Stallbreaking with style!
Overview
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Jellicent made quite an appearance last generation, proving to be an extremely effective status inducer, stall breaker and spin blocker. With the arrival of the newest generation, Jellicent remains comfortably in his place, despite a large drop in the usage of rapid spin. The moustached marvel sports impressive base stats, access to valued skills such as Taunt and Will-O-Wisp, and has a unique typing that allows it to check an incredible amount of offensive threats.
Bulky Utility
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Move 1: Taunt
Move 2: Will-O-Wisp
Move 3: Recover / Magic Coat
Move 4: Scald / Shadow Ball / Ice Beam
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 12 Spe
Nature: Bold
Moves
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This is the set that Jellicent made his claim to fame with, slightly modified for optimal performance in 6th gen. Taunt is the bane of all stall sets, allowing Jellicent to check and defeat every stall build that he doesn't have a weakness to (or is named Sableye), and as such should be present on every Jellicent. Will-O-Wisp is a physical sweeper's worst nightmare, as landing a burn can often be enough to ruin an opposing Pokemon's effectiveness. The mere threat of the possibility of being burned is enough to scare off a vast majority of the physical metagame, and so Will-O-Wisp is also a staple for Jellicent. Recover provides reliable sustain, allowing Jellicent to remain a strong force throughout all phases of a battle, as well as providing a way to stall for burn damage in certain situations. If Jellicent's team is lacking of a method to reliably defeat specialized leads such as Deoxys-S, Smeargle and Sableye, Magic Coat can replace recover. Bouncing a Taunt or Spore back at the user can have a massive impact on a game right from the first turn, especially if Jellicent's team is without a Defogger. Scald is the attack of choice, providing acceptable STAB damage and occasionally the bonus of a free Will-O-Wisp. If Jellicent's team does not value the burn status, Shadow Ball and Ice Beam can serve as situational alternatives, and are comparably unorthodox choices over Scald, which in itself can have value.
Set Details
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The suggested EV spread emphasizes physical bulk, which optimizes Jellicent's overall durability. It also allows Jellicent to out-speed the ever-present 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe Tyranitar spread, resulting in a fast burn. Note that having a total HP value that is not divisible by 4 is still worth EVing for, despite the large decrease in Spikes usage. As such, 240 EVs puts Jellicent in the best attainable Leftovers Bracket, as well as allowing him to take Spikes damage more comfortably. Speaking of Leftovers, Jellicent prefers this item over any other because his play style idealizes staying power. The choice between Water Absorb and Cursed Body is a matter of how well you want Jellicent to perform in the late game. While Water Absorb has a clear immediate value of gifting Jellicent with an immunity to the water type and providing control over an opponent's water based sweepers (Azumarill, Kingdra, Keldeo etc.), Cursed Body is by far the superior ability if Jellicent finds himself in late game clean-up situations. The chance of a free disable is immensely valued when teams are whittled down and ideal checks no longer exist. Additionally, the combo of Taunt and Cursed Body can often times leave opponents who typically run one attack move with nothing to do but struggle or switch. Note that Mirror Coat variants of Jellicent should always run Water Absorb, since their late game presence will be low and staying healthy will be comparably difficult. Lastly, an Attack IV of 0 is ideal since Jellicent possesses a weakness to Foul Play.
Usage Tips
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Jellicent is perhaps the best check in the game to Scizor, disregarding every move that the Metal Menace typically carries (excepting Pursuit, but even that is a mere 38% at best) and threatening a burn. Similarly, Jellicent is an effective check to powerful physical sweepers such as Mega Lucario (without Crunch), Mega Medicham and Choice Band Azumarill. Jellicent also excels at defeating many commonplace walls and stall builds including Blissey, Hippowdon, Physically Defensive Landorus-T and Heatran simply by switching in and using a single move.
Team Options
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Jellicent is best when used as part of a bulky Fire, Water, Grass (FWG) core. This new team comp fad, although rudimentary, is a surprisingly effective way to acquire resistance synergy in a team. Bulky grass types such as Mega Venusaur, Ferrothorn and Celebi offer a safe switch in to sponge Electric and Grass attacks, while specially defensive fire types such as Heatran and Volcarona complete the core trio. Similarly, durable dark types such as Mandibuzz and Hydreigon also offer fantastic defensive coverage for Jellicent, as well as many easy switch-in opportunities. Additionally, while Rapid Spin is currently outclassed by Defog, it still makes sense for spikes users to be paired with spin blockers. With some slight speed investment, and a little prediction, Jellicent can meet defoggers such as Scizor and Skarmory on the switch and get off a taunt before defog resolves. For this reason among others, Ferrothorn and Skarmory continue to appreciate the presence of a Jellicent.
Specially Defensive (?)
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Choice Specs (?)
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Other Options
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*I might add a specially defensive set and a choice specs set depending what QC thinks, and as such I have chosen to postpone writing this section thus far*
Checks & Counters
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Celebi is a fantastic check to Jellicent, due to a combination of resisting his Scald, being able to remove burns with Natural Cure, and out-speeding him, however she must be aware of the possibility that Jellicent has access to Shadow Ball. Mega Venusaur is a good check for similar reasons. If Tyranitar can avoid the burn, he threatens a clean 2HKO (66.5 - 78.5%) and an equally large chunk with Pursuit. Breloom resists Scald, possesses an immunity to burns (after Toxic Orb) and threatens an easy 2HKO with Seed Bomb. Specially offensive variants of Salamence and Hydreigon also resist scald, can live with a burn and are free to fire their Doomsday Cannons, which Jellicent is most certainly not suited to tank. Specially Defensive Rotom-W can easily come in on any of Jellicent's attacks and threaten a Volt Switch.
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