Pokémon Mega Greninja

:greninja-mega:
Mega Greninja
Type: :splash-plate: :dread-plate:
Pre-Mega Stats:
72 / 95 / 67 / 103 / 71 / 122
Mega Stats: 72 / 125 / 77 / 133 / 81 / 142
Ability: Protean

Stab Moves:
- Dark Pulse :dread-plate:
- Hydro Pump :splash-plate:
- Liquidation :splash-plate:
- Surf :splash-plate:


Coverage Moves:
- Extrasensory :mind-plate:
- Grass Knot :meadow-plate:
- Gunk Shot :toxic-plate:
- Ice Beam :icicle-plate:
- Low Kick :fist-plate:
- Sludge Wave :toxic-plate:

Pivoting:
- Flip Turn :splash-plate:
- U-turn :insect-plate:

Priority Moves:
- Shadow Sneak :spooky-plate:
- Water Shuriken :splash-plate:


Utility:
- Spikes :earth-plate:
- Toxic Spikes :toxic-plate:
- Taunt :dread-plate:

Setup:
- Swords Dance


Pros:
+ Great offenses on the physical and special side with good offensive typing, allowing it to use mix sets or full physical/special sets to be a potent mon
+ Good coverage as protean allows greninja to have stab so water types wanting to resist its water stab being hit hard with stab grass knot and fairy/dark types being hit hard with stab gunk shot/low kick allowing for suprise KO's
+ Great speed tier allowing it to outspeed almost all of the metagame

+ Possibility of being able to bluff a different item as when you mega you activate protean again which can be useful against a faster mon than base greninja but slower than mega so you can catch a surprise KO

Cons:
- Middling bulk makes it quite frail and unable to tank more than one hit
- Protean only activates once per switchin, if mega greninja uses a different move than isnt stab, it will no longer have stab on its water/dark attacks which can make it easier to wall or pivot around



Answers:

Checks:

Bulky Grass Types:
:meganium-mega::venusaur-mega: :chesnaught-mega::hydrapple::serperior:

These all can withstand mega greninjas water stab and can tank dark pulse decently but they can succumb to its coverage such as ice beam, gunk shot and extrasensory for the case of mega venusaur

Bulky Waters:

:samurott-hisui::toxapex::primarina::rotom-wash::azumarill: :vaporeon:

Same case with the bulky grass types, azumarill takes massive damage from gunk shot and grass knot with vaporeon having to use wish for recovery making it exploitable while rotom, primarina and hisuian samurott having no reliable recovery. Toxapex is a solid check but gets chunked by extrasensory.

Bulky Dragons:
:dragonite:/:dragonite-mega: :kommo-o::archaludon::hydreigon::goodra-hisui:


Can take greninjas hits solidly but can take massive damage from ice beam and for goodra-hisui's case low kick

Revenge Killers:
:meowscarada: (:choice-scarf:) :quaquaval:


Revenge killers that can outspeed mega greninja such as scarf meow are solid at forcing greninja out




Offensive Pivot:
Greninja @ Greninjite
Ability: Battle Bond
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn/Flip Turn
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump/Water Shuriken/Surf
- Ice Beam

This set would fit balance teams that need a solid breaker as well as some super strong speed control with base speed outspeeding dragapult and strong water shuriken stab for priority revenge killing, strong stab u-turn/flip turn forces switches and gives you momentum which coupled with hazards can easily wear down opposing checks where they can't switch in later in the game. Coupled alongside protean boosted ice beams to hit dragon and grass types and this can become a strong and scary revenge killer late game.

Physical Protean Utility:
Greninja @ Greninjite
Ability: Battle Bond
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Low Kick/U-turn
- Gunk Shot
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam/Spikes

A physical set that can take advantage of fairy's such as clefable and azumarill with gunk shot as well as bulky dark types like kingambit, ice beam for the oko on x4 weak grounds like garchomp. Spikes allow it to set hazards and become a ground type making it immune to electric stab which coupled with the potential u-turn allow it to wittle down its checks by itself. This can fit well on offensive teams that like its offensive presence while also having the ability to set up hazards.

Special Protean Utility:
Greninja @ Greninjite
Ability: Battle Bond
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Spikes/Toxic Spikes
- Extrasensory/Grass Knot

This can apply some unexpected damage with extrasensory to hit bulky mons such as mega venusaur with spikes or toxic spikes to punish non-poison type teams and rack up passive damage. Grass knot allows it to deal massive damage to bulky waters with ice beam to hit the dragons. Protean can be used defensively against slower pokemon such as having the ground type for electric moves or the poison typing for fairy moves, allowing it to chip down its checks for its own teammates.

