I wanted to focus on one Pokemon since I assumed that would be extremely busy and I was right. I have some data on Decidueye-H but I couldn't invest much time into this research so I will be more lackluster than I would've liked. So, I'd like to apologise for a lower quality, than my Tauros-P and Snorlax post.
Decidueye-H is a Pokemon that I've been interested in a lot. Not only due to its funny button in Triple Arrows, but since regular Decidueye and Virizion already exist in the tier and both are pretty good.
One thing I noticed is that it competes with Virizion a lot. It is stronger than Virizion and Scrappy allows it to spam its Fighting STAB more easily, however Virizion's advantage, Speed, is far more useful. You can beat any Pokemon you like but giving Braviary-H and Scyther a free turn is really rough, especially since Virizion can still outrun them and beat them with Stone Edge/Rock Slide.
Also, for the entire research, I've been exclusively running Triple Arrows, and while it is solid and can put you in a great position, it is weaker than Virizion clicking CC.
252+ Atk Decidueye-Hisui Triple Arrows vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Bronzong: 127-151 (37.5 - 44.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Virizion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Bronzong: 135-159 (39.9 - 47%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
I've tried to make the most out of Triple Arrows, thus I built 3 sets around this move:
- This one is obvious. You have a spammable move and it does huge damage
- Swords Dance with Trailblaze gives Triple Arrows more power and the speed boost is great for sweeping and abusing flinches.
- Same as Choice Band, but you take advantage of flinches and you have a good speed tier in 360.
Sets I haven't tried:
- A standard pivot set with Roost or Tera Rock + Tera Blast, to abuse useful resistances in Ground, Grass, Electric, Rock and Water
I built this team, the day the drops happened, thus I sadly don't have any replays for it, atleast none where Decidueye-H shines. Speaking of which, Choice Band is not it. Triple Arrows can do work, but the drawback of being locked into a Triple Arrows is really rough in a meta where Scyther and Braviary-H are good Pokemon, not to mention that Salazzle, Mesprit, Uxie, Whimsicott and Bruxish are not Pokemon you want to get free turns either.
Other than this, the damage was... disappointing? I missed out on so many KOs or 2HKOs because of the lower power and the secondary chances, never played came into play. Close Combat is really better in this slot. Other than the Fighting STAB, U-turn, Knock Off and Leaf Blade were my last options. In all honesty, I think Leaf Blade is the most "useless" move here, since I haven't had many opportunities to click it, so you could run CC and Triple Arrows.
It is still a set I wouldn't recommend, since it is really puts you on the backfoot if you play incorrectly or recklessly. You could run Tera Rock and Tera Blast for Flying-types and it is something that I found myself wishing for in many circumstances.
The Team:
CB Hecidueye + NP Encore Salazzle
The Set:
Decidueye-Hisui @ Choice Band
Ability: Scrappy
Tera Type: Dark / Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Triple Arrows / Close Combat
- Leaf Blade / Close Combat
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Ignore the quality of the team here, the focus is Decidueye-H and it was alright. I didn't had many opportunities to set-up and it many turns to really do something, since it needs two Trailblazes to outrun even Scarfers and SD is really necessary to achieve KOs.
I still think that this set has potential but there were cases where I rather had Virizion, who doesn't need a speed boost to sweep effectively or deal a lot of damage. I think regular Decidueye would've been better since that has STAB Shadow Sneak to deal with faster Pokemon.
I think the set is fine in a vacuum but it needs a stronger team that makes great use out of it.
The Team:
SD Decidueye-H Offense
The Set:
Decidueye-Hisui @ Lum Berry
Ability: Scrappy
Tera Type: Dark / Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Triple Arrows
- Knock Off
- Trailblaze
- Swords Dance
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pu-2081419664?p2 - Decidueye-H trolled a Tera Dragon Rhydon
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pu-2081424849 - Beat Mismagius and chipped Hitmonchan
This is a really simple idea to put it on a VoltTurn team, but even outside of VoltTurn cores, Scarf is really useful. I had a lot of success with this set. The issue still comes from locking into a move and giving a Pokemon like Scyther a free turn, but being able to outrun Pokemon up to Lycanroc is really useful.
You can definitively surprise a lot of people with the new speed and getting the jump on stuff like Scyther, Braviary-H and Mismagius is really nice. With the new speed you can also abuse the flinch chance, so you can definitively cheese your way out of a rough position.
The Team:
VoltTurn Offense
The Set:
Decidueye-Hisui @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
Tera Type: Dark / Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Triple Arrows
- Leaf Blade / Tera Blast
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pu-2081430057?p2 - Got a lot of value by chipping and beating Pokemon
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pu-2081449856 - Chipped a lot of Pokemon and allowed me to win
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pu-2082763320 - Lead Decidueye-H won me the game and resistances were useful
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pu-2082766865?p2 - Bulk and resistances allowed me to win again
Verdict: I think I focused on the wrong sets and style of teams, similar to my Tauros research. I had more ideas like a defensive set with Rocky Helmet and even Special Attacking sets, but I sadly didn't have the time for that.
I overall think it is a decent Pokemon. The issue comes by competing with Virizion and regular Decidueye. Virizion is faster and the SD set has more potential on that speed while regular Decidueye pulls off Special Attacking and defensive sets much better. In addition, its SD sets have STAB priority and Poltergeist is still a good STAB, eventhough it limits Knock Off usage on your team.
Decidueye-H, in my opinion, works best if you click CC on a Choice Band set since you do a lot of damage and this is a niche that Virizion cannot replicate "effectively", since it is weaker and lacks Scrappy (CB Virizion is still good tho). SD can also work on this Pokemon but it requires a lot of support and Scarf, while it was my most successful set, is more niche.