[OVERVIEW]
Exeggutor is widely considered to be the fourth best Pokemon in the RBY metagame as well as the best sleeper available. A combination of Explosion, Sleep Powder, and Psychic, in addition to unique typing and solid base stats, makes it an easy pick for a large number of RBY teams. Despite the unfortunate Ice weakness, its resistance to Ground-type attacks makes it one of the most reliable Rhydon switch-ins; it is also the most reliable answer to the uncommon but threatening Slowbro. A combination of defensive utility and wallbreaking power earns Exeggutor a spot on a large majority of RBY teams; however, teams that already feature other sleepers may find it redundant, so it should not be considered an automatic inclusion on every RBY team.
[SET]
name: Sleeper
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Explosion
move 4: Double-Edge / Stun Spore / Mega Drain / Hyper Beam
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Sleep Powder is an extremely threatening move, as incredibly dangerous Pokemon such as Tauros can switch on a sleeping Pokemon with little risk and cause havoc; counterplay to Exeggutor is often centered around absorbing it and containing its effects. Psychic is a powerful attack that threatens significant damage to anything other than special sponges, and is Exeggutor's main weapon against threats such as Snorlax. Explosion is an incredibly useful move that allows Exeggutor to bring something down with it and can create incredibly favorable situations if used correctly; however, the user must be careful of its Explosion being too predictable, as there are a number of ways to neutralize it, such as with Rock- or Ghost-type Pokemon, or sacrificing a Pokemon already affected by a strong status condition such as sleep or freeze. The fourth slot is the most contentious, as none of the four moves listed clearly outshine the other options. Double-Edge is a strong attack capable of breaking down paralyzed Jynx or Alakazam with minimal previous damage, an excellent tool to have at your disposal because both of these Pokemon commonly switch in on Exeggutor to absorb its Sleep Powder. Stun Spore allows Exeggutor to continue to cripple potential answers even after Sleep Clause is activated; this is especially useful when facing teams with multiple special sponges. Despite Mega Drain's pitiful Base Power, it ends up being Exeggutor's best tool against Starmie, and while the move is otherwise relatively useless, Starmie is another very common answer to Exeggutor, so Mega Drain has its merits. Finally, Hyper Beam is capable of sniping Starmie, Alakazam, Jynx, and even Chansey if they have taken sufficient damage before attempting to switch in into Exeggutor, but it is entirely useless if they have not, and it can have terrible drawbacks if predicted correctly by the opponent; nevertheless, its utility against every common special sponge should not be underestimated.
Thanks to this set, Exeggutor is able to answer tier titans such as Chansey and Snorlax and apply huge amounts of pressure on the opponent's team. While its lack of recovery and susceptibility to status makes it a fairly difficult piece to maneuver with, the options in its toolbox make it a difficult threat to answer. Exeggutor players should try to damage or KO paralyzed opposing Pokemon that are able to block Sleep Powder in order to clear the way for it, as landing a Sleep Powder is often game-changing. The easiest and most common ways to find opportunities to send Exeggutor out on the field are on a predicted Chansey using Soft-Boiled or Snorlax using Rest; the former will have to respect the Sleep Powder threat and switch out, while the latter is not only scared of the sleep threat, but also vulnerable to Psychic itself. Once Exeggutor is on the field, the threat that Sleep Powder poses generates strong momentum for the player using it, but it must be followed up by strong predictions to progress the game favorably; using Sleep Powder on an incoming paralyzed Pokemon is simply a wasted turn, but so is Double-Edge on a Snorlax. The stress of prediction can be eased by sending Exeggutor on the field before paralyzing any foes, such as by leading with it. Although landing Sleep Powder this way is much easier, it is also less rewarding due to having to absorb early pressure, status, or damage on Exeggutor.
