar and Cune to prevent them from setting up (you have to run 96 Spe EVs to outspeed 52 Speed Cune, which is unfortunately more common rn).
Strong grass types like Roserade and Shaymin are the usual go-tos but there's also stuff like heliolisk and Zapdos in some cases. Roserade can also set up spikes which is nice :)
Strong grass types like Roserade and Shaymin are the usual go-tos but there's also stuff like heliolisk and Zapdos in some cases. Roserade can also set up spikes which is nice :)
A lot of people like a bulky offensive set that can run like lefties or shuca berry and stuff like that, but there's also stuff like AV, band, and mixed LO. There really isn't a best set it just depends on your team
That's really subjective and based on your teams needs. If you want a fast revenge killer with the potential to set up, Hone Claws Aero is pretty solid. If you want a bulky CMer, Suicune and Reuniclus and the likes are your go-tos. SD Lucario can break down bulkier teams and do a number against offense if it can set up with Extreme Speed. NP Ape and Lucario can do a lot to bulky teams but can still be a pain to check if they opt to run Vacuum Wave. There are others but yeah it really depends on your team
First off, umbreon is more bulky specially than physically. Secondly, there are a few other physical walls that it faces more competition from, while its specdef set is more unique. Most importantly, however, umbreon is forced out by physical fighting types like heracross regardless of which side it invests in, so that kind of bulk is less useful.
phys def umbreon is actually very solid right now because it handles gyarados, dd mence, gatr etc and some other offensive threats super nicely. although its generally seen as a spdef wall, it can easily be switched with its great phys bulk which is more than passable
