Xatu (Analysis) [QC 0/3]

[Parallel]

Xatu

[Overview]
<p>Sporting medicore stats, Xatu has never seen much usage, despite it's excellent support move pool. This combines with its lack-luster typing has always caused there to be a better option since its inception. But with the eve of generation V, Xatu found itself with it's Dream-World ability released and thus promises it as a staple support Pokémon through out this generation.</p>

<p>With its new, released, Dream World ability, Magic Mirror, Xatu find itself with a new niche. Working similarly to the move Magic Coat, Magic Mirror instantaneously allows Xatu to reflect any status moves back at the user. Instantly Xatu find itself able to block anything trying to use Taunt, Status moves, Spikes, or Stealth Rock, and use them against it's foe.</p>


[SET]
name: Anti-Hazard
move1: Hidden Power [Fire]
move2: Roost
move3: Psychic
move4: Toxic/ Calm Mind/ Reflect
nature: Bold
item: Leftovers
ability: Magic Mirror
ev's: 248HP/ 252 Def/ 8 SpA

[Set Comments]
<p> This allows Xatu to use Magic Mirror to its full potential. This set allows Xatu to Pokémon who commonly set up entry hazards. Psychic and Hidden Power [Fire] give Xatu great coverage on Pokémon who commonly set up entry hazards, therefore those Xatu will be switching in on the most. This Xatu set is very physically defensive as many Pokémon Xatu will be switching in against can be potent physical attackers. </p>

<p> Xatu's last slot in this set really depends on who you want to threaten. Calm mind is good at scaring away threats such as Hippowdon, who have access to healing moves such as Slack Off. Toxic has a broader use than Calm mind, as it can also be used on Tyranitar, who Xatu has great trouble dealing damage to, Xatu's only offensive option on Tyranitar being Hidden Power. Reflect is a somewhat lesser option, but double Defense to an already high physical defense is not to be scoffed at, when coupled with Xatu's access to Roost. </p>

[Additional Set Comments]
<p> Despite the notable exceptions, Xatu is very effective at blocking entry hazards with this set, being able to deal considerable damage to most of the common users. If an opponent takes an attack from Xatu, their options become limited to attempting to damage Xatu or switching it in later in the game where they will be less effective and already weakened, which is less than an optimal position for them but a great benefit to you </p>


[SET]
name: Dual Screens
move1: Reflect
move2: Light Screen
move3: Psychic / U-turn
move4: Roost / Wish
nature: Bold
item: Light Clay
ability: Magic Mirror
ev's: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 SpD

[Set Comments]
<p>This allows Xatu a dual purpose: to set up, and to prevent your opponent setting up. Simply come in on your opponent setting up, Magic Mirror will reflect it and likely cause your opponent to switch. This is your chance to start setting up screens. Roost is there to aid survivability and Psychic is there for a good STAB attacking move.</p>

<p>The two optional moves, U-Turn and Wish, can allow Xatu to perform a far greater supporting role, at the loss of it posing a threat in its own right. U-Turn allowing it to escape from some trickier situations and Wish allowing it to further aid the survivability of your team.</p>

[Additional Comments]
<p>Psycho shock is an option over Psychic as an attacking move, but due to the lower base power is not recommended. An EV set geared towards letting Xatu deal some extra damage is also a potential consideration, but in most cases it would be preferable to have the extra defenses to aid in survivability, so it can switch back in on another potential attempt to set up.</p>

<p>While Wish is listed as an option for Xatu, it's a far less appealing Wish passer since the mechanics changes in Wish for the fifth generation. Instead of healing the receiver by one third of their HP, it now heals the user by one third of the user's HP, and with Xatu's poor base 65 Health, it is no longer such an affective Wish passer.</p>

[Set]
name: Offensive Support
move1: Thunder Wave
move2: Feather Dance
move3: Calm Mind
move4: Psycho Shock / Psychic
nature: Bold
item: Leftovers
ability: Magic Mirror
ev's: 156 HP / 48 Def / 252 SAtk / 48 SDef /

