[SET]
Choice Scarf (Genesect) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Download
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Timid Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower / Thunderbolt / Psychic
- Ice Beam / Thunderbolt / Psychic
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=============
Genesect uses Choice Scarf in order to outspeed and KO threats that would normally beat it to the punch, like Greninja, Archeops, and Garchomp (if Genesect has Ice Beam). Bug Buzz is not only its most powerful neutral move, but also allows it to break through stall Pokemon with Substitute like Whimsicott and Deoxys-Speed. Flamethrower covers Steel-types like other non-Choice Scarf Genesect, Ferrothorn, and variants of Mega Mawile with neither Fire Fang nor Metal Burst. Ice Beam beats Ground-types like Garchomp and Landorus-T, and lets it beat variants of Mega Altaria and Dragonite that don’t have Fire-type coverage. Thunderbolt lets Genesect beat Choice Specs Manaphy and gives it a better chance against Mega Gyarados. Psychic lets Genesect beat Mega Gengar and non-max speed Mega Blaziken.
EVs
=============
Maximum Special Attack and a Modest nature is important for damage against Mega Gengar if running Psychic, Mega Gyarados if running Thunderbolt, and Mega Mawile if running Flamethrower. Timid can be used over Modest for the mirror Scarf Genesect matchup if running Flamethrower, but makes the aforementioned matchups less reliable. Investing at least 200 EVs in Defense allows Genesect to reliably beat Mega Lopunny, as long as it has at least 148 Speed EVs. Investing at least 188 EVs in Special Defense and 184 EVs in Speed allows Genesect to reliably beat non-Hidden Power Fire Choice Specs / Choice Scarf Porygon-Z. If you want Genesect to beat both of these threats, use a spread of 220 HP / 16 Def / 80 SpA / 8 SpD / 184 Spe with a Modest nature. Alternatively Genesect can use a spread of 220 HP / 16 Def / 12 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe with a Modest nature in order to still beat both of these but also handle other Choice Scarf Genesect, though this greatly takes away from Genesect’s power. A spread of 152 HP / 236 Def / 8 SpA / 112 Spe with a Timid nature and Thunderbolt allows Genesect to beat all Mega Gyarados sets, though this, again, is extremely weak in comparison to the standard set.
Usage Tips
=============
Against Mega Gyarados, if Genesect doesn’t have Thunderbolt, the only way to win is using Bug Buzz and hoping that Gyarados Mega evolves. If Genesect does have Thunderbolt, it is a 50-50 between whether you expect Gyarados to Mega evolve or not; if you think it will not, use Thunderbolt; if you think it will, use Bug Buzz. Variants of Mega Gyarados with no bulk will be 2HKOed by Thunderbolt either way, but these are a lot less common. Against Mega Altaria, it’s the same situation, but with Flash Cannon and Ice Beam instead. If you think Altaria won’t Mega evolve, use Flash Cannon; if you think it will Mega evolve, use Ice Beam. Against Whimsicott, use Bug Buzz instead of Flash Cannon to break through its Leech Seed + Substitute stall. Although one would expect Genesect to beat Fairy-types given its typing, be wary of Disable Mega Gardevoir, Fire Fang Mega Mawile, and Togekiss with Fire-coverage as Genesect loses to all of these. At the same time, Genesect, because it is locked into a Choice item, is also prone to damage-reflecting moves, so mind Metal Burst from Mega Aggron and Mega Mawile, and Mirror Coat from Magnezone.
[SET]
Choice Specs (Genesect) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Download
EVs: 12 HP / 56 Def / 220 SpA / 224 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam / Flamethrower / Psychic
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=============
The Special Attack boost that Choice Specs provides allows Genesect to blow through bulkier threats than its Choice Scarf counterpart, such as Mega Gyarados and offensive Mega Mawile. Bug Buzz is not only its most powerful neutral move, but also allows it to break through stall Pokemon with Substitute like Whimsicott and Deoxys-Speed. Thunderbolt covers Water-types like Mega Gyarados, slow variants of stall or Choice Specs Manaphy, and non-Choice Scarf Volcanion. Ice Beam lets Genesect beat all variants of Dragonite and Garchomp as long as they don’t have a Fire- move, and gives Genesect a better matchup against Mega Altarias that have Fire- coverage. Flamethrower gives Genesect a chance against slower Genesect variants, and lets it beat non-Rock Tomb Mega Heracross. Psychic, in conjunction with an alternate EV spread, allows Genesect to beat Mega Lopunny as long as Mega Lopunny mega evolves before Genesect attacks, and non-Disable variants of Mega Gengar.
EVs
=============
12 HP and 56 Defense allow Genesect to always take a Dragon Dance-boosted Waterfall from Mega Gyarados. 224 Speed lets Genesect always outspeed Mega Gyarados. The rest of the EVs are dumped into Special Attack. If using Psychic, use an EV spread of 200 Def / 84 SpA / 252 Spe and a Modest nature so Genesect can always take a Fake Out into High Jump Kick from Mega Lopunny and retaliate with a Psychic given that it mega evolves. Genesect’s Speed EVs are extremely customizable; Mega Gyarados does not often run Jolly, so Genesect can go as low as 112 Spe and still reliably beat most common Mega Gyarados EV spreads. On the other side, 252 Spe with a Timid nature and Flamethrower gives Genesect a much better chance in the mirror matchup, although this is a major blow to Genesect’s power. This Speed increase, if Genesect is running Ice Beam instead, also allows Genesect to reliably beat Landorus-T.
Usage Tips
=============
Always use Thunderbolt against Mega Gyarados; Genesect is powerful enough to always 2HKO it and bulky enough to withstand a Dragon Dance-boosted Waterfall. Against Mega Altaria, if Genesect has Ice Beam, you must predict whether Mega Altaria will mega evolve or not to account for the small case that it may have Fire- coverage. If you think it won’t mega evolve, use Ice Beam; if you think it will, use Flash Cannon. Use Bug Buzz rather than Flash Cannon against Whimsicott in order to break through its Substitute + Leech Seed stall. Be wary of variants of Mega Mawile that have high special defense investment; these often use either Metal Burst or Fire Fang which both beat Genesect, though Genesect is a safe pick into offensively invested Mega Mawiles. Genesect is also safe against most variants of Mega Gardevoir, but be cautious of fast variants Protect + Disable Mega Gardevoir. As Genesect is locked into a Choice item, it is also prone to damage-reflecting moves, so mind Metal Burst from Mega Aggron and Mirror Coat from Magnezone, as well as the aforementioned Metal Burst Mega Mawile. Genesect loses against Mega Lopunny even if it has Psychic if Mega Lopunny stays in its base for its first High Jump Kick; however, this is rare, as Mega Lopunny would lose against all other Genesect sets by doing this niche play.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Either Choice Scarf or Choice Specs Genesect can forgo one of its coverage moves for Energy Ball in order to beat Mega Swampert, Gastrodon, and Quagsire, but these Pokemon are all very uncommon. As long as Victini’s Defense is higher than its Special Defense, Choice Specs Genesect can use Dark Pulse to beat slower Victini sets, though this move lacks any use outside of Victini. Because of Genesect’s large movepool, it can also effectively run Life Orb sets; being not locked into a move allows Genesect to avoid Disable strategies from Mega Gardevoir and Mega Gengar, though this comes with the price of lessened power. Metal Sound, in conjunction with Life Orb, gives Genesect a better chance against non-Fire Fang Mega Mawile, stall Manaphy, and Aegislash, though this slot takes away from Genesect’s other potential coverage options.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/pqs.425798/]
Quality checked by:
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