Leafeon (Analysis) [QC 3/3]

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Leafeon

QC: [Zebraiken] [NatGeo] []
GP: [] []


[Overview]
  • Amazing Attack, Defense, and Speed for NU make it a great offensive presence.
  • Despite Grass being a terrible defensive typing, Leafeon's above average physically defensive stats make it a decent physical wall, especially with access to support moves such as Yawn, Heal Bell, and Wish.
  • Swords Dance makes it a deadly sweeper, and with its new Chlorophyll ability received via the Dream World, Leafeon can wreak havoc under the sun.
  • Unfortunately, Leafeon has nothing to hit Steel-types with other than Dig, meaning it will always be walled by any Steel-type.
  • Leafeon can also pass its boosts with Baton Pass.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Return / X-Scissor
move 4: Substitute / Baton Pass
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
  • Underneath the sun, Leafeon becomes blazing fast, outspeeds even Choice Scarf users, and with access to Swords Dance along with its great Defense stat, it usually has no problem setting up.
  • After a Swords Dance, almost nothing can stand up to Leafeon's attacks, with the exception of the rare Steel-type.
  • Leaf Blade is an excellent STAB move that destroys virtually everything after a Swords Dance boost, X-Scissor hits Grass-types that resist Leaf Blade, while Return hits Fire- and Flying-types.
  • Substitute can be used to block status, or Baton Pass can be used to pass Swords Dance boosts.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
  • Life Orb is necessary to provide a good power boost to Leafeon's attacks, but Leftovers can be used to lengthen longevity, as after a Swords Dance, the power difference is somewhat negligible.
  • Chlorophyll is the obvious ability choice in order for Leafeon to outspeed key threats such as Choice Scarf users and Swellow under the sun.
  • The nature is flexible; Jolly allows Leafeon to outspeed more threats when the sun is not active, while Adamant provides a little more power, though Jolly is preferred, as in most circumstances, sun won't be up consistently.
  • The EVs are standard fare for any physical attacker, though they may be played around with in order to give Leafeon more bulk, as it will outspeed virtually everything underneath the sun, being the fastest Chlorophyll abuser bar Jumpluff, who has no offensive presence whatsoever.
  • An EV spread of 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe allows Leafeon to outspeed most relevant threats in NU while retaining some bulk.
  • As Leafeon has some major coverage issues and cannot hope to hit Steel-types, it requires a partner to take care of any potential Steel-type threats.
  • Quick Attack is an option in the last slot to revenge kill weakened threats such as Choice Scarf Magmortar when the sun isn't active, but its low Base Power makes is rather unappealing in most situations.
  • Synthesis can be used to heal a large amount of health in sunlight, but Substitute usually has more utility.
  • Although Leafeon is not weak to Stealth Rock, it is susceptible to Toxic Spikes, which, in conjunction with Life Orb recoil, will wear it down very quickly, therefore a Poison-type teammate that can absorb Toxic Spikes is recommended, or a Rapid Spin user such as Cryogonal can be useful.
  • Cryogonal is especially helpful as it absorbs most of the special attacks aimed at Leafeon, with the exception of powerful Fire-type attacks from the likes of Magmortar and company.
  • Magmortar takes any Ice- and Fire-type attacks aimed at Leafeon, deters Steel-types such as Metang, and lures in things such as Regirock and Water-types that Leafeon can easily set up on.

[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Baton Pass
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Leaf Blade
item: Leftovers
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
  • Leafeon can easily set up with Swords Dance thanks to its massive Defense and great Speed, and can also abuse the boosts itself.
  • Substitute eases prediction and blocks troublesome status.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
  • Leftovers is better for this set so that Leafeon can create more Substitutes.
  • Full HP and Speed investment make Leafeon bulky while retaining its excellent Speed.
  • Gorebyss is an excellent partner, as it resists both Fire- and Ice-type attacks, and can make use of the passed Substitute to aid it in setting up a Shell Smash.

[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Leaf Blade
move 2: Heal Bell
move 3: Wish
move 4: Yawn / Baton Pass / Roar
item: Leftovers
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe (not too sure about the EV spread yet)

[SET COMMENTS]
  • It's a physical wall with Wish and Heal Bell... not much to say.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
  • EVs are flexible, adjust them to your needs, as well as the nature, but to maximize Leafeon's defensive potential, max / max investment is best.
  • Leftovers is good for any defensive Pokemon.
  • Get rid of Steel-, Fire-, and Flying-types before attempting to use defensive Leafeon.
[Other Options]
  • Curse
  • Dig
  • Sunny Day
  • RestTalk
  • Endure + Flail
  • Defensive Baton Pass

[Checks and Counters]
  • Steel-types wall Leafeon for days.
  • Fire-types put the hurt on Leafeon, and are only hit neutrally by Aerial Ace, as they resist both Leaf Blade and X-Scissor.
  • Flying-types also resist Leafeon's STAB and X-Scissor, but must watch out after a Swords Dance boost.
 
nice skeleton, but I think that Return has more merit than Aerial Ace on the SD set. It's a lot more powerful, and is your best option against opposing Fire-types. Grass/Normal with Bug is actually quite good coverage, walled only by Steels, and Leafeon can't touch them anyway.
 