[Set Comments]
<p>A somewhat surprising attempt which allows Xatu to take a more offensive support role. Switching in on a move that is reflected by Magic Mirror, Xatu has many options. Thunderwave is there to cripple sweepers, Feather Dance is great for forcing offensive threats to switch, which after a bit of spreading can then allow Xatu to use Calm Mind and strike back.</p>

<p>This set really appreciates entry hazard support, allowing it to really hurt anything that attempts to switch in, although these can easily be achieved by switching Xatu into an opponent into something that is attempting to set up entry hazards. Calm mind really allows Xatu to take advantage of its base 95 SpA, and start being able to dole out some not inconsiderable damage.</p>

[Additional Comments]
<p>While Psycho Shock is in theory an inferior move, its prevents Xatu being completely walled by defensive threats such as Blissey, with Blissey unable to use support moves, it makes Xatu completely able to cripple her, although, with this is mind, this set need 2 Calm Mind's to potentially 3HKO Blissey.</p>


[Team Options]
<p>Xatu can slot itself into any team that finds itself in need of blocking entry hazard or absorbing statuses. Ideally Xatu should be teamed with something bulky that also covers its weaknesses, such as Swampert, as many opponents will switch once their attempts at setting up have been crippled by Xatu, so a team mate that can cover Xatu's weakneses is a problem.</p>

[Dream World]
<p> Xatu's Dream World ability is already released, and a comparison to its other abilities is mentioned in Optional Changes below. Other Pokémon’s Dream World abilities have little effect on Xatu's role, except notably Shadow-Tag Shandera, in which case a Shed Shell may be necessary if U-turn is not part of the move set.</p>

[Counters]
<p>Due to the unique way in which Xatu's ability works, there aren't any counter per-say, as the only way to prevent Xatu from switching in on a status move is to kill it or remove its ability. Killing it is more easily achieved by foe's such as Botorotsu, who have potent attacking power, but prediction and good synergy with team mates can allow Xatu to survive as long as needed.</p>

[Optional Changes]
<p>Both of Xatu's other abilities are vastly inferior to Xatu's Dream World ability: it being able to block sleep entirely and give the opponent a status without receiving one.</p>

<p>While not having much else in the way of a support movepool, Xatu's offensive movepool has quite a bit more breadth to it, if you find it needs to fill a specific niche.</p>

<p>Red Card is an option if you really want to break the flow of your opponent team, this works best on the support sets where you want to remove the opponent from the field without allowing it to set up when unable to deal enough damage to KO. The problem with this item is it's one use, which can cause problem if the situation arises again.</p>

 

[Parallel]

Oh, forgot to mention, Finnished. Bump.

 

[Ditto]

I made some format changes.

Hide

[Overview]
<p>Sporting medicore stats, Xatu has never seen much usage, despite it's excellent support move pool. This combines with its lack-luster typing has always caused there to be a better option since its inception. But with the eve of generation V, Xatu found itself with it's Dream-World ability released and thus promises it as a staple support Pokémon through out this generation.</p>

<p>With its new, released, Dream World ability, Magic Mirror, Xatu find itself with a new niche. Working similarly to the move Magic Coat, Magic Mirror instantaneously allows Xatu to reflect any status moves back at the user. Instantly Xatu find itself able to block anything trying to use Taunt, Status moves, Spikes, or Stealth Rock, and use them against it's foe.</p>

[SET]
name: Dual Screens
move1: Reflect
move2: Light Screen
move3: Psychic / U-turn
move4: Roost / Wish
nature: Bold
item: Light Clay
ability: Magic Mirror
ev's: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 SpD

[Set Comments]
<p>This allows Xatu a dual purpose: to set up, and to prevent your opponent setting up. Simply come in on your opponent setting up, Magic Mirror will reflect it and likely cause your opponent to switch. This is your chance to start setting up screens. Roost is there to aid survivability and Psychic is there for a good STAB attacking move.</p>