The last detail to touch on is the usage of Explosion. Although most players are tempted to keep Explosion as a tool to get value out of a low health Exeggutor, one should try to recognize when such a line of play might be too greedy. For example, in situations where Exeggutor would not be able to make much progress at all even with a full health bar, it can be advantageous to use Explosion earlier on, when it is harder to predict and therefore more likely to hit the intended target. However, you should be careful of your matchup against Rhydon when choosing to get rid of your Exeggutor early, as it can be very dangerous to get rid of your sturdiest defensive answer to it. It's also possible to use Explosion to get rid of a Sleep Powder answer for a secondary sleeper on your team, most commonly Lapras, but this is a last resort option only in most cases.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Egg Bomb hits as hard as Double-Edge and has no recoil, but its low accuracy makes it a generally inferior choice.
Exeggutor has access to decent defensive and utility moves such as Reflect, Rest, Toxic, Leech Seed, and even Mimic, but none of them have seen consistent success at high level of play in any combination.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Starmie, Alakazam, and Jynx**: These Pokemon are often on the receiving end of a turn 1 Thunder Wave, which makes them solid switch-ins to Sleep Powder, although they must watch out for aggressive predictions from the Exeggutor user. Although they are not fully reliable in all situations, they are often the best available option to safely switch in on Exeggutor, and should be able to threaten it with Thunder Wave or Blizzard while keeping themselves healthy to answer it repeatedly thanks to Recover or Rest.
**Chansey**: Exeggutor simply has no ways to consistently get through Chansey outside of Sleep Powder and Explosion, which come with their obvious limitations. A paralyzed Chansey leaves Exeggutor with no options other than to explode.
**Exeggutor**: Exeggutor can't really harm each other much, and unless one of the Exeggutor is able to land Sleep Powder on the other, this one-on-one matchup most often ends with one of the Exeggutor exploding on the other to trade evenly.
**Lapras and Zapdos**: Although they are by no means switch-ins, Lapras and Zapdos threaten a 2HKO with Blizzard and Drill Peck respectively, while Lapras also outspeeds Exeggutor and is able to threaten it with Sing, which means that either of these Pokemon find themselves in a one-on-one against Exeggutor they are generally favored.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[The Idiot Ninja, 265630]]
- Quality checked by: [[Zokuru, 263906], [Jellicent, 108993]]
- Grammar checked by: [[CryoGyro, 331519], [JockeMS, 53214]]
Exeggutor is widely considered to be the fourth best Pokemon in the RBY metagame as well as the best sleeper available. A combination of Explosion, Sleep Powder, and Psychic, in addition to unique typing and solid base stats, makes it an easy pick for a large number of RBY teams. Despite the unfortunate Ice weakness, its resistance to Ground-type attacks makes it one of the most reliable Rhydon switch-ins; it is also the most reliable answer to the uncommon but threatening Slowbro. A combination of defensive utility and wallbreaking power earns Exeggutor a spot on a large majority of RBY teams; however, teams that already feature other sleepers may find it redundant, so it should not be considered an automatic inclusion on every RBY team.
[SET]
name: Sleeper
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Explosion
move 4: Double-Edge / Stun Spore / Mega Drain / Hyper Beam
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Sleep Powder is an extremely threatening move, as incredibly dangerous Pokemon such as Tauros can switch on a sleeping Pokemon with little risk and cause havoc; counterplay to Exeggutor is often centered around absorbing it and containing its effects. Psychic is a powerful attack that threatens significant damage to anything other than special sponges, and is Exeggutor's main weapon against threats such as Snorlax. Explosion is an incredibly useful move that allows Exeggutor to bring something down with it and can create incredibly favorable situations if used correctly; however, the user must be careful of its Explosion being too predictable, as there are a number of ways to neutralize it, such as with Rock- or Ghost-type Pokemon, or sacrificing a Pokemon already affected by a strong status condition such as sleep or freeze. The fourth slot is the most contentious, as none of the four moves listed clearly outshine the other options. Double-Edge is a strong attack capable of breaking down paralyzed Jynx or Alakazam with minimal previous damage, an excellent tool to have at your disposal because both of these Pokemon commonly switch in on Exeggutor to absorb its Sleep Powder. Stun Spore allows Exeggutor to continue to cripple potential answers even after Sleep Clause is activated; this is especially useful when facing teams with multiple special sponges. Despite Mega Drain's pitiful Base Power, it ends up being Exeggutor's best tool against Starmie, and while the move is otherwise relatively useless, Starmie is another very common answer to Exeggutor, so Mega Drain has its merits. Finally, Hyper Beam is capable of sniping Starmie, Alakazam, Jynx, and even Chansey if they have taken sufficient damage before attempting to switch in into Exeggutor, but it is entirely useless if they have not, and it can have terrible drawbacks if predicted correctly by the opponent; nevertheless, its utility against every common special sponge should not be underestimated.
