Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
61
|
- |
263 |
326 |
- |
| Atk |
90
|
194 |
216 |
279 |
306 |
| Def |
45
|
113 |
126 |
189 |
207 |
| SpA |
50
|
122 |
136 |
199 |
218 |
| SpD |
50
|
122 |
136 |
199 |
218 |
| Spe |
160
|
320 |
356 |
419 |
460 |
Basically your goal is to Substitute to avoid damage while allowing Speed Boost to increase your Speed, making it an excellent Baton Passer. Supposing that your opponent lets you keep up a Substitute after you use it, proceed to Swords Dance. However, Ninjask won't keep a Substitute up against anything, and since most people expect Swords Dance, once they see you have Silver Wind, for example, they might send in Heracross later on, thinking it's safe. This is really no brains required. Though in the earlier days of FRLG it was common to see a Baton Pass / Protect / Substitute / Swords Dance variety Ninjask, the general consensus is that it should be able to do damage if it gets the chance. Do not underestimate Ninjask's own attacking / sweeping abilities. Beware of Tyranitar when using the boosting berries, or use HP divisible by 4.
You would be surprised how many people expect Ninjask to only set up and Baton Pass, with good reason of course, and not to actually deal any damage. Unpredictability is a good thing in the 386 metagame. It's useful to bring in on Choice Banded Earthquakes or Hidden Power Bugs, Swords Dance on the switch, and then attack. Hidden Power Rock is primarily to surprise Zapdos and Salamence, but also OHKOs most Fires.
With sky-high Speed and quite decent Attack, this can actually hurt something. If you have Magneton, you can Baton Pass first to check for Skarmory, and if it comes out you can Thunderbolt it out of the air. Works with Dugtrio as well for something like Metagross. This sort of Ninjask is excellent for a kamikaze-attack to break Substitutes from things like Raikou or Celebi, so you can finish them off with Dugtrio afterwards—the same idea as the Aerodactyl / Dugtrio strategy. Hidden Power Rock is for Aerodactyl and other Fliers in general and Shadow Ball is for Gengar, while Aerial Ace would be for Heracross. Hidden Power Flying can be there, but you'd have to replace Hidden Power Rock as well.
Other Options
Substitute / Protect combo will keep you from getting hit unless your opponent uses a multi-hit move like Rock Blast. The users of these moves are rather predictable, though.
EVs
252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Whatever. Jolly nature is good for other Ninjask, but Adamant does work fine as well, for the Sweeper Ninjask that is, given that Ninjask has quite a good Speed advantage. There really isn't much thought required here. You might want to make Ninjask's HP divisible by 4 so you only need 3 Substitutes to get to the Liechi / Starf boost, however being able to Substitute four times can be handy as well, so that's up to preference.
Opinion
Ninjask is the lead-off of one of the most broken teams of all the time: the Baton Pass Chain. It can be pretty damn hard to stop there, which makes Ninjask and the team around it an auto-threat. Ninjask also works well outside of the chain, it can pass boosts to dangerous things like Metagross and Marowak, which may very well start sweeping your team on turn 4 if you don't watch out.
Counters
As said in the previous section Skarmory will shut down Ninjask 100% unless it is removed or incapacitated by a Freeze or Sleep move. Though Suicune will actually take some form of damage from Ninjask, its Roaring ability will give the Baton Pass Ninjask a hard time. Haze Weezing should be feared since it resists STAB Bug moves and erases your stat-uppers as well, but at least that lets you pass your Substitute.
Also, be on the watch for Quick Attack, Extremespeed, and of course Fake Out. Fake Out Medicham equipped with a Choice Band will deal over 70% damage to a Ninjask without any Defense EVs. However, you can't really switch it into Ninjask unless you predict a Protect, as Ninjask will almost always have a Substitute up. Arcanine makes a pretty potent counter to Ninjask. As long as it comes in before Ninjask uses Substitute, Ninjask will have its attack cut by 1 thanks to Arcanine's Intimidate, and with your Fire move you can wear its subs down. When Ninjask is getting low (usually after 2 or 3 subs, at about 50%), Extremespeed it for the kill. Arcanine resists Ninjask's Bug moves as well.
