Statistics
|
Stat |
| HP |
65
|
333 |
| Atk |
70
|
238 |
| Def |
60
|
218 |
| SpA |
65
|
228 |
| SpD |
65
|
228 |
| Spe |
115
|
328 |
Persian a UU Pokemon that can take on both Skarmory and Blissey. Screech will force switches and / or let you put a real hurting on Blissey, who can't really demolish you with whatever special attacks it has (if it even has any). Return vs. Body Slam is paralysis vs. power, you could use Double-Edge too but it's not really worth the recoil. Zap Cannon vs. Thunderbolt is paralysis vs. accuracy really; don't use Zap Cannon with Body Slam obviously. Hypnosis is just a nice status move it gets, nice to put something to sleep that can beat Persian, since Persian will usually be faster, just watch out for Sleep Talkers switching into a Hypnosis if they know you have it.
Swagger Up set. Good Speed lets you Swagger whatever is switching in or whatever is currently out, hope they are confused and then Psych Up, just doesn't work as well as the first set since they can switch or just pound on you with +2 Attack. Substitute can work to take those +2 Attack hits you'll be eating, but then Ghosts wall you like there's no tomorrow. Not a great set really—too easily maneuvered around, but Persian isn't doing much else. You need Spikes down for this to work, otherwise they'll just keep switching out for free.
Other Options
Spiting away Heal Bells and stuff is always fun and works well on a fast Pokémon like Persian. You can pair Nightmare with Hypnosis or just use it to hurt Sleep Talkers. Iron Tail can be used to hit Rocks who will otherwise block you out, but it does nothing for the Steels that do the same. Roar is kind of stupid with all that Speed and no real defenses to speak of behind it, but if you need a UU phazer it can do that. Thief is of note because Persian is so fast. Cursing is always nice, but it ruins Persian's only great stat, and BubbleBeam will really nail a Rhydon coming in and is RBY nostalgia as well. Persian can Charm Cursers, but unless it's Roaring, it has nothing to take out their high defenses. A nice load of options, really, but none are amazingly effective.
Opinion
Seriously nerfed by the fixing of Hyper Beam and the retooling of critical hits from RBY, Persian is only a shadow of its former self. Persian can still be a pain to take out with its high Speed and fairly good movepool, but without Hyper Beam and constant critical hits from Slashes, it's not the huge threat it used to be. Persian can still work fine in the UU tier, though, and its high Speed really helps it out. Also is a ghetto Skarmbliss counter with an Electric move. Poor guy, never recovered from the RBY era.
Counters
Most Rock and Steel Pokémon that aren't weak to Electric wall Persian badly, as do Gengar and Misdreavus as long as Persian doesn't have Shadow Ball. Sleep Talkers such as Zapdos and Raikou, the latter of which ties in Speed with Persian, will stop Persian's most crippling move, Hypnosis. It has weak defenses, so many decently strong attacks will 2-3HKO it.
