Do you mean for switching in? If not, I'd think it has more to worry about in the form of Focus Blast and even Dazzling Gleam.
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Pokémon Absol
- Thread starter Adamant Zoroark
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It definitely loses to both of those. Shadow Ball has better coverage and is more reliable than Focus Blast. I forget why I was wondering about that, though... I had a reason...
Yeah, but like everything bar-sub, it just doesn't have the bulk.
I've been farming for a good Ditto for two days straight and no luck so far. If I'm going to be putting time into farming for a Skitty with good IVS, to pass Play Rough, and then farm the offspring Absol with Justified AND decent IVs.... my question is, is Rough Play going to be worth it on Absol, or is it more situational based? Does it give it the coverage it needs to deal with overall threats, in conjunction with Sucker Punch, Fire Blast, filler/Superpower?
It's got better coverage than both of those I think. Fairy/Dark is ONLY resisted by Mawile and Klefki. Dark/Fighting is resisted by every fairy type, heracross, toxicroak... I think a few other things. Fire Blast is mainly a strategic coverage move for hitting physical steel walls and things.
Superpower's only target would be Heatran. And Superpower's not legal yet anyway.
Superpower's only target would be Heatran. And Superpower's not legal yet anyway.
Hmm it sounds like Fire Blast does indeed come in handy for those resists you mentioned. And Toxicroaks will usually have Dry Skin anyway, so Fire Blast will still do heaps.
Also, I wonder if Super Power without Swords Dance can one-shot Tyranitar? Because Tyranitar has a bulkier role this gen with his Mega/Assault Vest, though Super Power won't care about Assault Vest.
Also, I wonder if Super Power without Swords Dance can one-shot Tyranitar? Because Tyranitar has a bulkier role this gen with his Mega/Assault Vest, though Super Power won't care about Assault Vest.
Well, Play Rough is super-effective against Toxicroak anyway. What I'm saying is Play Rough/Sucker Punch has much better coverage than Superpower/Sucker Punch.
Superpower might be needed for Tyrannitar, though. Play Rough is only a 2HKO on a max HP Tyrannitar. Play Rough on MegaTyrannitar is a 3HKO. Superpower is definitely a OHKO on both. I dunno if Tyrannitar is a threat to Absol or not.
Doesn't Poison resist Fairy? I thought Toxicroak would take neutral damage from Play Rough, but I could be wrong. (Lol my post came right after yours sorry)
I agree about Superpower being more effective on Tyranitar than its other moves. I do wonder if we have any damage calculations around, because I'm curious to see how hard Absol can hit that bulky monster.
I agree about Superpower being more effective on Tyranitar than its other moves. I do wonder if we have any damage calculations around, because I'm curious to see how hard Absol can hit that bulky monster.
Fighting and Poison have been tripping me up like crazy when it comes to fairy. Still, hitting neutrally is better than dark/fighting coverage, which is NVE for both.
I tried to do some, but I dunno if I did it right. From what I tested it was a 2HKO with Play Rough (no boosts) and a OHKO with Superpower (again, no boosts). I think especially on a Swords Dance set I prefer Play Rough anyway.
Some other tests I did:
Abosl's Pursuit with no boosts is a 2HKO on MegaGengar. +2 Absol's Play Rough is ALMOST a guaranteed KO on a 252 HP/0 Def Tyrannitar. (it's pretty much guaranteed) Gengar+'s Shadow Ball is a 2HKO on Absol.
Yes superpower isn't so useful now that steel isn't resisting dark. Might still keep it though on my Platinum absol, has high power, could be useful as last resort. I've taught my absol fire burst and we'll see how that low accuracy works out. It might cost absol quite a lot if it misses.
Hi guys, I just joined today and I'm quite new to competitive battling but I have a question about Mega Absol that I didn't see anyone bring up yet. I'm wondering if Absol's newfound Special Attack could be useful in a Calm Mind set? Absol learns a lot of high accuracy and powerful special moves (since I can't stand anything lower than 100 accuracy since my luck is atrocious) like Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Icebeam, Shadow Ball, STAB Dark Pulse, and even Future Sight (if you're into that), giving it a pretty sweet pool of attacks to work with. I'll try to outline a set, but, as I've said, I'm inexperienced here.
Anti-lead Calm Mind
(Mega) Absol @ Absolite
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef (for bulk?) or 252 SAt / 252 Spd (for murrrrderrrr!)
No idea about natures. Maybe Modest for pure Special Attack without Sucker Punch???