<p>The two optional moves, U-Turn and Wish, can allow Xatu to perform a far greater supporting role, at the loss of it posing a threat in its own right. U-Turn allowing it to escape from some trickier situations and Wish allowing it to further aid the survivability of your team.</p>

[Additional Comments]
<p>Psycho shock is an option over Psychic as an attacking move, but due to the lower base power is not recommended. An EV set geared towards letting Xatu deal some extra damage is also a potential consideration, but in most cases it would be preferable to have the extra defenses to aid in survivability, so it can switch back in on another potential attempt to set up.</p>

<p>While Wish is listed as an option for Xatu, it's a far less appealing Wish passer since the mechanics changes in Wish for the fifth generation. Instead of healing the receiver by one third of their HP, it now heals the user by one third of the user's HP, and with Xatu's poor base 65 Health, it is no longer such an affective Wish passer.</p>

[Set]
name: Offensive Support
move1: Thunder Wave
move2: Feather Dance
move3: Calm Mind
move4: Psycho Shock / Psychic
nature: Timid
item: Leftovers
ability: Magic Mirror
ev's: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spe

[Set Comments]
<p>A somewhat surprising attempt which allows Xatu to take a more offensive support role. Switching in on a move that is reflected by Magic Mirror, Xatu has many options. Thunderwave is there to cripple sweepers, Feather Dance is great for forcing offensive threats to switch, which after a bit of spreading can then allow Xatu to use Calm Mind and strike back.</p>

<p>This set really appreciates entry hazard support, allowing it to really hurt anything that attempts to switch in, although these can easily be achieved by switching Xatu into an opponent into something that is attempting to set up entry hazards. Calm mind really allows Xatu to take advantage of its base 95 SpA, and start being able to dole out some not inconsiderable damage.</p>

[Additional Comments]
<p>While Psycho Shock is in theory an inferior move, its prevents Xatu being completely walled by defensive threats such as Blissey, with Blissey unable to use support moves, it makes Xatu completely able to cripple her, although, with this is mind, this set need 2 Calm Mind's to potentially 3HKO Blissey.</p>

[Set]
name: PG-13 (More Offensive)
move1: Thunderwave
move2: Psycho Shock
move3: U-turn
move4: Hidden Power Fire / Shadow Ball
nature: Hasty
item: Focus Sash
ability: Magic Mirror
ev's: 116 HP / 140 SAtk / 252 Spe

<p>This allows Xatu to have a bit more fun with her decent base 95 Special Attack and Speed, intended not only to switch in and block the opposition, but also to start dealing some heavy damage.</p>

<p>Focus sash is there to make sure it survives a mis-prediction, while still scaring away or allowing you to attack who ever was trying to set-up on you. Thunderwave is there to cripple sweepers; Psycho shock is there to hurt things such as Blissey who try to wall you. HP Fire or Shadow ball to hit Forretress / Nattorei / Erufuun and Burungel respectively. U-Turn is to deal some last damage in a bad situation.</p>

[Additional Set Comments]
<p>This set is great for catching the un-wary off guard, as most will presume Xatu to have limited attacking power and proceed to try and deal some damage so they can proceed setting up.</p>

<p>While this set lists moves that counter very specific pokemon Xatu will often be switching in against, Xatu actually has quite a wide move pool, so can counter many other things your team has a problem with. For instance Giga Drain can be run over shadowl ball to aid in survivability, if you find that Bunungeru is a very common threat and you are not in need of Shadow Balls extra coverage, or Night Shade could be run to deal some more consistent damage.</p>


[Team Options]
<p>Xatu can slot itself into any team that finds itself in need of blocking entry hazard or absorbing statuses. Ideally Xatu should be teamed with something bulky that also covers its weaknesses, such as Swampert, as many opponents will switch once their attempts at setting up have been crippled by Xatu, so a team mate that can cover Xatu's weakneses is a problem.</p>

