name: Battle Bond
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Water Shuriken
move 4: Ice Beam
item: Life Orb
tera type: Water
ability: Battle Bond
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Owing to its incredible Speed and unique ability, Greninja is a frightening late-game sweeper and cleaner that is capable of snowballing teams after a one-time boost thanks to Battle Bond. Surf can be used as an alternative to Hydro Pump, trading power for more consistency. Water Shuriken provides good priority for Greninja to revenge weakened yet faster threats such as Darkrai and Deoxys-S, as well as letting Greninja bypass revenge killing attempts from Kingambit's Sucker Punch. Ice Beam allows Greninja to hit Dragon-type Pokemon such as Roaring Moon and Dragonite and hit Grass-type Pokemon such as Serperior and Rillaboom much harder. Sludge Wave can be used over Ice Beam as an alternative coverage move that can notably 2HKO Assault Vest Primarina after Stealth Rock damage while also having a stronger move to hit Ogerpon-W. Tera Water enhances Hydro Pump and Water Shuriken's damage output, giving Greninja a good chance to OHKO Hatterene and Booster Energy Great Tusk with Hydro Pump and Water Shuriken, respectively, while still 2HKOing Gouging Fire and Clefable with Surf and letting Greninja turn its Fighting and Fairy weaknesses into neutralities. Tera Ghost can be used an alternative Tera type that allows Greninja to bypass Dragonite's Extreme Speed and Zamazenta's Body Press.
Greninja fits best on hyper offense and rain teams as an excellent sweeper and cleaner. On hyper offense teams, leads such as Glimmora, Hisuian Samurott, and Deoxys-S can get up entry hazards to help Greninja grab KOs more easily. Dragonite and Gouging Fire are excellent teammates for Greninja, as they are able to deal with Grass-types such as Ogerpon-W and Rillaboom, while Greninja can eliminate physically defensive Pokemon such as Great Tusk and Garganacl for both. Greninja can also support Gouging Fire by eliminating Gliscor and Landorus-T, two Pokemon that could otherwise threaten Gouging Fire. Gholdengo is also a good teammate, as it can help check Zamazenta, which is otherwise a dangerous threat that Greninja can let in; in return, Greninja can help check Fire- and Ground-types such as Cinderace and Landorus-T. On rain teams, Pelipper is a prime teammate, as it sets up the rain and helps Greninja get safe switch-ins with U-turn. Barraskewda is an excellent partner that helps Greninja by keeping momentum with Flip Turn and overwhelming shared checks like Primarina and Kyurem. Raging Bolt is a fantastic teammate for Greninja, as it can break bulky Water-type Pokemon such as Primarina and specially defensive Alomomola, and in return, Greninja can eliminate Ground-type Pokemon such as Great Tusk and Iron Treads for Raging Bolt. Iron Treads is a great teammate, since it can reliably clear hazards to keep Greninja healthy as well as check Raging Bolt for Greninja. Rillaboom and Ogerpon-W are also excellent partners for Greninja, threatening special walls such as Primarina and Blissey for Greninja.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/imzer0.629771/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/magcargo.177111/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/fayawizard.616497/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
Last edited: