QC: Yogurt ;-; / Megazard / Left Twix
GP: The Dutch Plumberjack / Lotiasite
[OVERVIEW]
Leafeon can serve as an decent sweeper and wallbreaker thanks to its overall decent stats and access to a setup move in the form of Swords Dance. It also has a nice ability in Chlorophyll, which allows it to serve as a good sweeper on sun teams. However, its offensive movepool is somewhat shallow, and it has a mediocre offensive typing in pure Grass, often leaving Leafeon dependent on neutral coverage to pick up KOs. This leads to Leafeon struggling to break through certain bulky Pokemon, such as Weezing and Ferroseed. Furthermore, while it can break through Pokemon such as Weezing with its Z-Move, this means it also takes up the team's dedicated Z-Move slot. It can also be relatively easily worn down through means such as Double-Edge's recoil. While its Speed is decent, it is not the best when the sun is not up, so Leafeon can still be relatively easily outsped and revenge killed by Pokemon such as Swanna and Pyroar, especially with its poor HP, lacking Special Defense, and bad defensive typing. Leafeon receives a good amount of competition from other Grass-types both inside and out of sun, such as Shiftry and Sawsbuck. Both have secondary STAB moves and more coverage options, and Shiftry also has access to Sucker Punch and a good support movepool with moves such as Defog. However, Leafeon remains an overall decent choice thanks to its higher physical bulk and Attack and a typing that does not leave it weak to moves such as Mach Punch.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Double-Edge
move 4: Knock Off
item: Normalium Z
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Swords Dance boosts Leafeon's Attack by two stages, allowing it to sweep through opposing teams while more easily breaking through bulkier foes such as Clefairy and Type: Null. Leaf Blade serves as Leafeon's STAB attack, which can also hit Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types such as Lanturn, Golurk, and Regirock for super effective damage. Double-Edge supplies neutral coverage for certain Pokemon that resist Leaf Blade, such as Skuntank and Shiftry, although at the cost of a good amount of recoil. It can be combined with Normalium Z to serve as a one-time nuke for bulky Pokemon such as Weezing as well as to bypass the recoil. Knock Off provides some utility, as it can remove the opposing Pokemon's item, such as Ferroseed and Gurdurr's Eviolite. It also hits certain Pokemon that resist Leafeon's other attacks, such as Oricorio-G and Bronzor.
Set Details
========
252 Attack and Speed EVs let Leafeon hit as hard and fast as it can. A Jolly nature allows Leafeon to outspeed Pokemon such as Oricorio-G and Lilligant while Speed tying with other base 95 Speed Pokemon such as Jynx and Haunter. Normalium Z is run with Double-Edge to provide a one-time nuke for walls such as Weezing and Lurantis. It also allows Leafeon to ignore the recoil of Double-Edge for a turn. If used on a sun team, Leafeon should run Adamant to further its offensive presence, as Chlorophyll already enables it to outspeed most of the metagame.
Usage Tips
========
Leafeon's main role is as a sweeper, ideally after bulkier threats such as Weezing and Lurantis have been KOed or at least weakened to the point where Leafeon can pick them off. This also qualifies for faster threats such as Pyroar and Choice Scarf Primeape, which Leafeon prefers having KOed or potentially crippled with paralysis so it can outspeed them. Leafeon can also serve as a wallbreaker for its teammates, utilizing Swords Dance to more easily break through walls such as Clefairy and Audino, although it should stay wary of Toxic and Thunder Wave. Leafeon can generally set up for free against Pokemon such as Gastrodon and Lanturn, which will usually switch out against it. It can also utilize its good Defense and resistances to set up against Pokemon such as Regirock and Torterra. However, Leafeon dislikes taking a Toxic from all these Pokemon, Thunder Wave from Regirock, and potential coverage such as Lanturn's Ice Beam. When sweeping, stay wary that the opponent may switch out in attempt to lure out Leafeon's Z-Move, as without its Z-Move, Leafeon has a much more difficult time breaking through Pokemon such as Weezing. When Leafeon is run on a sun team, the opponent may also constantly switch in attempt to stall out the sun. Leafeon can take advantage of these switches, however, as it can use the turn as an opportunity to set up Swords Dance.