[Counters]
<p>Due to the unique way in which Xatu's ability works, there aren't any counter per-say, as the only way to prevent Xatu from switching in on a status move is to kill it or remove its ability. Killing it is more easily achieved by foe's such as Botorotsu, who have potent attacking power, but prediction and good synergy with team mates can allow Xatu to survive as long as needed.</p>

[Optional Changes]
<p>Both of Xatu's other abilities are vastly inferior to Xatu's Dream World ability: it being able to block sleep entirely and give the opponent a status without receiving one.</p>

<p>While not having much else in the way of a support movepool, Xatu's offensive movepool has quite a bit more breadth to it, if you find it needs to fill a specific niche.</p>

<p>Red Card is an option if you really want to break the flow of your opponent team, this works best on the support sets where you want to remove the opponent from the field without allowing it to set up when unable to deal enough damage to KO. The problem with this item is it's one use, which can cause problem if the situation arises again.</p>

 

[Parallel]

Thanks for your assistance Ditto.

 

[Don Honchkrorleone]

Lacking a Dream World section (even if it had already been released).

 

[Parallel]

Lacking a Dream World section (even if it had already been released).

Brief Dream World section added.

 

[Alan]

it's spelled "finished"

 

[The Grand Babido]

I think that you really need to include a defensive set and list it as its main option. I'm not sure what pana runs but you may have to ask user panamaxis what exactly he is using.

Also, this badly needs a grammar check or two as the prose in this is eh..

 

[AccidentalGreed]

May I ask why Hasty is being used as a Nature on PG-13? Certainly, U-Turn won't do much with low Base Power and no investment in it, and by itself it is a utility move, not an offensive move. Timid nature shoukd be the primary option.

 

[apologies]

yep the only xatu i would use is:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3160578&postcount=23

 

[panamaxis]

[Set]
name: Offensive Support
move1: Thunder Wave
move2: Feather Dance
move3: Calm Mind
move4: Psycho Shock / Psychic
nature: Timid
item: Leftovers
ability: Magic Mirror
ev's: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spe

???
Thunderwave and max speed?

I really think the set that apologies linked should be the main set. The only 2 sets I'm really sold on at the moment is the Dual Screens Set and the one apologies linked.

I'm gonna reject the last set, I'm not sure about the set quoted in this post...at the very least it needs a nature and EV change. Investing 252hp is a lot better than investing 252 Defense on Xatu and it really doesn't need timid and 252 Speed EVs. I'll wait to see what you do with this set before deciding on it.

 

[Parallel]

Requested changes made.

 

[outofdashdwz]

Instead of healing the receiver by one third of their HP, it now heals the user by one third of the user's HP, and with Xatu's poor base 65 Health, it is no longer such an affective Wish passer.

Wish heals by half, not a third.

In Team Options, you may want to list specific things that absolutely need SR off (Moltres, Dragonite, etc) and also things to deal with Tyranitar. Any of the fighting trio can take Tyranitar's STABs and OHKO back and threaten a sweep with Justice Heart. Lucario can do the same, except without the extra attack boost (or is Riolu already released in DW? I'm not sure). This is just off of the top of my head. You can probably think of better examples. I don't know where you would fit this, but you might also wanna mention that Xatu is one of the few Pokemon who can stop common Breloom sets dead in their tracks. You do have to be careful around Stone Edge variants though.

 

[panamaxis]

Your first 2 sets have my official approval. I'll test the last set on the ladder and tell you what I think soon (but I don't have high hopes for a set with only Psychic/Psycho Shock as the sole attacking move so I'll play around with a coverage move and see if that's any better).

 

[A Man In Black]

Your link is to an old Serebii Pokemon of the Week listing for Gen3; I suggest linking this instead.

This set allows Xatu to Pokémon who commonly set up entry hazards.

To do what to them?

Also, most spikers/stealth rockers seem to have no trouble at all defeating that set.

