Overview
########
- Looking at Anorith, that huge Attack stat is what jumps out at you
- It also has the distinction of being one of two Pokemon that can both set and spin away hazards
- Anorith's Speed is is the key to its success; many do not expect it to be so fast
- Has Swords Dance to make offensive sets hit extremely hard
- Very frail with only one resistance means it can't switch in very easily
- Weak to the hazards it's trying to get rid of
- It's Attack stat is somewhat wasted by a shallow offensive movepool
- Overall, it's not great, but does have a usable niche
Support
#######
name: Support
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Rapid Spin
move 3: Rock Blast
move 4: Knock Off / X-Scissor
ability: Battle Armor
item: Berry Juice / Eviolite
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
========
- Fast Stealth Rock is one of Anorith's main draws
- Rapid Spin gets rid of opposing hazards while keeping yours intact
- Rock Blast breaks Substitutes and Focus Sashes, while being more accurate than Stone Edge
- Knock Off gives Anorith the ability to cripple defensive threats and slower offensive ones by removing their item
- X-Scissor is a good alternate STAB move if you don't need Knock Off
Set Details
========
- Attack and Speed are fully invested because of Anorith's frailty, huge Attack stat, and reliance on Speed to be effective
- Remaining EVs increase its Defense by one point
- Berry Juice is best to give it a bit of longevity, and because it has few resistances to switch in on
Usage Tips
========
- Anorith has the fastest Stealth Rock in the tier, letting it set them up before most opponents can KO it
- It reaches the rare 18 Speed; the only other notable 18 Speed Pokemon is Gastly
- Anorith also has one of the fastest Knock Offs in the tier (besides Abra, Wingull, and scarfers of course)
- Because of all this, Anorith is entirely reliant on being faster to be effective, so keep it away from 19 Speed Pokemon
Team Options
========
- Combining SR and Rapid Spin into one Pokemon frees up room on the rest of your team
- Offensive sweepers love Anorith's ability to clear hazards for them, set up hazards to weaken the opponent, and get rid of Eviolites all on the same set
- Anorith tends to lure out Pawniard, so Fighting-types make good partners to take advantage of that
- Chinchou can switch into Water- and Steel-type moves easily, while Anorith can remove Lileep with X-Scissor (if it has it) who Chinchou hates
- Ferroseed resists all of Anorith's weaknesses, while providing Spikes to complement Anorith's SR
Life Orb Swords Dance
#######
name: Life Orb Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Rock Blast
move 4: Aerial Ace / Knock Off
ability: Battle Armor
item: Life Orb
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
========
- Swords Dance brings Anorith up to a huge 38 Attack, with Life Orb boosting it further to 49
- X-Scissor destroys walls such as Slowpoke and Lileep, and is its main, reliable STAB move
- Rock Blast breaks Substitutes and Focus Sashes, while being more accurate than Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace provides important coverage on Fighting-types, OHKOing some Mienfoo sets at +2
- Knock Off is an option if you really need it, but you are entirely walled by Fighting-types
Set Details
========
- Attack and Speed are fully invested because of Anorith's frailty, huge Attack stat, and reliance on Speed to be effective
- Remaining EVs increase its Defense by one point
- Adamant is not an option, as Anorith needs to hit 18 Speed to work
- Life Orb gives Anorith the power it needs to secure key OHKOes such as on Pawniard and Mienfoo
Usage Tips
========
- This set is the epitome of "glass cannon"
- It reaches the rare 18 Speed; the only other notable 18 Speed Pokemon is Gastly
- With Rock Blast, Anorith is adept at getting around some of the common users of the Sturdy + Berry Juice combination
- Priority destroys this set, so be careful of Meditite, Murkrow, Pawniard, and Timburr, among others
Team Options
========
- This set absolutely requires team support
- Removing hazards is a must; Staryu works well with its Water typing and reliable recovery
- It also requires checks to 19 Speed Pokemon, as well as proper scouting to determine which enemy Pokemon have a Choice Scarf
- Choice Scarf Murkrow can take out Misdreavus and other Murkrow, as well as being faster than any other Scarfer in the metagame, so it can take those out too
- Any strong Grass-type beats Staryu; Chinchou works well also
Other Options
########
- Anorith's movepool is pretty short, giving it few options to work with
- Brick Break OHKOes Pawniard without needing +2 and a Life Orb and also allows Anorith to hit Ferroseed
- Anorith has Rock Polish, which makes it the absolute fastest Pokemon in the tier after one boost, but it still does not take care of its priority weakness
- Swift Swim is Anorith's hidden Ability, but it's not that great
- It does get Aqua Jet, but this would only be usable in rain where it already gets a double Speed boost
Checks & Counters
########
- Anorith relies on its Speed, so faster Pokemon are the biggest threats
- Scarfers are more dangerous because it can't know for certain if its opponent is Scarfed until it is already knocked out
- Fighting-types resist both of its STAB moves, so they make great Anorith checks
- Murkrow destroys Anorith with Brave Bird, and can Sucker Punch Anorith if it tries to boost its Speed
- Staryu is faster, has a STAB Hydro Pump to blow Anorith away with, and can also easily remove Anorith's hazards with its own Rapid Spin
########
