Overview:
Sharpedo swims into 5th gen with a fantastic new ability in Speed Boost. The ability that made Blaziken Uber was now given to everyone's favourite shark and it is sure to make a splash in the RU metagame. Sharpedo has excellent coverage with Water/Dark that allows him to blast through common walls like Rhyperior and Rhydon. Along with his nice offensive typing, Sharpedo has a great attack of 120 and a decent special attack stat of 95. He also has a speed stat of 95 allowing him to outspeed many common Pokemon; even scarfers like Porygon-Z with a Speed Boost
Sadly, Sharpedo is held back by many negative aspects that stop him from being the great offensive threat he could be. Sharpedo is hampered by terrible defensive stats along with a bad defensive typing that gives him a weakness to the common Mach Punch. Sharpedo is also stopped cold by the very comoon Ferroseed who can Leech Seed him and set up Spikes in his face. Bulky waters in general are very hard for Sharpedo to overcome without team support as they can often tank Crunches and burn him with a Scald. Another problem is Sharpedo's lack of diversity as almost every Sharpedo is a Speed Boost variant. Despite the short comings, Sharpedo is a definite threat in RU and every team should be prepared for this menace.
Potential Movesets:
Mixed Speed Boost
Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Naughty
EV'S: 128 Spe / 128 Sp. Atk / 252 Atk
Moves:
-Hydro Pump
-Crunch
-Protect
-Ice Beam/ HP Fire
Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Naughty
EV'S: 128 Spe / 128 Sp. Atk / 252 Atk
Moves:
-Hydro Pump
-Crunch
-Protect
-Ice Beam/ HP Fire
The most common Sharpedo set, and for good reason too. Protect allows Sharpedo to grab a free Speed Boost despite his shoddy defenses and then rampage against the opponent's team with his great offensive prowess. Hydro Pump and Crunch form his main moves and allow him to break through many walls like Cresselia and Rhyperior. The last move is for coverage and while Ice Beam is most commonly used for its higher base power and ability to hit Honchkrow, Hidden Power Fire could also be used to hit Ferroseed and bug types super effectively while still maintaining coverage against grass types. The nature and EV spread is very flexible considering Sharpedo can be tailored to hit a large amount of different threats. The speed EV's allows Sharpedo to get the jump on Swellow while the Special Attack EV's allow him to OHKO specially defensive Rhperior/ Rhydon and physically defensive Moltres 100% of the time with the remainder dumped into Attack.
Choice Band Speed Boost
Sharpedo @ Choice Band
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
EV's: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Moves:
-Waterfall
-Aqua Jet
-Crunch
-Double-Edge / Earthquake
Sharpedo @ Choice Band
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
EV's: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Moves:
-Waterfall
-Aqua Jet
-Crunch
-Double-Edge / Earthquake
A hole-punching, priority abusing set. Similar to that of Entei's Choice Band set. Choice Band Waterfall can allow you to get kills on a lot of slower things like Rhydon to then accumulate enough of a Speed Boost to outspeed and KO the opponents switch in like a Scarfed Porygon-Z. Aqua Jet also serves as a great utility; picking off foes your team members have weakened while Crunch provides extra STAB and a way to beat Cresselia. Double-Edge is a general coverage option that has great neutral coverage with Waterfall but if the recoil is offputting Ice Fang can be used to damage Ferroseed. Adamant provides a nice power boost but doesn't gain any notable KO's while Jolly allows you to outspeed Timid, Choice Scarf Porygon-Z. Entry Hazards are very important to this set as Sharpedo often misses out on vital OHKO's and 2HKO's. Because of this, Ferroseed makes a nice partner who also synergizes well with Sharpedo despite a shared fighting weakness.
Personal Opinion:
Despite not taking the metagame by storm like Yanmega and Cresselia do I feel as though Sharpedo is definetely an underestimated threat that everyone should be prepared for.