Many of them just attack Xatu and kill it. Aerodactyl and Deoxys-A outspeed and 2HKO, even with Reflect. Deoxys-S can 2HKO with Boltbeam/Shadow Ball or set up screens. Tyranitar and Heatran easily take either of Xatu's attacks and hit back hard (with Tyranitar threatening Pursuit as well). Omastar and Cloyster will either set up and then OHKO, or simply take the Psychic and 2HKO back with STAB and/or SE attacks. Swampert is generally a 3-5HKO with Psychic, and its Ice Beam is a close 2-3HKO, such that it can just spam Beams until it rolls well on damage/gets hax. Tanky Garchomp can Dragon Tail you right back out again, and takes only 20%-ish from Psychic after Leftovers. Rhyperior is at best 3HKOed by Psychic (assuming 0/0 defenses and good damage rolls) and 2HKOs/OHKOs with anything but Earthquake. Azelf will just U-Turn out to one of Xatu's many, many counters.

Even when Xatu does have a SE move, it just doesn't hit hard enough to matter. Gen4 standard Metagross is a 3-4HKO and cleans you up with Meteor Mash (2HKO). Jirachi (which is a 3HKO with 4/0/0 defenses, and they do come bulkier) outspeeds and either fishes for flinchax with Iron Head (3HKO with 252 attack, typical on scarf lead) or cleanly 2HKOs with Thunderbolt. Bronzong can set up screens/TR unimpeded, since HP Fire is only a 5HKO on a good day. HP Ice Roserade outspeeds and 2HKOs with HP Ice, and isn't OHKOed back even with Stealth Rock up. Psychic will never OHKO Nidoking without a crit, and most Nidokings can outspeed and 2HKO/OHKO with its amazing movepool. Mamoswine (unless it's unusually bulky or slow for some reason) outspeeds and 2HKOs with Stone Edge or Icicle Drop (although Stone Edge occasionally fails to 2HKO if Xatu uses Reflect). Froslass will outspeed and destroy Xatu with Ice Beam/Shadow Ball; HP Fire is only a 3HKO. Even Infernape can sometimes survive a Psychic and outspeed to 2HKO with pretty much any unresisted attack, or alternately it won't eat any Psychic at all and will just U-Turn to a counter.

Your fourth move opens you up to be walled by even more spikers and rockers. With Calm Mind, Blissey and Deoxys-D wall you completely (even +6 Calm Mind Psychic/HP Fire won't 2HKO) and can set up support moves, PP stall, or fish for freeze/para hax. With Toxic, Empoleon, Clefable, Heal Bell Celebi, and Aromatherapy Bliss set up on you, and Skarmory can wall you harmlessly. Without Toxic or Calm Mind, you're walled by all of the above plus Hippowdon, Gligar, Recover Deoxys/Deoxys-S, Recover Celebi, and pretty much any other spiker with instant recovery.

I don't believe Magic Mirror prevents Trick; if it doesn't, many of the abovementioned Pokemon have another weapon with which to cripple Xatu.

So even if you get Xatu in or lead with Xatu, all of these various spikers and stealth rockers either set up on it or destroy it. (Never mind that it can't switch into a hit from many of them.) The spikers it can actually beat are Nattorei, Forretress, Tentacruel (even Ice Beam doesn't 2HKO), HP Fire Roserade, and unusually-slow Nidoking/Nidoqueen. Beyond those, this Xatu beats Erefuun and...um...Erefuun.

If you want a hit-and-run spike reflector, Espeon does that already, while posing an actual threat. If you need a counter to Nattorei and Forretress, Magnezone already does that much more reliably while also countering a variety of other threats.

 

[panamaxis]

Tyranitar/Aerodactyl/Deo-A/Heatran/Mamo, yes you lose.

If Xatu has reflect metagross loses, Meteor Mash does "49.7% - 58.7%" without Reflect, so you can roost it off and hp fire. Pretty sure you have a good chance to win even with its chance to boost attack (keep in mind MM can miss). Without Reflect Metagross its a bit iffy but Metagross will probably win as the attack raise is enivatable and it probably won't miss enough before it gets this.