- Looking at Anorith, that huge Attack stat is what jumps out at you
- It also has the distinction of being one of two Pokemon that can both set and spin away hazards
- Anorith's Speed is is the key to its success; many do not expect it to be so fast
- Has Swords Dance to make offensive sets hit extremely hard
- Very frail with only one resistance means it can't switch in very easily
- Weak to the hazards it's trying to get rid of
- It's Attack stat is somewhat wasted by a shallow offensive movepool
- Overall, it's not great, but does have a usable niche
Support
#######
name: Support
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Rapid Spin
move 3: Rock Blast
move 4: Knock Off / X-Scissor
ability: Battle Armor
item: Berry Juice / Eviolite
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
========
- Fast Stealth Rock is one of Anorith's main draws
- Rapid Spin gets rid of opposing hazards while keeping yours intact
- Rock Blast breaks Substitutes and Focus Sashes, while being more accurate than Stone Edge
- Knock Off gives Anorith the ability to cripple defensive threats and slower offensive ones by removing their item
- X-Scissor is a good alternate STAB move if you don't need Knock Off
Set Details
========
- Attack and Speed are fully invested because of Anorith's frailty, huge Attack stat, and reliance on Speed to be effective
- Remaining EVs increase its Defense by one point
- Berry Juice is best to give it a bit of longevity, and because it has few resistances to switch in on
Usage Tips
========
- Anorith has the fastest Stealth Rock in the tier, letting it set them up before most opponents can KO it
- It reaches the rare 18 Speed; the only other notable 18 Speed Pokemon is Gastly
- Anorith also has one of the fastest Knock Offs in the tier (besides Abra, Wingull, and scarfers of course)
- Because of all this, Anorith is entirely reliant on being faster to be effective, so keep it away from 19 Speed Pokemon
Team Options
========
- Combining SR and Rapid Spin into one Pokemon frees up room on the rest of your team
- Offensive sweepers love Anorith's ability to clear hazards for them, set up hazards to weaken the opponent, and get rid of Eviolites all on the same set
- Anorith tends to lure out Pawniard, so Fighting-types make good partners to take advantage of that
- Chinchou can switch into Water- and Steel-type moves easily, while Anorith can remove Lileep with X-Scissor (if it has it) who Chinchou hates
- Ferroseed resists all of Anorith's weaknesses, while providing Spikes to complement Anorith's SR
Life Orb Swords Dance
#######
name: Life Orb Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Rock Blast
move 4: Aerial Ace / Knock Off
ability: Battle Armor
item: Life Orb
evs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
========
- Swords Dance brings Anorith up to a huge 38 Attack, with Life Orb boosting it further to 49
- X-Scissor destroys walls such as Slowpoke and Lileep, and is its main, reliable STAB move
- Rock Blast breaks Substitutes and Focus Sashes, while being more accurate than Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace provides important coverage on Fighting-types, OHKOing some Mienfoo sets at +2
- Knock Off is an option if you really need it, but you are entirely walled by Fighting-types
Set Details
========
- Attack and Speed are fully invested because of Anorith's frailty, huge Attack stat, and reliance on Speed to be effective
- Remaining EVs increase its Defense by one point
- Adamant is not an option, as Anorith needs to hit 18 Speed to work
- Life Orb gives Anorith the power it needs to secure key OHKOes such as on Pawniard and Mienfoo
Usage Tips
========
- This set is the epitome of "glass cannon"
- It reaches the rare 18 Speed; the only other notable 18 Speed Pokemon is Gastly
- With Rock Blast, Anorith is adept at getting around some of the common users of the Sturdy + Berry Juice combination
- Priority destroys this set, so be careful of Meditite, Murkrow, Pawniard, and Timburr, among others
Team Options
========
- This set absolutely requires team support
- Removing hazards is a must; Staryu works well with its Water typing and reliable recovery
- It also requires checks to 19 Speed Pokemon, as well as proper scouting to determine which enemy Pokemon have a Choice Scarf
- Choice Scarf Murkrow can take out Misdreavus and other Murkrow, as well as being faster than any other Scarfer in the metagame, so it can take those out too
- Any strong Grass-type beats Staryu; Chinchou works well also
Other Options
########
- Anorith's movepool is pretty short, giving it few options to work with
- Brick Break OHKOes Pawniard without needing +2 and a Life Orb and also allows Anorith to hit Ferroseed
- Anorith has Rock Polish, which makes it the absolute fastest Pokemon in the tier after one boost, but it still does not take care of its priority weakness
- Swift Swim is Anorith's hidden Ability, but it's not that great
- It does get Aqua Jet, but this would only be usable in rain where it already gets a double Speed boost
Checks & Counters
########
- Anorith relies on its Speed, so faster Pokemon are the biggest threats
- Scarfers are more dangerous because it can't know for certain if its opponent is Scarfed until it is already knocked out
- Fighting-types resist both of its STAB moves, so they make great Anorith checks
- Murkrow destroys Anorith with Brave Bird, and can Sucker Punch Anorith if it tries to boost its Speed
- Staryu is faster, has a STAB Hydro Pump to blow Anorith away with, and can also easily remove Anorith's hazards with its own Rapid Spin
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