Team Options
========
Leafeon can be used on both balance and sun teams in need of a sweeper or wallbreaker. Special wallbreakers such as Aurorus and Drampa can help with the physical walls that give Leafeon trouble such as Weezing and Gourgeist-XL, while Leafeon can help with specially defensive Pokemon such as Clefairy and Lanturn. Pokemon such as Primeape and Gurdurr can help against Steel-types such as Ferroseed. Fast Pokemon such as Archeops appreciate Leafeon's ability to break through bulkier foes such as Regirock and Gastrodon, allowing them to more easily clean up the match. Defensive Mesprit can support Leafeon through moves such as Stealth Rock, a slow U-turn, Healing Wish, and Thunder Wave, while other sets can fulfill various other roles such as a special wallbreaker with Choice Specs, a cleaner with Choice Scarf, and a sun setter, allowing Leafeon to potentially sweep. Regirock can also supply Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave, as well as serve as a lead setter of sun. Volbeat and Liepard are other good sun setters, although they are more so meant to support Leafeon and the rest of the team throughout the match. They can also serve as pivots and have access to support moves such as Encore and Thunder Wave. Other sun sweepers such as Lilligant, Victreebel, and Shiftry can help break down the opposing team before Leafeon comes in to sweep or can come in to clean after Leafeon breaks down the opposing team. Fire-types such as Pyroar can also serve as sun sweepers and are particularly beneficial for Leafeon because they can help against Steel-types such as Ferroseed and Mawile.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A Choice Band set can be run on Leafeon for more immediate power as a wallbreaker, but the loss of both Swords Dance and the Z-Move makes it less of a sweeper. Its inability to change between moves can also make Leafeon very exploitable. It can also run a Choice Scarf set, which allows it to serve as a revenge killer that outspeeds Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Oricorio and +1 Lilligant, although this can leave Leafeon very underwhelming at times and is overall subpar when compared to other Choice Scarf users such as Primeape and Togedemaru. Z-Celebrate is an option that boosts all of Leafeon's stats by +1, allowing it to sweep more easily, although at the cost of giving up Swords Dance or Knock Off and making it much less of a wallbreaker. Life Orb is an option on the Swords Dance set if the Z-Move slot is taken, although its recoil stacked with the recoil of Double-Edge can wear Leafeon down quickly. Yache Berry allows Leafeon to better handle Pokemon such as Floatzel and Ludicolo, but it has little usage outside of that, so it is overall very situational. Return can be run over Double-Edge, with no recoil at the cost of less power and a weaker Z-Move, which gives it a much more difficult time breaking through bulkier Pokemon such as Weezing and Lurantis. Leafeon can run Grassium Z, which serves as an overall powerful STAB nuke, but this misses out on hitting Weezing, so it is generally inferior to Normalium Z. Groundium Z + Dig allows Leafeon to hit Steel-types such as Togedemaru, Alolan Sandslash, and Aggron for super effective damage. However, it struggles to find space for Dig on its moveset, especially due to its uselessness outside of the Z-Move, and this again leaves it vulnerable to Weezing. Finally, Quick Attack can be used to hit faster foes as Leafeon attempts to sweep, but it is extremely weak even at +2, and again Leafeon struggles to find a spot in its moveset.
Checks and Counter
===================
**Faster Pokemon**: Due to its low Special Defense, Leafeon can be relatively easily revenge killed by faster special attackers such as Pyroar, Floatzel, and Choice Scarf users such as Haunter, Jynx, and Mesprit. It can also be KOed by physical attackers such as Choice Scarf Primeape, but this often requires a decent amount of previously acquired damage. All these Pokemon are also outsped by Leafeon under sun and do not appreciate having to take a hit from it.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Alolan Sandslash, Aggron, and Probopass can take a hit before dealing a good amount of damage to Leafeon in return. Other Steel-types such as Ferroseed and Mawile take little from Leafeon’s attacks and can whittle it down with Gyro Ball, Play Rough, and Toxic. Togedemaru can outspeed and whittle Leafeon down with a constant U-turn, but it often ends up having to sack off teammates in the process.
**Physical Walls**: Gourgeist-XL can take any hit from Leafeon with ease, although it fears +2 Knock Off if it is not running Colbur Berry. In return, it can cripple Leafeon with Will-O-Wisp, deal a good amount of damage with Foul Play, and heal off any damage taken with Synthesis. If Leafeon's Z-Move is already used up, certain physically defensive walls such as Weezing and Lurantis do not mind taking any of Leafeon’s attacks and can KO it or cripple it with Will-O-Wisp or Toxic. Sableye has priority in Will-O-Wisp to cripple Leafeon and Taunt to stop it from setting up. Other bulky Pokemon such as Gurdurr can take a hit and deal a decent amount of damage. Throh can also take a hit before removing Leafeon, as well as its boosts, from the field with Circle Throw.
**Flying-types**: Certain Flying-types such as Archeops, Swanna, and Choice Scarf Oricorio-G can outspeed Leafeon and OHKO it with their STAB moves, but are all outsped by Leafeon when sun is active.
**Snow Warning**: Both Aurorus and Abomasnow can remove the sun, negating Leafeon's Chlorophyll boost. They also outspeed Leafeon if running Choice Scarf and OHKO with Blizzard, and Abomasnow can deal a decent amount of damage with Ice Shard. However, they do not like having to take a Leaf Blade or Double-Edge, and if not running Choice Scarf, they often find themselves switching out immediately.