Swampert is generally a 3-5HKO with Psychic, and its Ice Beam is a close 2-3HKO, such that it can just spam Beams until it rolls well on damage/gets hax

Ice Beam: 47.3% - 56.3%
Xatu switches in, Toxic then roost stall. Earthquake does 31.7% - 37.7% when roosting. Win for Xatu.

Omastar and Cloyster will either set up and then OHKO, or simply take the Psychic and 2HKO back with STAB and/or SE attacks

Omastar does not SR/Spike in OU...Cloyster is uncommon as a spiker, most of the time it's a shell breaker but even if it's a spiker it needs Ice Beam to beat Xatu and Xatu's Psychic will do a ton back to it.

Bronzong can set up screens/TR unimpeded, since HP Fire is only a 5HKO on a good day.

Xatu is there for Anti-Hazards, not AntiScreens/TR so it accomplishes its purpose here.

HP Ice Roserade outspeeds and 2HKOs with HP Ice

Nattorei is everywhere, roserade doesn't really want to run Hp Ice and let it set up, hp fire is definitely superior this generation. Without HP Ice Xatu wins.

Nidoking

Since when is Nidoking setting up hazards...

Infernape

Psychic does 94.2% - 111.3% to Infernape, CC + Fire Blast won't 2HKO. If infernape catches you on the switch with Fire Blast you're boned, otherwise chances are in your favour to OHKO (but it does have sash so I guess Infernape kills Xatu even if it doesn't predict right, but Xatu can get it down to sash and something faster can pick it off before it gets SR if that's any consolation). All things considered, win for infernape.

Frosslass wins but it's in the same boat as omastar/cloyster, its really not used in the higher tiers...

Heal Bell Celebi, and Aromatherapy Bliss set up on you, and Skarmory can wall you harmlessly

Toxic has more PP than heal bell/aromatherapy. Skarmory can't wall Xatu endlessly, Hp fire does a pretty good chunk to it...

Clefable

has no business in OU

It beats Nidoqueen

Garchomp and Rhyperior

Ummm yeah....SR Rhyperior doesn't exist in OU and Xatu actually beats Garchomp if it's defensive.

Sure you can't beat all the offensive SRers, but Xatu can beat all the defensive ones, which is great against stall.

Also the Featherdance/Calm Mind set sucks, get rid of it please.

First 2 sets are all Xatu needs imo
Quality Control Approve (1/2)

 

[A Man In Black]

Tyranitar/Aerodactyl/Deo-A/Heatran/Mamo, yes you lose.

If Xatu has reflect metagross loses, Meteor Mash does "49.7% - 58.7%" without Reflect, so you can roost it off and hp fire. Pretty sure you have a good chance to win even with its chance to boost attack (keep in mind MM can miss). Without Reflect Metagross its a bit iffy but Metagross will probably win as the attack raise is enivatable and it probably won't miss enough before it gets this.

You're completely right. I'd say it's worth mentioning in discussion of either the fourth move or discussion of counters.

Regarding Swampert
Ice Beam: 47.3% - 56.3%
Xatu switches in, Toxic then roost stall. Earthquake does 31.7% - 37.7% when roosting. Win for Xatu.

Swampert belonged down with the other fourth-move discussion, you're right. Toxic and Calm Mind Xatu can beat Swampert, Reflect Xatu cannot.

Omastar does not SR/Spike in OU...Cloyster is uncommon as a spiker, most of the time it's a shell breaker but even if it's a spiker it needs Ice Beam to beat Xatu and Xatu's Psychic will do a ton back to it.

In my experience, they can both spike/SR/TS, because they scare out things that can't stop them from Shell Breaking, similar to how Metagross generates turns to SR in Gen4. Xatu's not going to come in on the first move unless you already know the set, because if it switches into Shell Break it's most likely going to get OHKOed (Neutral-nature 0 SpA Cloyster non-LO Hydro Pump can OHKO) but once you know your opponent is setting hazards, you'll want to send Xatu in to prevent a second layer of Spikes/TSpikes from going down.

Whether Xatu can handle non-Shell Break Cloyster will depend on the EV spread: 252 Atk/+atk nature Cloyster's Skill Link Icicle Spear can outdamage Roost and will almost certainly OKHO unless Xatu does nothing but spam Roost from the beginning, but any less than 252 Atk EVs means Icicle Spear can fail to OHKO, and Xatu will outspeed and 2HKO any reasonable Cloyster spread with Psychic. Reflect Xatu beats the max-attack Cloyster either way. Ice Beam doesn't help; it does less damage than Icicle Spear unless you make an extremely high investment in SpA, and who does that on Cloyster? The upshot here is that Xatu can usually come in on Cloyster if it has Reflect, but if it doesn't there's a decent chance it'll get set up on or donked out with a OHKO.

Omastar is specially bulkier and hits Xatu in its weaker defense, so it's even worse for Xatu. Psychic can fail to 2HKO 0/0/neutral Omastar (44.8% - 52.7%), while Omastar will 2HKO with Ice Beam/Hydro Pump with no investment, or 2HKO with Surf with a fairly modest investment into SpA. Calm Mind Xatu will generally chase off Omastar, although max SpA/+nature Omastar can spam Hydro Pump and still usually beat Xatu if it uses Calm Mind then Roost or two Calm Minds.

The same principle applies to Nidoking; he gets breathing room to set up SR/TS because Encourage makes him an offensive threat. Bold 8 SpA Psychic only does 77.9% - 93.1% to 0/0/neutral Nidoking, and 252 SpA neutral nature LO Nidoking can outspeed and OHKO with Thunderbolt or Ice Beam, sometimes OHKO with Shadow Ball, and 2HKO with Fire Blast. On the flip side, 252 Atk neutral nature LO Nidoking can sometimes OHKO with Head Smash, and 2HKO with Rock Slide or Fire Blast/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt.

Xatu is there for Anti-Hazards, not AntiScreens/TR so it accomplishes its purpose here.

Nobody's going to use Bronzong for just Stealth Rock any more, though, because Nattorei exists, Explosion was nerfed, and Bronzong does too many other cool things. Unless fire moves everywhere somehow obsolete Nattorei, I think the old Gyro/Hypnosis/Explosion/SR Bronzong is dead as disco, and that's the only set that doesn't use Xatu as setup bait. More important now are the things Bronzong does that Nattorei doesn't, like Trick, Trick Room, and screens, none of which Xatu even slightly impedes.

Xatu is only a Bronzong counter if you don't mind giving Bronzong free reign to do anything but set up Stealth Rock.

Nattorei is everywhere, roserade doesn't really want to run Hp Ice and let it set up, hp fire is definitely superior this generation. Without HP Ice Xatu wins.

I defer to your experience in this area, as I haven't used Roselia in BW.

Regarding Celebi and Blissey: Toxic has more PP than heal bell/aromatherapy.

They still get to come in on you any time they want to clean status off of the team, then fish for hax for quite a while. Energy Ball/Psychic -sdef hax or a crit mean Celebi will kill you, and it has all day to fish for them, since HP Fire doesn't outdamage Recover on 0/0 Celebi. You can't do anything to them but Toxic them, and they both have Natural Cure.

Skarmory can't wall Xatu endlessly, Hp fire does a pretty good chunk to it...

39.5% - 46.7% to standard physical wall Skarm. Xatu can win the PP stall, but you're giving up momentum completely if you try. If you don't try, your opponent still gets to put up hazards.

Ummm yeah....SR Rhyperior doesn't exist in OU and Xatu actually beats Garchomp if it's defensive.

I haven't seen Rhyperior or Clefable at all on competent teams; I'm just theorymonning those.

As for Garchomp, how does Xatu beat defensive Garchomp? It does pitiful damage and gets phazed right out. You can't keep switching Xatu into Dragon Tail, and eventually your opponent is going to predict a turn which isn't you switching in Xatu and lay down SR and then Xatu has no hope. Defensive Chomp can't KO Xatu, granted, but it won't take significant damage from it unless you get Xatu in on it AND have Toxic. Without Toxic, eventually it's going to get SR down. Plus, if you do have Toxic and your opponent finds that out before you get Toxic on Garchomp, it's back to the same prediction game of you fishing for a Dragon Tail miss or mispredict before you mispredict and they get SRock down, it's just that Xatu getting in forces Garchomp out.

