Gorebyss' favorite movie is Pretty in Pink
[Pros]
<ul>
<li>It has access to both Shell Smash and Baton Pass.</li>
<li>114 Special Attack isn't too shabby, if you choose to sweep rather than Baton Pass.</li>
<li>Drizzle's short duration means Drizzle + Swift Swim will start OU-legal.</li>
</ul>
[Cons]
<ul>
<li>It has only a single STAB, so it has to rely on weaker coverage moves to bypass Pokemon that resist Water-type moves.</li>
<li>Drizzle's short duration means it will be harder to actually benefit from the constant rain boost to Surf that Gorebyss enjoyed in BW.</li>
<li>Gorebyss, aside from Shell Smash, has few benefits; it's slow, not particularly bulky, and not nearly powerful enough to make up for those deficiencies.</li>
<li>It is not easy to set up a lot of the time, since there are few things that can't hit it hard, give it a status, or phaze it. It needs sizable team support as a result.</li>
<li>Since it is very slow, almost everything in OU gets to do something to Gorebyss before it boosts, unless it is under rain.</li>
<li>And even when you successfully SmashPass, the team matchup of how your opponent can handle your particular receiver matters so much that sometimes even a successful pass by Gorebyss doesn't lead to a sweep.</li>
</ul>
[Set Recommendations]
<p>name: SmashPass<br />
move 1: Shell Smash<br />
move 2: Baton Pass<br />
move 3: Surf<br />
move 4: Substitute / Ice Beam<br />
ability: Swift Swim<br />
item: White Herb<br />
evs: 252 HP / 68 SpD / 188 Spe<br />
nature: Calm</p>
<p>The given EV spread ensures Gorebyss can outspeed positive-natured base 120 Pokemon, such as Alakazam and Dugtrio, either under rain or with a Shell Smash, while also giving some special bulk. White Herb negates the defensive drops caused by Shell Smash. If you want, you can add more Speed—240 EVs and a Timid nature lets Gorebyss outspeed the base 150s, Mega Alakazam and Mega Aerodactyl, after a Shell Smash or under rain, but the bulkier spread is preferred to make boosting and passing easier. If both Swift Swim and Shell Smash are active, pretty much nothing will outspeed Gorebyss regardless.</p>
<p>Surf is the obligatory STAB attack, and Shell Smash and Baton Pass should hopefully be obvious. Substitute is useful for defensive Pokemon such as Chansey or Ferrothorn, but Ice Beam is a useful alternative for an immediate attacking option against Dragon- and Grass-types.</p>
<p>It is typically best to have more than one good receiver, as it makes prediction more difficult for your opponent. Good receivers should ideally be bulky, so they can take a hit on entry, but also powerful, so they can sweep. Having their own priority to avoid the opponent's priority attacks is great too. Therefore, Aegislash fits the bill perfectly. Dual screens help a lot too, if your receiver is frail. Politoed's Drizzle, especially with Damp Rock, is helpful to ensure a successful Baton Pass by boosting Gorebyss's speed, but not necessary, since Gorebyss will likely be in for only 2 turns, Shell Smashing on the first and Baton Passing on the second.</p>
<p>name: Offensive<br />
move 1: Shell Smash<br />
move 2: Surf<br />
move 3: Ice Beam<br />
move 4: Hidden Power Grass<br />
ability: Swift Swim<br />
item: Lum Berry / Life Orb<br />
evs: 16 HP / 252 SpA / 240 Spe<br />
nature: Timid</p>
<p>With this set Gorebyss goes for a sweep rather than a pass. Since the defensive drops matter less, one can drop White Herb for either Life Orb or Lum Berry, since in order to sweep effectively Gorebyss really needs the extra power or the protection from status. The EV spread allows Gorebyss to outspeed base 150 Pokemon such as Mega Alakazam and Mega Aerodactyl, plus lots of Choice Scarf users. Still, it's susceptible to priority, and therefore appreciates dual screen support.</p>
<p>Surf and Ice Beam cover everything but Water-types, so Hidden Power Grass is fairly necessary. You may consider Hidden Power Fire for Ferrothorn, but rain support may render this pointless. Speaking of which, rain support from Damp Rock Politoed is necessary to power up Surf and outspeed the numerous Choice Scarf Pokemon Gorebyss would otherwise lose to, leaving basically only priority as a threat. The rain support also means that Gorebyss can revenge kill things with a pretty strong STAB rain-boosted Surf, even without the +2, and can even sweep weakened things late-game. However, even with rain support, Gorebyss is sweeping under a seven turn time limit, or six after Shell Smash, at best (probably less). This means that Protect stalling can become a nuisance for Gorebyss, since rain will soon go away.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>SmashPass has few counters, since the goal is to quickly pass the boosts. Defensively the best bet is a bulky phazer that can take a Surf and Ice Beam. Therefore, Roar Vaporeon and Roar/Dragon Tail Mega Gyarados stop this set cold. Blissey, Chansey, and Ferrothorn can also try to stay in and Thunder Wave the switch in, but they risk allowing a Substitute to be set up too. Tentacruel is an interesting option against SmashPass Gorebyss, since it can lay Toxic Spikes, which affect many common receivers.</p>
<p>Against bulkier spreads, there are things that still outspeed and threaten an OHKO, such as Mega Manectric, Jolteon, and Sceptile. Your opponent may not know if you are bulky or fast, though, so this is risky.</p>
<p>Gorebyss attempting to sweep are easier to counter, depending on its Hidden Power. If Gorebyss uses Hidden Power Grass, it will lose to Ferrothorn and Abomasnow, due to their strong Grass-type STAB moves. Gorebyss can use Hidden Power Fire to beat Ferrothorn and Abomasnow, but it will now fail to KO Water-types. Tentacruel stands out as a Water-type that can take on Gorebyss regardless of Hidden Power Grass, though it may need to watch out for the rare Psychic. And of course, the pink blobs will take on these special hits, even when Gorebyss is at +2 Special Attack and under the rain.</p>
<p>Sweeping Gorebyss can also be easily revenge killed by strong priority, such as ExtremeSpeed from Dragonite and Lucario (Mega or normal), Mach Punch from Breloom and Conkeldurr, and Shadow Sneak from Aegislash.</p>
This will ideally have confirmation of what IVs are now necessary for Hidden Power Grass/Fire, as changes to the Speed stat would necessitate some EV tweaking. If and when we know how HP Fire/Grass affect Speed, I'll stealth edit it in to hit the same speed it hits now. (also no Jellicent means even one fewer defensive stop to sweeper set woo.)
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