The focus really shouldn't be on Chlorophyll here. Leafeon is a good sweeper in its own right. Also, Aerial Ace is abysmal, and physical sweepers really shouldn't be being walled by Magmortar. The Swords Dance set should probably look something like this:

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Return / X-Scissor
move 4: Substitute / Synthesis / Baton Pass / Quick Attack
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

The slashitis is really bad on that; you might need to split the sets, but I'm not sure how you would. 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe in AC.

Don't get too hung up on Steel-types, either, since they're so rare and some of them lose anyway.

Additionally, a pure Baton Passer set might be viable:

[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Baton Pass
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Leaf Blade
item: Leftovers
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
 
I've used the pure Baton Passer and it's pretty good. Synthesis should be mentioned somewhere in the AC since it's also a useful option over Substitute or Swords Dance for keeping Leafeon alive and letting it scout throughout the match.

Note that this thing also makes an amazing partner to Gorebyss, since due to their synergistic typing and Gorebyss's high physical defense some resisted attacks won't break Gorebyss's Substitute, letting it get a Shell Smash with ease and protecting it from priority attackers.
 
Hmm, having used sd leafeon extensively I would say unslash synthesis and quick attack and put them into AC, as Leafeon is already one of the fastest mons in the tier, and quick attack would only really be useful for three mons, swellow, magmortar, and braviary, whom he can be under a sub for anyway, or under the sun as you mentioned. Meanwhile, synthesis means that he will be vulnerable to being attacked/statused on that turn, and without any bulk investment leafeon is quite frail, you are prone to them bringing in their magmortar for free and then getting killed. This gets rid of the massive slashitis, but does make it similiar to the pure baton pass set. Therefore, to differentiate between the two, you could replace leaf blade with wish to pass, as there are not many taunters, but I'm sure he appreciates the attack sometimes, so I'm not completely sure what to do there. Also I would at least slash leftovers with LO on the first set, but mention to only use it with sub.
 
Just pointing out that SubSD definitely has merit. It outspeeds a shit ton of mons even if you go with a 72hp/252atk/184spe spread, and gets a sub up on the Rock-types that Swellow lures and U-turns out of. +2 Leaf Blade also hurts a ton and you could even opt out of your Normal coverage for BP and ship off a Substitute, SD, or both to something strong like Swellow. It's definitely worth consideration and at least mention Substitute in the AC of the Swords Dance set.
 
Zebraiken said:
Just pointing out that SubSD definitely has merit. It outspeeds a shit ton of mons even if you go with a 72hp/252atk/184spe spread, and gets a sub up on the Rock-types that Swellow lures and U-turns out of. +2 Leaf Blade also hurts a ton and you could even opt out of your Normal coverage for BP and ship off a Substitute, SD, or both to something strong like Swellow. It's definitely worth consideration and at least mention Substitute in the AC of the Swords Dance set.
Click to expand...

Sub is the main slash for the 4th slot on the sd set ?.?
 
I'd really like to see Leftovers slashed onto the SD set, especially when Substitute is the main option. Also, de-emphasise Sun. SD Leafeon is not a set for Sun teams; there are sweepers that can take advantage of Sunlight better. Leafeon is a stand-alone sweeper that has a lot of cool things going for it, but Chlorophyll is not particularly important.

As far as team options go, you want stuff to bring in things like Regirock and Water-types for Leafeon to set up on; Magmortar is good (and it also scares out the likes of Metang).
 
shnen said:
Sub is the main slash for the 4th slot on the sd set ?.?
Click to expand...

...oh. Well, I, uh... somehow didn't see that. >___>

Obviously be more specific about counters etc and mention the fact that physically defensive Miltank absorbs Leaf Blades and can break uninvested Substitutes with Return and recover off damage with Milk Drink.

QC APPROVED 1/3
 
It's kind of weird that you have Life Orb and Substitute as the main options on the SD set when clearly Sub (and, arguably, Baton Pass) are best used with Leftovers.
 
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