This will be a long, slow process that generates little advantage for you even if you do outplay your opponent.

Sure you can't beat all the offensive SRers, but Xatu can beat all the defensive ones, which is great against stall.

It doesn't beat all of the defensive ones. It beats some of the defensive ones really well, depending on its moveset. I see its niche now, but it needs a more comprehensive discussion of counters because there are a lot of Pokemon that can blast it to hell and gone in revenge for reflecting one layer of SR/spikes/TS, some of which are counterintuitive (like losing to Infernape but beating Ice Beam Swampert).

I take back what I said about it being redundant to Espeon or Magnezone, but more detail is needed on what it counters than "This set allows Xatu to Pokémon who commonly set up entry hazards."

 

[panamaxis]

but more detail is needed on what it counters than "This set allows Xatu to Pokémon who commonly set up entry hazards."

Agreed.

We should mention Toxic helps against Swampert, Defensive Garchomps, Blissey, Celebi, Hippowdon while reflect helps against Metagross and Jirachi and makes Xatu more of a team player.

 

[CTNC]

Something interesting about the Duel Screen Set

If you have a Calm/Careful Xatu 205 Def (116 EVs) gets you 3 higher Sp Def or if you have 231 Sp Def (136 EVs - a stat jump makes 230 imposable) you have 2 Higher Def

Edit: Could you Explain the reason for the EVs?

 

[jrp]

Hate to bump, but i've been seeing a lot of success with this:

Bulky Calm Mind
Xatu@leftovers
Bold
4 hp/252 def/252 sp def
Magic mirror
Calm Mind
Wish
Assist Power/Psychic
Shadow Ball/HP fighting

Assist power gets a double boost because of calm mind, after a couple of them it's way more powerful then psychic. Wish for healing, shadow ball and hp fighting are for coverage. Hp fighting hits dory, tyranitar SE, which is nice.

This set can wall blissey/chansey, switch in on the status move and spam cm's while they seismic toss, wish in there to prevent koing, and get assist power to an insane bp.

 

[Deaga]

Night Shade should be mentioned. It's a good all-purpose attack. The only common normal type is Blissey, who you have no chance of beating anyway. With a combination of FeatherDance, Roost and Night Shade, Xatu is able to defeat Nattorei, Roobushin and even Tyranitar lacking Ice Beam (!), which is quite feat. EDIT - Obviously Xatu shouldn't be switching INTO Tyranitar, but this move combination means Tyranitar can't switch into it either!

Maybe it's not the main option, but it's at least Other Options/Optional Changes material.

 

[jrp]

You have a great chance of beating blissey with magic mirror, blissey can't do anything.

 

[A Man In Black]

You have a great chance of beating blissey with magic mirror, blissey can't do anything.

Bliss can patiently PP stall Xatu out while fishing for hax, since there's nothing Xatu can do to Bliss, either.

 

[Iconic]

I think the Anti-Hazard set should have Reflect as the main slash. Without it, you're a sitting duck (totem pole?) against Tyranitar, who is probably Xatu's biggest problem. Even though you won't have a way of hurting it, you can just Roost off the damage and switch out, especially since Reflect helps cushion the odd Pursuit Tyranitar. I think there should also be a mention about using a sole attack with Toxic in order to beat Tyranitar.

In any case, the final move slot should go Reflect / Toxic / Calm Mind, since Toxic does have its merits, but I just don't find it as useful as Reflect. Like pana, I'm also rejecting the last set, as Xatu is totally outclassed offensively by virtually every Psychic-type with better Special Attack. Defensive Xatu is really neat though, and a lot of players have used it effectively.

QC Approved 2/2 (first two sets)

 

[ParaChomp]

Once again, I've found an animated GIF!