- Calm Mind
- Sucker Punch/Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower/Thunderbolt/Icebeam/Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower/Thunderbolt/Icebeam/Shadow Ball
I doubt this set will be as optimal as Absol's other sets but I'm pretty much banking on everyone's mindset of Absol being an almost pure physical attacker. Against leads that can't do anything to Absol's Magic Bounce, use Calm mind while they switch out into their physical wall and then open fire. Plus, Calm Mind might upgrade it's special bulk from "wet paper towel" to "rather large tree branch" which isn't too shabby, right? And STAB Sucker Punch can still be made useful with 150 base Attack, unless I'm mistaken. So what do you guys think? Is this even remotely viable?
Anti-lead Calm Mind
(Mega) Absol @ Absolite
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef (for bulk?) or 252 SAt / 252 Spd (for murrrrderrrr!)
No idea about natures. Maybe Modest for pure Special Attack without Sucker Punch???
- Calm Mind
- Sucker Punch/Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower/Thunderbolt/Icebeam/Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower/Thunderbolt/Icebeam/Shadow Ball
I doubt this set will be as optimal as Absol's other sets but I'm pretty much banking on everyone's mindset of Absol being an almost pure physical attacker. Against leads that can't do anything to Absol's Magic Bounce, use Calm mind while they switch out into their physical wall and then open fire. Plus, Calm Mind might upgrade it's special bulk from "wet paper towel" to "rather large tree branch" which isn't too shabby, right? And STAB Sucker Punch can still be made useful with 150 base Attack, unless I'm mistaken. So what do you guys think? Is this even remotely viable?
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I personally feel that there are better pokemon suited for a SpAtk position, but that's just me. Sucker punch doesn't always do a lot of damage even with 252 Atk EV investment, there are a few high defense pokemon out there. Absol isn't going to survive long as it is, I think it would take a few calm minds to let it survive, but even then all it takes is a physical fighting move to clear it off the field.
Not sure if anyone pointed this out already, but one thing that sucks about Magic Guard on Mega Absol is that, unless you lead with Absol, Magic Guard won't yet be viable until it has Mega Evolved. In other words, if you switch Absol in later to take a status/entry hazard and it hasn't Mega Evolved yet, it won't work for that turn until you attack. You'll still have Justified/Super Luck/Pressure for that turn you switch in.
Sorry for the double post, but I feel like there should be more discussion on some of the potential threats we need to contend with. Galvantula for example, with Sticky Web. If we lead with Absol to Magic Guard the Sticky Web, we kind of have to deal with Bug Buzz and the high probability it will be holding a Focus Sash. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions on getting around this? Or do we try and lead with another Pokemon to deal with Galvantula? Because if that Sticky Web is out in the field, it is really going to be an annoyance for Absol to switch into later.
So, do we have a way of dealing with Galvantula/possible other Sticky Web leads with Absol? Should we lead with another Pokemon, and if so, then who? And finally, should we consider having a Pokemon in our team that can Rapid Spin/Defog, even though we have Magic Guard Absol?
So, do we have a way of dealing with Galvantula/possible other Sticky Web leads with Absol? Should we lead with another Pokemon, and if so, then who? And finally, should we consider having a Pokemon in our team that can Rapid Spin/Defog, even though we have Magic Guard Absol?
If magic bounce on M-Absol works that way, then it might be worth running a lead pokemon that checks Galv. Since Infernape can only speed tie, the best choices are choice scarf Cloyster or Anti-lead Weavile:
Cloyster @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Skill Link
25 HP / 252 Atk / 231 Spe
Jolly
-Rock Blast
-Icicle Spear
-Razor Shell
-Ice Shard/Poison Jab
1HKOs sash'd Galvantula lead with Rock Blast and outspeeds Weavile. Rock Blast can then 100% 1HKO Weavile, the only other real Galv check. Razor Shell is a way to tackle lead Infernape, and provides good physical STAB coverage against newly found assault vest Heatrans -and more importantly- assault vest Ttar, 2HKO'ing after taking a Fire Blast. Ice Shard is a standard piece of utility, but with Scarf it might just be worth running Poison Jab for fairy types since the only non-scarf'd mons that outspeed you at this point are Crobat, Jolteon and Meloetta anyway.
Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly
-Ice Punch/Icicle Crash
-Fake Out
-Taunt
-Low Sweep
Fake out to break Galv's sash and then finish with Ice Punch/Icicle Crash. While Weavile has been asking for an ability like Icicle Crash for a long time, Ice Punch might be preferred just for the reliability since if you don't catch it on that 2nd turn, then your Anti-lead Weavile is worthless since Galv got Sticky Web up. Taunt gives it some nice utility vs set up leads and makes it less gimmicky.
You could potentially run a Lead Sash'd Azelf with Taunt, too.
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Been lurking for a while, first time making a post here on Smogon.
I was wondering if a prediction-heavy Mega Absol Set might be viable? He has a move which covers every possible choice an opponent might make when you include Magic Bounce.
Mega Mind Games
Absol @ Absolite
Ability: Justified -> Magic Bounce
252 ATK / 252 SPE / 4 HP
Adamant
- Sucker Punch / Knock Off
- Snatch
- Pursuit / Me First
- Play Rough/Megahorn/Superpower
This lacks the coverage of many of the other sets proposed here (it runs two Dark moves, though at least both benefit from STAB and decent neutral coverage). The last slot depends on whether you are more concerned with other Dark types, Fighting Types or bulky Steel/Rock types that won't go down fast to your STAB moves.
This set establishes a prediction game that your opponent enters only knowing half the rules. They expect Magic Bounce, of course, and they likely expect Sucker Punch, but they only might expect Pursuit and they likely don't expect Snatch. Depending on what you expect THEM to be running, and the rest of their team composition, you can Pursuit on the switch, Sucker Punch an attack, or Snatch a self-buffing move (the only supportive moves Magic Bounce does not reflect). This gets around the issue of opponents setting up Subs/Dragon Dance/Bulk Up/etc. on your Sucker Punches.
Knock Off is listed here as a slightly weaker STAB option to Sucker Punch which adds another level to the mind games, because your opponent almost certainly expects you to be running SP. In general, I think Knock Off (now 65 Power) is probably superior to Night Slash on other sets since MegaAbsol doesn't have Super Luck anymore. Justified is the only basic ability worth running, really, since this is a mega who wants to ME asap. Hope I did all of that right, please feel free to point out any issues with the post (like I said, a little new here).
EDIT: xenxio brought up the possibility of replacing Pursuit with Me First, taking advantage of MegaAbsol's great mixed attacking stats. You'd probably not want to run Adamant on a Me First set, since you want to ensure the OHKO regardless of the move they use, or Absol's in trouble, so there's no sense gimping your stolen special moves.
I was wondering if a prediction-heavy Mega Absol Set might be viable? He has a move which covers every possible choice an opponent might make when you include Magic Bounce.
Mega Mind Games
Absol @ Absolite
Ability: Justified -> Magic Bounce
252 ATK / 252 SPE / 4 HP
Adamant
- Sucker Punch / Knock Off
- Snatch
- Pursuit / Me First
- Play Rough/Megahorn/Superpower
This lacks the coverage of many of the other sets proposed here (it runs two Dark moves, though at least both benefit from STAB and decent neutral coverage). The last slot depends on whether you are more concerned with other Dark types, Fighting Types or bulky Steel/Rock types that won't go down fast to your STAB moves.
This set establishes a prediction game that your opponent enters only knowing half the rules. They expect Magic Bounce, of course, and they likely expect Sucker Punch, but they only might expect Pursuit and they likely don't expect Snatch. Depending on what you expect THEM to be running, and the rest of their team composition, you can Pursuit on the switch, Sucker Punch an attack, or Snatch a self-buffing move (the only supportive moves Magic Bounce does not reflect). This gets around the issue of opponents setting up Subs/Dragon Dance/Bulk Up/etc. on your Sucker Punches.
Knock Off is listed here as a slightly weaker STAB option to Sucker Punch which adds another level to the mind games, because your opponent almost certainly expects you to be running SP. In general, I think Knock Off (now 65 Power) is probably superior to Night Slash on other sets since MegaAbsol doesn't have Super Luck anymore. Justified is the only basic ability worth running, really, since this is a mega who wants to ME asap. Hope I did all of that right, please feel free to point out any issues with the post (like I said, a little new here).
EDIT: xenxio brought up the possibility of replacing Pursuit with Me First, taking advantage of MegaAbsol's great mixed attacking stats. You'd probably not want to run Adamant on a Me First set, since you want to ensure the OHKO regardless of the move they use, or Absol's in trouble, so there's no sense gimping your stolen special moves.