Swords Dance:
Greninja @ Greninjite
Ability: Battle Bond
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Liquidation
- Gunk Shot/Shadow Sneak
- Low Kick

A set that can catch opposing teams offguard with it being a physical sweeper instead of a special breaker. With it having the potential stab shadow sneak to pick off low hp mons whilst having strong stab liquidations and protean boosted low kicks, this can be a potential scary sweeper under the right circumstances.


Teammates:
-
Strong pivots such as chilly reception from :slowking:/:slowking-galar: as well as u-turn from the likes of :scizor: and :corviknight: can give it free switch in opportunites without taking damage as :scizor: and :corviknight: can bring in physical attackers with :slowking:/:slowking-galar: setting future sight so fighting types that switch in are punished
-Hazard support from the likes of :skarmory: :garchomp: :samurott-hisui: :glimmora: allow greninja switchins to be chipped down
-Breakers and sweepers that allow greninja to clean late game and share similar checks such as :hydreigon: :samurott-hisui: :tyranitar: as an example
 
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Question: does Protean reset after Greninja mega evolves? Theoretically, let's say a base form Greninja just used Extrasensory on its first turn and thus became a Psychic type. Would Mega evolving reset its typing and allow it to go back to Water/Dark and then trigger Protean again?
 
i do think that mega greninja rn is pretty good, especially with the higher speed and fun protean interaction. however, once other battle items like specs and lorb come in it'll a tough sell due to the fact that it takes up a mega slot and is outdamaged by base greninja with life orb or choice specs, while expert belt has comparable damage against SE targets:
252 SpA Greninja-Mega Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 266-314 (78 - 92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 289-343 (84.7 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 336-396 (98.5 - 116.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Expert Belt Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 266-317 (78 - 92.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
now all of these items have drawbacks that mega greninja lacks, but the question remains: is it worth giving up a mega slot for it? i could definitely see mixed sets having some value, as mega gren got a 30 point boost to its phys attack for some reason; not too dissimilar from how mega latios found its own identity as a mixed attacker version of its base form. and of course, that extra speed in a speed-crept meta is always nice, tying with dragapult for 4th fastest mon in the game. however, that mega stone opportunity cost really stings.
 
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i do think that mega greninja will have a niche, especially with the higher speed and fun protean interaction. however, it's a tough sell due to the fact that it takes up a mega slot and is outdamaged by base greninja with life orb or choice specs, while expert belt has comparable damage against SE targets:
252 SpA Greninja-Mega Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 266-314 (78 - 92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 289-343 (84.7 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 336-396 (98.5 - 116.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Expert Belt Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 266-317 (78 - 92.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
now all of these items have drawbacks that mega greninja lacks, but the question remains: is it worth giving up a mega slot for it? i could definitely see mixed sets having some value, as mega gren got a 30 point boost to its phys attack for some reason; not too dissimilar from how mega latios found its own identity as a mixed attacker version of its base form. and of course, that extra speed in a speed-crept meta is always nice, tying with dragapult for 4th fastest mon in the game. however, that mega stone opportunity cost really stings.
To be fair, choice specs, lorb, and expert belt are not in the equation at all right now. In the current meta, I wonder if gren is capable enough of functioning sans an item that having mega gren on a double mega team might work. You're giving up choice scarf or sash (I don't think gren particularly wants any of the other items that are available), but if you already have those roles filled on your team I could see it being a decent option thanks to the surprise factor involve with double protean and the improved speed tier.
 
To be fair, choice specs, lorb, and expert belt are not in the equation at all right now. In the current meta, I wonder if gren is capable enough of functioning sans an item that having mega gren on a double mega team might work. You're giving up choice scarf or sash (I don't think gren particularly wants any of the other items that are available), but if you already have those roles filled on your team I could see it being a decent option thanks to the surprise factor involve with double protean and the improved speed tier.
i completely forgot, ig i was tweaking cause i could've sworn i saw a set using specs or smth. mb
 
i completely forgot, ig i was tweaking cause i could've sworn i saw a set using specs or smth. mb
yeah specs isnt in the game right now, however as of right now I believe mega greninja is just far superior to base considering the best base greninja is able to use as an item is either expert belt/mystic water/black glasses offensive sets or sash lead sets. Opportunity cost occours on most megas so its valid that this will be apparant on greninja where there are options like mega blastoise/alakazam/lucario but I think greninja has a solid niche as good speed control for stuff on like balance.
 
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