GP: The Dutch Plumberjack / Lotiasite
[OVERVIEW]
Leafeon can serve as an decent sweeper and wallbreaker thanks to its overall decent stats and access to a setup move in the form of Swords Dance. It also has a nice ability in Chlorophyll, which allows it to serve as a good sweeper on sun teams. However, its offensive movepool is somewhat shallow, and it has a mediocre offensive typing in pure Grass, often leaving Leafeon dependent on neutral coverage to pick up KOs. This leads to Leafeon struggling to break through certain bulky Pokemon, such as Weezing and Ferroseed. Furthermore, while it can break through Pokemon such as Weezing with its Z-Move, this means it also takes up the team's dedicated Z-Move slot. It can also be relatively easily worn down through means such as Double-Edge's recoil. While its Speed is decent, it is not the best when the sun is not up, so Leafeon can still be relatively easily outsped and revenge killed by Pokemon such as Swanna and Pyroar, especially with its poor HP, lacking Special Defense, and bad defensive typing. Leafeon receives a good amount of competition from other Grass-types both inside and out of sun, such as Shiftry and Sawsbuck. Both have secondary STAB moves and more coverage options, and Shiftry also has access to Sucker Punch and a good support movepool with moves such as Defog. However, Leafeon remains an overall decent choice thanks to its higher physical bulk and Attack and a typing that does not leave it weak to moves such as Mach Punch.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Double-Edge
move 4: Knock Off
item: Normalium Z
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Swords Dance boosts Leafeon's Attack by two stages, allowing it to sweep through opposing teams while more easily breaking through bulkier foes such as Clefairy and Type: Null. Leaf Blade serves as Leafeon's STAB attack, which can also hit Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types such as Lanturn, Golurk, and Regirock for super effective damage. Double-Edge supplies neutral coverage for certain Pokemon that resist Leaf Blade, such as Skuntank and Shiftry, although at the cost of a good amount of recoil. It can be combined with Normalium Z to serve as a one-time nuke for bulky Pokemon such as Weezing as well as to bypass the recoil. Knock Off provides some utility, as it can remove the opposing Pokemon's item, such as Ferroseed and Gurdurr's Eviolite. It also hits certain Pokemon that resist Leafeon's other attacks, such as Oricorio-G and Bronzor.
Set Details
========
252 Attack and Speed EVs let Leafeon hit as hard and fast as it can. A Jolly nature allows Leafeon to outspeed Pokemon such as Oricorio-G and Lilligant while Speed tying with other base 95 Speed Pokemon such as Jynx and Haunter. Normalium Z is run with Double-Edge to provide a one-time nuke for walls such as Weezing and Lurantis. It also allows Leafeon to ignore the recoil of Double-Edge for a turn. If used on a sun team, Leafeon should run Adamant to further its offensive presence, as Chlorophyll already enables it to outspeed most of the metagame.
Usage Tips
========
Leafeon's main role is as a sweeper, ideally after bulkier threats such as Weezing and Lurantis have been KOed or at least weakened to the point where Leafeon can pick them off. This also qualifies for faster threats such as Pyroar and Choice Scarf Primeape, which Leafeon prefers having KOed or potentially crippled with paralysis so it can outspeed them. Leafeon can also serve as a wallbreaker for its teammates, utilizing Swords Dance to more easily break through walls such as Clefairy and Audino, although it should stay wary of Toxic and Thunder Wave. Leafeon can generally set up for free against Pokemon such as Gastrodon and Lanturn, which will usually switch out against it. It can also utilize its good Defense and resistances to set up against Pokemon such as Regirock and Torterra. However, Leafeon dislikes taking a Toxic from all these Pokemon, Thunder Wave from Regirock, and potential coverage such as Lanturn's Ice Beam. When sweeping, stay wary that the opponent may switch out in attempt to lure out Leafeon's Z-Move, as without its Z-Move, Leafeon has a much more difficult time breaking through Pokemon such as Weezing. When Leafeon is run on a sun team, the opponent may also constantly switch in attempt to stall out the sun. Leafeon can take advantage of these switches, however, as it can use the turn as an opportunity to set up Swords Dance.
