[OVERVIEW]
Greninja’s great offensive Water / Dark typing, exceptional abilities in Protean and Torrent, and blistering Speed make it a great pick in the metagame, allowing it to overwhelm popular threats such as Mega Slowbro, Mega Metagross, and Heatran. This is bolstered by its large movepool, circumventing normally good checks like Mega Venusaur, Genesect, and Ferrothorn. A Substitute + Torrent set adds onto its unpredictability, empowering its offensive capabilities against Pokemon like specially defensive Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Metagross. Moreover, the benefits of not being Choice-locked allow it to deter previous checks via Taunt and Toxic, the most notable mentions being Chansey and Reflect Type Mega Latias. However, Greninja’s lackluster bulk leaves much to be desired, easily causing it to be taken out from super effective attacks and strong neutral attacks like Kyurem-B’s Outrage, Mega Gyarados’s Outrage, and Choice Specs Hoopa-U's Thunderbolt. While Greninja has impressive Speed, offensive Pokemon like Mega Lopunny and Choice Scarf users like Kyurem-B, Genesect, and Victini outspeed it.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hydro Cannon
move 2: Grass Knot / Extrasensory / Dark Pulse
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power [Fire] / Extrasensory / Hidden Power [Electric]
item: Choice Specs
ability: Protean
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
ivs: 30 HP
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Hydro Cannon is Greninja’s Water-type STAB move of choice and can easily KO offensive Mega Charizard X, Choice Specs Genesect, and Diancie. Grass Knot can handle Mega Slowbro and Mega Swampert. Extrasensory lets Greninja deal respectable damage against Mega Venusaur and Choice Band Sawk. Dark Pulse deals with Psychic- and Ghost-types like Mega Metagross, Mega Latias, and Aegislash. Ice Beam gives Greninja amazing coverage, nailing Dragon- and Ground-types like Mega Altaria, Dragonite, Choice Band Garchomp, and Landorus-T. Hidden Power Fire is Greninja’s best option against non-Choice Scarf Genesect, Ferrothorn, and Mega Scizor. Hidden Power Electric is effective against Mega Gyarados, being able to OHKO prior to Mega Evolving.
Set Details
========
Maximum Special Attack and Speed EVs allow Greninja to hit as strong and fast as possible. A Timid nature ensures Greninja can outspeed Pokemon like Mega Diancie, Terrakion, and Mega Latias. Protean gives Greninja STAB on any move, giving it extra power against the foe.
Strategy & Support
========
Choice Specs Greninja is simple to use, as Hydro Cannon is powerful and hits most Pokemon that don’t resist it. This variant of Greninja has trouble dealing with Pokemon that can live Hydro Cannon like Kyurem-B, specially defensive Mega Charizard X, and Mega Gardevoir; because of this, you should try to avoid these Pokemon. Use Hidden Power Fire and Grass Knot on targets that usually defeat Greninja like Ferrothorn and Mega Swampert, respectively, which might be lured in. Due to its frailty, it should also avoid Choice Scarf Pokemon like Kyurem-B, Porygon-Z, Genesect, and Victini. Mega Mawile and Mega Metagross are great offensive partners that benefit from Greninja drawing in and handling bulky Water- and Fire-types such as Mega Gyarados, Mega Slowbro, and non-Endure Heatran. In return, they can handle Sturdy Pokemon like Crustle and Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny and Sawk, as well as special walls like Chansey. A solid answer to specially defensive Mega Charizard X is appreciated, as Greninja doesn’t have sufficient firepower to handle it. Air Balloon Heatran and Crustle are all capable of taking hits from Mega Charizard X and revenge killing it. In return, Greninja can handle bulky Water-types like Mega Slowbro and Mega Swampert. Choice Band Kyurem-B is a great offensive partner, as it helps Greninja deal with unfavorable matchups such as against bulky Meloetta, Magnezone, and Hoopa-U. In return, Kyurem-B benefits from Greninja taking care of Steel-types like Air Balloon Heatran, Choice Specs Genesect, and Ferrothorn.
