Hey Kebab mlml we are testing Spectrier
Spectrier has been an extremely restrictive presence for teambuilding due to its offensive prowess, set up opportunity and incredibly high speed. The horse boasts an incredible base 145 Special Attack, the third highest out of any Pokémon allowed in OU following Xuriktree and Blacephalon. However, despite its stronger predecessors, Spectrier is the only one of these Pokémon considered highly viable in OU due to its typing and exceptional base 130 speed. This allows it to outspeed the vast majority of non-Scarfed and unboosted Pokémon, while faster Pokémon like Zeroara and Dragapult struggle to deal with it defensively. The horse also has access to its signature ability Grim Neigh, which grants it a Special Attack boost after KOing a Pokémon. This allows for snowball potential, enabling Spectrier to gain traction quickly. With that being said, Spectrier is not without flaws. Spectrier does have a major downside in its incredibly shallow attacking coverage. However, the combination of its exceptional stats and typing makes it incredibly difficult to play around and forces teams to run Pokémon that would not be as common if not for the horse.
Spectrier's primary set revolves around setting up for itself and sweeping. The main moves include Substitute and a boosting move in Calm Mind or Nasty Plot. The third move is Shadow Ball, a solid 80 base power STAB move, or Hex, a 65 base power STAB move that doubles if the target has any status. Whether or not Spectrier uses Hex is reliant upon its final move. For it's final moveslot, Spectrier typically chooses between Will-o-wisp and a coverage move that would allow it to hit Normal types. A second attacking move would usually be Dark Pulse, but people have used Hyper Beam as well to get important KO's on Hydreigon. The goal of this set is to set up on a Pokémon that is threatened out or cannot touch Spectrier. This can be achieved through Will-o-wisp onto Pokémon such as Mandibuzz and Ferrothorn that may struggle to break a Substitute after being burned. Generation 8's removal of the move Pursuit allows the horse to freely spam status or attacking moves without risk of being punished. Spectrier then boosts its stats, and a boosted Spectrier behind Substitute is incredibly dangerous in most situations. The Will-o-wisp set can be walled by Normal types, but what makes Spectrier truly annoying and difficult to prepare for is that your team might not be prepared for the specific set your opponent brings. For example, you can have Shadow Ball Blissey as your Spectrier counter, but that set would lose to Calm Mind Dark Pulse due to failing to break its sub. You could also use the simple Teleport Blissey into a Pokémon that threatens Spectrier out tactic, but with Pheromosa's departure, it is not easy to pivot between U-turn and Teleport around Spectrier. Similarily, Hyper Beam can effectively KO many common checks such as Hydreigon and Mandibuzz after minimal chip damage on them. Due to this, Spectrier is incredibly restrictive in the sense that it can pick and choose its counters. It should be mentioned that the other faster Pokémon in the tier also struggle vs Calm Mind Spectrier, with Dragapult having to trade its life for a Thunder Wave or damage and Zeroara losing most of its HP breaking Substitute with a Physical move. Before the rise of Substitute Spectrier, the most commonly spammed set was Choice Specs. No one can deny how strong Choice Specs Spectrier is in the metagame, oftentimes forcing people to use Hydreigon and Normal types. Furthermore, if paired with status spreading Pokémon, Spectrier having an instant Choice Spec boosted Hex was an insane threat to deal with, even being able to put a major dent in its most common counter, Hydreigon. Choice Specs was used for raw breaking, but its popularity has certainly decreased since people discovered how good boosting was.
The issues listed above encompass the main reason why Spectrier can be seen as too much for the OU tier. One may argue that it actually struggles with breaking vs teams with Hydreigon or Normal types, but it still has a move pool capable enough to break either. Despite this, the fact that every balanced or bulkier team is required to use a bulky Dark type or a Normal type speaks to volumes about Spectrier's presence in the tier. It is comparable to the past Dracovish, which either dented a hole in any team or was walled by Seismitoad. Additionally, a key similarity between the two is that the dapper fish's partners can set it up easily through luring Seismitoad or chipping the toad endlessly. What one really has to consider about Spectrier is the fact that it is a six versus six team game. Sets ranging from more extreme moves such as Focus Punch Nidoking to common threats such as Heatran's combination of Magma Storm and moves like Taunt and Toxic support Spectrier easily. There is infinite support for the horse through surprise breaking and status spam, all to set up the horses in the back.
However, Spectrier is clearly not a flawless Pokémon. While its typing provides solid offensive presence, only being resisted by Dark types and not being able to touch Normal types, but it also makes Spectrier weak to the all too common move Knock Off. Many Pokémon in OU run Knock Off, such as Clefable, Landorus-Therian and Toxapex. If Spectrier ever receives a flat Knock Off, its long-term presence and effectiveness decreases exponentially. Having Leftovers removed limits its boosting ability and also forces chip on it through hazards, status, and weather. Additionally, the prominent boosting sets start off weaker due to EV's being invested in bulk for more reliable set up. If this is called out early, Spectrier could struggle to gain its footing and prepare a sweep. Additionally, while it has incredible offensive stats, Spectrier is relatively frail with a base defense of 60. This can be voided by using Will-o-wisp and investing into HP and defensive stats, allowing it to maintain its Substitute. However, it also means that Spectrier can practically never switch into any moves. As mentioned numerous times, it also has common answers such as Blissey and Hydreigon, which can be used to counter other prominent threats in the metagame. Blissey is a complete Special sponge, easily switching into the strongest attacks from Pokémon such as Magearna. Hydreigon is another frequently used Pokémon, often used to counter a major metagame threat in Heatran. These Pokémon also have their own way of dealing with the horse with Shadow Ball and Snarl on Blissey and Hydreigon respectively. However, similar to how Spectrier is not flawless, these "counters" are not as well, and can be annoyed and dealt with through Spectrier's teammates. The combination of its restrictiveness and sweeping potential stated previously is the reason the OU council has decided Spectrier is worthy of a suspect test.