Thanks to this set, Exeggutor is able to answer tier titans such as Chansey and Snorlax and apply huge amounts of pressure on the opponent's team. While its lack of recovery and susceptibility to status makes it a fairly difficult piece to maneuver with, the options in its toolbox make it a difficult threat to answer. Exeggutor players should try to damage or KO paralyzed opposing Pokemon that are able to block Sleep Powder in order to clear the way for it, as landing a Sleep Powder is often game-changing. The easiest and most common ways to find opportunities to send Exeggutor out on the field are on a predicted Chansey using Soft-Boiled or Snorlax using Rest; the former will have to respect the Sleep Powder threat and switch out, while the latter is not only scared of the sleep threat, but also vulnerable to Psychic itself. Once Exeggutor is on the field, the threat that Sleep Powder poses generates strong momentum for the player using it, but it must be followed up by strong predictions to progress the game favorably; using Sleep Powder on an incoming paralyzed Pokemon is simply a wasted turn, but so is Double-Edge on a Snorlax. The stress of prediction can be eased by sending Exeggutor on the field before paralyzing any foes, such as by leading with it. Although landing Sleep Powder this way is much easier, it is also less rewarding due to having to absorb early pressure, status, or damage on Exeggutor.
The last detail to touch on is the usage of Explosion. Although most players are tempted to keep Explosion as a tool to get value out of a low health Exeggutor, one should try to recognize when such a line of play might be too greedy. For example, in situations where Exeggutor would not be able to make much progress at all even with a full health bar, it can be advantageous to use Explosion earlier on, when it is harder to predict and therefore more likely to hit the intended target. However, you should be careful of your matchup against Rhydon when choosing to get rid of your Exeggutor early, as it can be very dangerous to get rid of your sturdiest defensive answer to it. It's also possible to use Explosion to get rid of a Sleep Powder answer for a secondary sleeper on your team, most commonly Lapras, but this is a last resort option only in most cases.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Egg Bomb hits as hard as Double-Edge and has no recoil, but its low accuracy makes it a generally inferior choice.
Exeggutor has access to decent defensive and utility moves such as Reflect, Rest, Toxic, Leech Seed, and even Mimic, but none of them have seen consistent success at high level of play in any combination.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Starmie, Alakazam, and Jynx**: These Pokemon are often on the receiving end of a turn 1 Thunder Wave, which makes them solid switch-ins to Sleep Powder, although they must watch out for aggressive predictions from the Exeggutor user. Although they are not fully reliable in all situations, they are often the best available option to safely switch in on Exeggutor, and should be able to threaten it with Thunder Wave or Blizzard while keeping themselves healthy to answer it repeatedly thanks to Recover or Rest.
**Chansey**: Exeggutor simply has no ways to consistently get through Chansey outside of Sleep Powder and Explosion, which come with their obvious limitations. A paralyzed Chansey leaves Exeggutor with no options other than to explode.
**Exeggutor**: Exeggutor can't really harm each other much, and unless one of the Exeggutor is able to land Sleep Powder on the other, this one-on-one matchup most often ends with one of the Exeggutor exploding on the other to trade evenly.
**Lapras and Zapdos**: Although they are by no means switch-ins, Lapras and Zapdos threaten a 2HKO with Blizzard and Drill Peck respectively, while Lapras also outspeeds Exeggutor and is able to threaten it with Sing, which means that either of these Pokemon find themselves in a one-on-one against Exeggutor they are generally favored.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[The Idiot Ninja, 265630]]
- Quality checked by: [[Zokuru, 263906], [Jellicent, 108993]]
- Grammar checked by: [[CryoGyro, 331519], [JockeMS, 53214]]
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