Yanmega
[OVERVIEW]
<p>Yanmega has always been an odd Pokemon. Its stats aren't outstanding and it has one of the worst type combinations in Pokemon, but it has fantastic abilities and is more than capable of performing in OU. Despite its crippling Stealth Rock weakness, it is still capable of tearing teams apart and wrecking unprepared teams. </p>
[SET]
name: Speed Boost
move 1: Bug Buzz
move 2: Air Slash
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting / Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Protect
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Modest
EVs.: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Yanmega is the forgotten speed boost user. Yanmega is often overlooked as a late game sweeper, but it has a pretty good base 116 Special Attack and has access to one of the best abilities in the game. Yanmega functions so well as a late game sweeper because so little can stop him once he starts sweeping. After one boost, Yanmega reaches a speed of 434, allowing him to outspeed most of the metagame and all unboosted pokemon. Yanmega tears things apart with its high Special Attack and powerful STAB moves. The final attacking move is based upon what Yanmega needs to hit. Hidden Power Ground is for Fire-types like Heatran who think they can switch in safely. Hidden Power Fighting offers more neutral coverage and can often hit Balloon pokemon and Tyranitar. Hidden Power Fire can take care of other important Steel types like Scizor, Skarmory, and Ferrothorn. It is somewhat hard to wall, as physically defensive Ferrothorn is 2HKOed by Bug Buzz and specially defensive Burungeru is 3HKOed by Air Slash. Yanmega can also counter many pokemon currently common in the metagame; Volcorona, Mienshao, Conkeldurr, and Ludicolo are all OHKO'd by Air Slash. After three speed boosts, Yanmega outspeeds Excadrill and OHKO's with any Hidden Power. Also, Adamant Doryuuzu can be outrun with only two speed boosts.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Hidden Power Electric can be used over Ground, Fire and Fighting. Hidden Power Electric nails bulky Water-type pokemon like Vaporeon for super effective damage. Hypnosis is also an option over Protect, as it earns Yanmega more free turns to rack up Speed Boosts, but it is unreliable and doesn't rack up boosts as well as Protect. Yanmega should normally run Modest for the extra power, but for those who really fear Doryuuzu, Yanmega can run Timid, as it outruns Jolly Doryuuzu after only two speed boosts as supposed to three.</p>
[SET]
name: Tinted Specs
move 1: Bug Buzz
move 2: Air Slash
move 3: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Giga Drain / U-Turn
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
Nature: Timid
EVs.: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> The bane of any choice user is the resisted switch in, forcing the choice pokemon to switch out. Yanmega doesn't have that problem due to Tinted Lens. This means that Yanmega can keep on attacking until Yanmega sees a quadruple resist pokemon or until it is threatened. This set helps fix Yanmega's lacking movepool, as Yanmega no longer needs perfect coverage. Bug Buzz and Air Slash are for strong STAB moves. Hidden Power Ground can help you hit Heatran for a ton of damage and hurts other steel types as well. However, it does not hit Skarmory at all, so Hidden Power Fire is another option. For the last moveslot, Giga Drain is recommended, as it both helps Yanmega stay alive and kills bulky waters. U-Turn is mentioned in the last slot mainly because it is a great way to scout the opponent and to see their Yanmega counter. It also helps Yanmega's team gain momentum. Obviously if U-Turn is used, then the nature should be changed to one that doesn't hinder attack, such as Hasty.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p> Coverage on Yanmega is a total non-issue, so there aren't too many important moves that need to be mentioned. Additional moves on Yanmega are all based on its team's needs, as it already has perfect coverage. Psychic is a viable choice, yet it has redundant coverage with Air Slash and it's not really hitting anything important. It's also not very good to be locked into a Psychic attack, seeing as this clears the way for a Dark-type to set up.</p>
[OPTIONAL CHANGES]
<p> Yanmega ran a very effective lead set last generation, yet with the bulkier leads this generation such as Hippowdon or Politoed, Yanmega is less viable. Yanmega has decent bulk, recovery with Roost, and even a phazing move, but Yanmega's poor typing stops it from trying to run a defensive set. Yanmega can run an Endure+Reversal set, but Yanmega is very vulnerable to residual damage and does not have a high physical Attack Stat. Yanmega also has access to pursuit, but it does not receive STAB and its physical attack is lacking. Yanmgega can actually run an effective Substitute set, especially with Speed Boost, yet the prevalence of Stealth Rock means that Yanmega will really only be able to set up one Substitute. Yanmega is very capable of being a scout due to Frisk and Hypnosis, but Stealth Rock is very common so it's hard to switch in Yanmega a lot to scout. There are also team previews in the beginning of the match, so scouts are pretty useless now anyway.</p>
[TEAM OPTIONS]
<p> Yanmega absolutely needs Rapid Spin support. The Speed Boost set has a Life Orb on it, so Yanmega only lasts five turns without Rapid Spin. The Choice Specs and Scout sets will need to switch in and out frequently, so Yanmega needs Rapid Spin to ensure that it can be used more than once. The best pokemon for this is Starmie, as Starmie resists many of Yanmega's weaknesses such as Ice and Fire. Forretress also resists Yanmega's Ice weaknesses and is always an option. Hitmontop, while not resisting any of Yanmega's weaknesses aside from Rock, can also be used to eliminate many of Yanmega's counters such as Blissey and Tyranitar. If Rapid Spin support doesn't fit the team, then Magic Mirror pokemon like Espeon and Xatu are necessary to help keep Stealth Rock off of the field. Electivire also works well with Yanmega. Electivire can absorb electric attacks aimed at Yanmega to raise its speed and KO many of Yanmega's walls such as Burungeru, Blissey, and Tyranitar. Yanmega also is immune to Electivire's Ground weakness. A choiced pokemon like Garchomp can clean up nicely after a Yanmega sweep and can break through the opponent's remaining pokemon. Infernape can work as a cleaner too, as it breaks through the SkarmBliss combo. Yanmega has a lot of synergy with pokemon like Heatran, but Heatran is walled by many of the same pokemon as Yanmega. </p>
[COUNTERS]
<p> Stealth Rock is the biggest counter to Yanmega. It pulls a huge chunk out of Yanmega's health and kills it off quickly. Most special walls counter Yanmega well, such as Burungeru, Blissey, Porygon2, and Vaporeon. Tyranitar also checks Yanmega pretty well because of its special bulk and ability to OHKO back with rock moves. It also outspeeds the Specs set if it has a Scarf, and isn't KO'd by the Speed Boost set unless it has HP Fighting. Snorlax walls Yanmega as well, but it can be 3HKO'd and has no reliable recovery. Other Speed Boost pokemon like Blaziken can counter Yanmega well if it has one more boost than it because it will outspeed it and OHKO it. Crobat is a very good Yanmega counter as well. It has a 4x resist to Bug, isn't OHKO'd by Air Slash, and can OHKO back with Brave Bird.</p>
[DREAM WORLD]
<p>Dream World Yanmega has already been released. Frisk is good for a scout set, but Yanmega has such great other abilities and doesn't need to bother with Frisk otherwise. </p>