- ***THIS IS NEW TO SS OU SUSPECTS*** Reading this is mandatory for participating in the suspect test. The voting requirements are a minimum GXE of 80 with at least 50 games played. In addition, you may play 1 less game for every 0.2 GXE you have above 80 GXE, down to a minimum of 30 games at a GXE of 84. Also, needing more than 50 games to reach 80 GXE will suffice.
| GXE | minimum games |
| 80 | 50 |
| 80.2 | 49 |
| 80.4 | 48 |
| 80.6 | 47 |
| 80.8 | 46 |
| 81 | 45 |
| 81.2 | 44 |
| 81.4 | 43 |
| 81.6 | 42 |
| 81.8 | 41 |
| 82 | 40 |
| 82.2 | 39 |
| 82.4 | 38 |
| 82.6 | 37 |
| 82.8 | 36 |
| 83 | 35 |
| 83.2 | 34 |
| 83.4 | 33 |
| 83.6 | 32 |
| 83.8 | 31 |
| 84 | 30 |
- You must signup with a newly registered account on Pokemon Showdown! that begins with the appropriate prefix for the suspect test. For this suspect test, the prefix will be OUTS. For example, I might signup with the ladder account OUTS l4x.
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- We will be using the regular OU ladder for this suspect test. We will not be creating a new Suspect Ladder. At the beginning of every battle, there will be an announcement denoting the ongoing suspect with a link to this thread.
- The aspect being tested, Spectrier, will be allowed on the ladder.
- Any form of voting manipulation will result in swift and severe punishment. You are more than welcome to state your argument to as many people as you so please, but do not use any kind of underhanded tactics to get a result you desire. Bribery, blackmail, or any other type of tactic used to sway votes will be handled and sanctioned.
- Do not attempt to cheat the ladder. We will know if you did not actually achieve voting requisites, so don't do it. Harsh sanctions will be applied.
- Unlike previous tests, we will be posting the voting identification thread immediately after this thread. Your voting requisites will be confirmed by a Council member or OU moderator, to which we will edit in confirmation. Please avoid getting more games before getting confirmed.
- The suspect test will go on for two weeks, lasting until February 5th at 11:59 pm (GMT-5), and then we will put up the voting thread in the Blind Voting subforum.
- No unhelpful one liners nor uninformed posts;
- No discussion on other potential suspects;
- No discussion on the suspect process -- this includes retesting Spectrier vs other potential suspects;
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- This thread is not to voice complaints about the suspect process or decisions of the council. While we are more than open to hearing complaints that may arise, this isn't the place for it. I suggest you message the OU Council, PM our Tier Leaders, TDK and suapah, or make a post in Senior Staff requests, should you have a badge.
Keep in mind that our suspect tests are decided by the community; anyone who achieves voting requisites is allowed to vote. The outcome is up to you. Happy posting and laddering! Kebab mlml TonyFlygon
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Blissey is most of the time a good Spectrier check as it is immune to its ghost stab and has access to teleport in order to pivot out. Thus, as Spectrier doesn’t have trick, Blissey is solid check to the choiced versions. Things can get a bit more complicated against non-choiced Spectrier. Indeed, if it can’t touch Blissey, it can still try to pp stall him. The taunt version can prevent him from clicking teleport and freely set up on Blissey wasting its Seismic toss. Some Blissey are played with Shadow ball to counter this but Shadow Ball blissey may be losing against a Calm Mind Taunt Spectrier. Thus, even if most of the time Blissey will work as a Spectrier checks you’re still weak to some alternative sets.
Mandibuzz does pretty well against spectrier especially if you have some spe def invests. However, you don’t like to get burned with Mandi especially because after a burn you won’t be able to break Spectrier subs with Foul play and it will just mindlessly set up in front of you. So basically, Spectrier can beat Mandibuzz but at the cost to lose a move allowing him to beat Shadow ball Blissey.
Ttar is bulkier on the special side then Mandi thanks to sand. However, as you’re only recovery move is Rest, you’re way less effective as a Spectrier check over time.
Hydreigon is played with some spe def invests to deal with Spectrier and basically does the same thing than Mandi but with Dark pulse instead of Foul play which allow him to always break Spectrier’s sub and prevent him from set-up.
Porygon-2 has basically the same role as blissey but with Foul play to hit Spectrier. You still don’t like much to get burned and you cannot run Heavy-duty-boots so you may get weaken by hazards.
Zarude is surprisingly good against Spectrier. You have enough bulk to hit its ghost moves pretty well, you can heal yourself from Will-o-wisp and unlike Mandy you will hit Spectrier hard enough to force him out.
Umbreon can be another Mandi alternative to check Spectrier. As you have Heal bell and more spe def (+ you can run Leftovers) you may be able to handle better the dark horse. However, Umbreon checks way less things than Mandi and even if it’s good against Spectrier, it doesn’t fit well in an OU team.
needs to get BANNED, as it restrict teambuilding to a direction where Dark- and Normal-types are pretty much a necessity or else a team has the potential to lose on the spot, as with Spectriers high special attack and speed it could easily tear holes into an opposing team.
great offensive Check but has to watch out for Mud Shot and Dark Pulse as it can get worn down rather easily with entry hazard damage up.
is able to check it offensively, however has to watch out for the relatively rare Choice Scarf-Set, so scouting beforehand is necessary.
Has no Roost therefore can't check Spectrier reliably over the course of the game.