[SET]
name: Petaya
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Hydro Cannon
move 3: Haze
move 4: Toxic / Taunt
item: Petaya Berry
ability: Torrent
nature: Timid
evs: 160 Def / 188 SpA / 160 Spe
ivs: 30 HP
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Substitute is the flagship of this set, allowing Greninja to reliably defeat Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y by using it until Torrent and Petaya Berry are activated. Hydro Cannon is indispensable for this set, using its immense 150-Base Power on top of STAB, boosted by Torrent and Petaya Berry, to deal tremendous amounts of damage against non-resistant foes. Haze allows Greninja to have a favorable matchup against Flame Charge and Dragon Dance variants of Mega Charizard X as well as Calm Mind Mega Latias when utilized with Toxic. Toxic is useful against non-Rest variants of Mega Slowbro and Mega Latias. Taunt is useful for pinning down stall Pokemon like Mew and Jumpluff.
Set Details
========
160 Defense EVs are crucial so that Greninja can survive a Flame Charge from Mega Charizard X while using Substitute. 160 Speed EVs with a Timid nature let Greninja outspeed Mega Metagross, Mega Diancie and Jumpluff. The remaining EVs are put into Special Attack to let Greninja hit as hard as possible. Petaya Berry allows Greninja to continuously use Substitute until Torrent is activated, letting it fire off a potent Hydro Cannon.
Strategy & Support
========
Focus on Pokemon slower than Greninja that don’t resist Hydro Cannon and stall Pokemon that are weak to Taunt like Mew and Jumpluff. When against Mega Charizard X, first use Substitute so you don’t get OHKOed by Outrage; if the opposing Pokemon uses Flame Charge, proceed to use Haze to get rid of the Speed boost so you are always faster than it, and use the same method as followed until you reach 25% health, as Petaya Berry and Torrent will have activated and you can OHKO it with Hydro Cannon. Avoid Pokemon that can bypass Substitute like Mega Gardevoir, Meloetta, and Mega Altaria. Make sure not to Haze away your Petaya Berry boost, as the power drop is significant without it. This set is reliant on setting up with Substitute, so ideally having Pokemon that can deal with faster Pokemon and Choice Scarf users like Mega Lopunny, Kyurem-B, and Porygon-Z make excellent partners. Therefore, Pokemon like Mega Metagross, Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Heracross pair up well. In return, Greninja can deter Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y from being sent out against them. Mega Metagross in particular has excellent synergy with Greninja, as it deals with Pokemon that can bypass Substitute like Mega Gardevoir, Meloetta, and Mega Altaria. Pokemon that can handle bulky Water-types like Mega Gyarados, Rest Mega Slowbro, and Mega Blastoise complement Greninja well. Examples include Choice Band Kyurem-B, Mega Venusaur, and Serperior. In return, Greninja deals with Fire-types like Victini and Kee Berry Volcarona.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Thanks to its ability Protean, Greninja has a diverse amount of sets at its disposal. Greninja can opt to run a Choice Band set with Low Kick for Kyurem-B, Rock Tomb for Mega Charizard Y, and Gunk Shot for Fairy-types like Mega Gardevoir. However, its other sets are more useful and cover the metagame better. A set with Modest nature and a Choice Scarf can handle other Choice Scarf Pokemon like Garchomp, Genesect, Victini. Despite this, the power drop is enormous and is very niche apart from handling these Pokemon. Hidden Power Ground can defeat Magnezone but is useless apart from this. A Life Orb set can be run to have more leverage, as it is no longer Choice-locked, but it loses power compared to other sets. If using Life Orb, then Shadow Sneak can be run to avoid being hit by Hyper Beam and Close Combat from Choice-item Porygon-Z and Sawk respectively.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Pokemon**: Greninja is vulnerable to powerful STAB moves and super effective moves from faster Pokemon and Choice Scarf users such as Mega Lopunny, Kyurem-B, and Victini.
**Bulky Pokemon**: Despite Greninja’s unpredictability, there are some Pokemon that even both of its sets struggle against like specially defensive Mega Mawile, Mega Venusaur, Hoopa-U, Chansey, and Registeel, although it should be mentioned that even Mega Venusaur struggles against the possibility of Greninja running Extrasensory.
**Sturdy**: Sturdy users like Golem and Crustle are especially problematic for Greninja due to their ability to tank a hit and retaliate using their strong STAB moves.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[PA, 430787]]
- Quality checked by: [[LittleRunnerXC, 289008], [DEG, 234355]
- Grammar checked by: [[Milak, 262594], [Estronic, 240732]]
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