Team Options
========
Leafeon can be used on both balance and sun teams in need of a sweeper or wallbreaker. Special wallbreakers such as Aurorus and Drampa can help with the physical walls that give Leafeon trouble such as Weezing and Gourgeist-XL, while Leafeon can help with specially defensive Pokemon such as Clefairy and Lanturn. Pokemon such as Primeape and Gurdurr can help against Steel-types such as Ferroseed. Fast Pokemon such as Archeops appreciate Leafeon's ability to break through bulkier foes such as Regirock and Gastrodon, allowing them to more easily clean up the match. Defensive Mesprit can support Leafeon through moves such as Stealth Rock, a slow U-turn, Healing Wish, and Thunder Wave, while other sets can fulfill various other roles such as a special wallbreaker with Choice Specs, a cleaner with Choice Scarf, and a sun setter, allowing Leafeon to potentially sweep. Regirock can also supply Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave, as well as serve as a lead setter of sun. Volbeat and Liepard are other good sun setters, although they are more so meant to support Leafeon and the rest of the team throughout the match. They can also serve as pivots and have access to support moves such as Encore and Thunder Wave. Other sun sweepers such as Lilligant, Victreebel, and Shiftry can help break down the opposing team before Leafeon comes in to sweep or can come in to clean after Leafeon breaks down the opposing team. Fire-types such as Pyroar can also serve as sun sweepers and are particularly beneficial for Leafeon because they can help against Steel-types such as Ferroseed and Mawile.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A Choice Band set can be run on Leafeon for more immediate power as a wallbreaker, but the loss of both Swords Dance and the Z-Move makes it less of a sweeper. Its inability to change between moves can also make Leafeon very exploitable. It can also run a Choice Scarf set, which allows it to serve as a revenge killer that outspeeds Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Oricorio and +1 Lilligant, although this can leave Leafeon very underwhelming at times and is overall subpar when compared to other Choice Scarf users such as Primeape and Togedemaru. Z-Celebrate is an option that boosts all of Leafeon's stats by +1, allowing it to sweep more easily, although at the cost of giving up Swords Dance or Knock Off and making it much less of a wallbreaker. Life Orb is an option on the Swords Dance set if the Z-Move slot is taken, although its recoil stacked with the recoil of Double-Edge can wear Leafeon down quickly. Yache Berry allows Leafeon to better handle Pokemon such as Floatzel and Ludicolo, but it has little usage outside of that, so it is overall very situational. Return can be run over Double-Edge, with no recoil at the cost of less power and a weaker Z-Move, which gives it a much more difficult time breaking through bulkier Pokemon such as Weezing and Lurantis. Leafeon can run Grassium Z, which serves as an overall powerful STAB nuke, but this misses out on hitting Weezing, so it is generally inferior to Normalium Z. Groundium Z + Dig allows Leafeon to hit Steel-types such as Togedemaru, Alolan Sandslash, and Aggron for super effective damage. However, it struggles to find space for Dig on its moveset, especially due to its uselessness outside of the Z-Move, and this again leaves it vulnerable to Weezing. Finally, Quick Attack can be used to hit faster foes as Leafeon attempts to sweep, but it is extremely weak even at +2, and again Leafeon struggles to find a spot in its moveset.
Checks and Counter
===================
**Faster Pokemon**: Due to its low Special Defense, Leafeon can be relatively easily revenge killed by faster special attackers such as Pyroar, Floatzel, and Choice Scarf users such as Haunter, Jynx, and Mesprit. It can also be KOed by physical attackers such as Choice Scarf Primeape, but this often requires a decent amount of previously acquired damage. All these Pokemon are also outsped by Leafeon under sun and do not appreciate having to take a hit from it.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Alolan Sandslash, Aggron, and Probopass can take a hit before dealing a good amount of damage to Leafeon in return. Other Steel-types such as Ferroseed and Mawile take little from Leafeon’s attacks and can whittle it down with Gyro Ball, Play Rough, and Toxic. Togedemaru can outspeed and whittle Leafeon down with a constant U-turn, but it often ends up having to sack off teammates in the process.
**Physical Walls**: Gourgeist-XL can take any hit from Leafeon with ease, although it fears +2 Knock Off if it is not running Colbur Berry. In return, it can cripple Leafeon with Will-O-Wisp, deal a good amount of damage with Foul Play, and heal off any damage taken with Synthesis. If Leafeon's Z-Move is already used up, certain physically defensive walls such as Weezing and Lurantis do not mind taking any of Leafeon’s attacks and can KO it or cripple it with Will-O-Wisp or Toxic. Sableye has priority in Will-O-Wisp to cripple Leafeon and Taunt to stop it from setting up. Other bulky Pokemon such as Gurdurr can take a hit and deal a decent amount of damage. Throh can also take a hit before removing Leafeon, as well as its boosts, from the field with Circle Throw.
**Flying-types**: Certain Flying-types such as Archeops, Swanna, and Choice Scarf Oricorio-G can outspeed Leafeon and OHKO it with their STAB moves, but are all outsped by Leafeon when sun is active.
**Snow Warning**: Both Aurorus and Abomasnow can remove the sun, negating Leafeon's Chlorophyll boost. They also outspeed Leafeon if running Choice Scarf and OHKO with Blizzard, and Abomasnow can deal a decent amount of damage with Ice Shard. However, they do not like having to take a Leaf Blade or Double-Edge, and if not running Choice Scarf, they often find themselves switching out immediately.
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