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I appreciate the feedback. It's definitely not optimal, but I was hoping to break the mold a little bit and use really strong special attacks to catch people off guard, since Absol has always set a big expectation of being a really strong physical attacker. But the more I think about it, some of the other sets listed that use Fire Blast are probably the most useful in that regard.
Colroyd gave some great suggestions but if you don't lead with Absol and at least use Protect to evolve it, then it won't be able to switch in on and negate status moves later and it would be pretty hard for it to switch in on attacks because of its lack of bulk. It seems to me that using Mega Absol's Magic Bounce as your main defense against entry hazards is like putting all your eggs in one very fragile basket. It may be better to simply consider Mega Absol's ability as a bonus that prevents crippling Absol's role as an all out attacker instead of as a firm line of defence against entry hazards. So I think it would make the most sense to carry a Rapid Spin/Defog user as a backup plan or consider using another pokemon that can bypass Focus Sash as an anti-lead, like one of the things Colroyd listed.
I like these sets, and it's nice to see Cloyster being used for something other than Shell Smash/Spikes most of the time. I'm assuming Rock Blast would also work fine on Sash Galvantula, seeing as its defenses are frail, and the Skill Link ability is perfect to deal with Sash users. I'm also not surprised you suggest Razor Shell over Hydro Pump, seeing as Hydro Pump got nerfed in power and accuracy, not to mention the flux of Assault Vest users, as you have mentioned.
Weavile looks good too, though I wonder if Weavile or Cloyster would be the better option to cover lead threats in general. I suppose that depends on what happens to the tiers, and what threats will be there for Mega Absol.
I think a special set is definitely a mix for the mixed/physical sweeper sets we have. 115 Special Attack is not too shabby, and Ice Beam/Fire Blast look appealing for a bit of coverage. The fact that Absol has the option to run a special set gives it more versatility and less predictability, which is good for us while our opponents try to find out what we're up to.
I agree that switching Mega Absol in to simply soak up a possible entry hazard is risky. Your opponent could very well predict you do this, then smack you with a powerful move instead. That's why I brought up the question of whether or not we should consider having a Rapid Spin/Defog user as backup. Now here's something silly to think about: If Magic Guard bounced back Defog, we would lose either way, since it removes all hazards from the field (unless we don't plan to use hazards ourselves).
Ah sorry I meant Rock Blast, not Icicle Spear. But yes, Rock Blast is going to 1HKO Galv 100% of the time:
252+ Atk Skill Link Cloyster Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Galvantula: 370-440 (131.67 - 156.58%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Tiny little point. The anagram for speed is spe. Spd is special defense. Unless you meant special defense... not a bad set, though. Pursuit isn't too bad, but MOST things that Absol wants to pursuit outspeed it. And it doesn't have the bulk to risk taking the hit. Though Sucker Punch could scare them off. Man, prediction with this thing is so tricky.
I love the combination of Sucker Punch and Snatch. Snatching Gengar's subs is gonna be a lot of fun, but again, this thing is SO tricky to use. If they predict your Snatch then you're done.
And yeah, Absol's ability to bounce back hazards is a bonus and should only be used secondarily. I think magic bounce has more use bouncing back status, taunt, things like that. A rapid spinner/defogger should definitely be used instead or if you really want to use magic bounce for that purpose, then Espeon bounces back hazards much better. I also don't think Absol has any place switching in or being a lead. Absol is a revenge killer and late game sweeper.
Sucker Punch can actually be used as a nice taunt really. You switch in on something that out speeds regular Absol, you use Sucker Punch, and if they attack then you have priority and if they don't, then, well, they didn't attack and you've now got your mega-evolved Absol without having to take a hit.
Couldnt Me First be added to the prediction set somewhere? He has enough sp.atk to make use of, especially with that extra 50% damage. His atk stat speaks for itself. Of course all of this is only if you know you can out speed your opponent. Should Absol be battling a mega mawile he could send back an iron head with neutral damage.
Mega Absol
Justified/Magic Bounce
252atk/252spe/4hp
Naive
Sucker punch
Snatch
Me First
Play Rough/Super Power
Mega Absol
Justified/Magic Bounce
252atk/252spe/4hp
Naive
Sucker punch
Snatch
Me First
Play Rough/Super Power
hi evrybody! how can i get play rough on absol? You said its an egg move but i don't know who should i breed absol with in order to get that move. Could you help me please?
Do you have a Heart Scale? If so, get a male Linoone (any level) and use the Move Reminder to teach it Play Rough.
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