Project OU Next Best Thing: Cycle 87 - Not hosted anymore

[Egor]

Ok guys, time to vote! There are 10 submissions so far:

Curse by RottenInfernape
Choice Band by Katy
Suicide Lead by James2464
Iron Defense by f is for frens
SubSD by Acey - Danse Macabre
Magnet Rise by zbr
Toxic + Bulldoze by nameless90
Rocky Helmet by HiddenPower23
Ingrain by ReadTheMango
Endeavor by ApenguinDj

Also, remember that you need to post a legit description to your set. Thankfully most of you do that, but for those who do not - next time we will not close our eyes on the lack of real description; your submissions just will not be included to the voting phase in this case. BlueLobster your submission was not included because it is too similar to f is for frens's one. The deadline is Tuesday 31st of March.​

 

[Rotten]

Iron Defense

 

[InvisibleWater]

Curse

 

[Kabilapok]

Curse

 

[JTD783]

Rocky Helmet

 

[Katy]

curse

 

[nameless90]

Curse by RottenInfernape

 

[ReadTheMango]

Toxic + Bulldoze for sure

 

[HiddenPower23]

Curse

 

[Jeong]

Curse.

 

[VeryOaty89]

suicide lead

 

[VTMagno]

toxic + bulldoze

 

[Pro_Hybrid]

Curse Ferrothorn

 

[James2464]

Magnet Rise

 

[Ruft]

Alright, the voting phase is over! The winner of Cycle 11 is Curse by RottenInfernape who also happens to have been banned today. Congratulations, I guess. Your submission will be added to the Hall of Fame soon. Anyway, let's move on to the next cycle!

Cycle Twelve - Jirachi


So far, Jirachi has mostly been seen running a Choice Scarf set and sometimes a Calm Mind set with Substitute, as these two have done a good job at protecting it from Dugtrio. Fortunately for Jirachi, Arena Trap has been banned, which opens up a lot more sets for Jirachi to run. Iron Head flinching is far from the only thing Jirachi can do; its incredibly wide movepool consists of many interesting options just waiting to be used. Let's see what you've got!

Banned Sets
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The deadline is Friday 3rd Saturday 4th of March. Good luck!​

 

[Katy]

stealth rock + play rough


Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Play Rough

Play Rough irachi is able to take on one of the biggest threats in the current metagame Hydreigon very well as Play Rough has a chance to OHKO
Hydreigon and can kinda lure it in, especially the Choice Scarfed-Hydreigon. Jirachi can also take on Clefable with its STAB Iron Head and U-turn is for
maintaining the momentum. Due to its good typing Jirachi is always a good Stealth Rock-Setter and can set them up due to its fantastic speed-tier with
relative ease.

Calcs:

Hide

252 Atk Jirachi Play Rough vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 360-424 (110.7 - 130.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Jirachi Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Clefable: 282-332 (71.5 - 84.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Jirachi Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Hatterene: 170-204 (53.4 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Jirachi Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Kommo-o: 212-252 (59.8 - 71.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[Robot7620]

rocks wish rachi

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 88 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Wish
- Protect

desc

152 def lives flare blitz from offensive incin, 16 spe outspeeds max base 70s, rest are dumped into spdef
basically you get rocks + wishtect, similar to clefable pre-home except now you get a 60% flinch chance move as well.

 

[Rheumatoid]

Ruft pointed out to me earlier today that choice specs don't boost doom desire if Jirachi switches out, unfortunately. However, I do like the pressure doom desire generates, so I have been using the following set to some success:

Jirachi @ Expert Belt
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Doom Desire
- Psychic
- Thunder
- Grass Knot

First of all, a few calcs to show the type of damage this set does:

252+ SpA Jirachi Doom Desire vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 264-312 (83.2 - 98.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Expert Belt Jirachi Doom Desire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 389-461 (98.7 - 117%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Expert Belt Jirachi Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 240-283 (78.9 - 93%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ SpA Expert Belt Jirachi Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Kommo-o: 310-367 (87.5 - 103.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Expert Belt Jirachi Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 353-418 (109.2 - 129.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Expert Belt Jirachi Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Seismitoad: 485-571 (117.1 - 137.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Thunder also 2HKO's Corviknight, Mandibuzz, and Toxapex + has a 60% chance to para (when it hits lol)

Doom desire is very powerful for the pressure it creates; I pair this set with Rotom-H which can scare out the steel types and water types that the opponent wants to have take the doom desire, although as the calcs above show Jirachi can deal with some of those itself. It also pairs well with phazers like Hippowdon and Kommo-o which can force the opponent out into something that dies to doom desire. Additionally, since my team has a Dracovish, Grass Knot is very useful to take out Seismitoad, and it also deals a ton to Hippowdon. However, depending on your team needs, there are a ton of moves you can use besides Thunder and Grass Knot. Aura Sphere, U-turn, Healing Wish, and CM are all reasonably good options. Psychic is preferred over Psyshock since it deals significantly more damage to Toxapex, Conk, and Kommo-o.

Modest max speed is fast enough to outspend the Rotoms; since you're not trying to flinch anything to death, I think it's better to go modest and maximize your damage output. You could probably transfer some of the speed to bulk if you wanted. I tried the set with leftovers but I think the extra damage from Expert Belt is significantly more useful.

A few replays to show its uses:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1088776683 - Double to Jirachi on turn 6 on the obvious Seismitoad and then OHKO it with Grass Knot, opening the door for Dracovish. Then on turn 11, he can't switch to his Hydreigon because it would die to Fishious Rend + Doom Desire, meaning his Chandelure that threatened to break through my team has to die.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1088704526 - Jirachi puts his Hippowdon and Corviknight out of commission, opening the door for Excadrill and Dracovish to win. Also I would have won a lot faster if I had just overheated on turn 10...
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1088686028 - Jirachi takes out Ferrothorn and Toxapex, again taking away switch-ins to Dracovish.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1088684305 - Jirachi kills his only Dracovish switch-in turn 1
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1088591870 - Weakens Toxapex and kills Excadrill in the first 3 turns.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1088572682 - Hippowdon whirlwinds in Clef on the Doom Desire, bringing it really low.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1088885376 - Another game where the opponent's only answer to Dracovish (Seismitoad, as usual) gets taken out by Jirachi.

There were more games where Jirachi put in work and I didn't save the replay, but hopefully this demonstrates the power of this set and how it outputs a lot of pressure against all kinds of teams.

 

[ScottyAdams]

I call this "I Wish I was Mega Metagross" Jirachi.

Jirachi @ Life Orb
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch

Just a fun little set that has pretty good coverage against the tier and showcases Jirachi's options. Made in a similar vein to Mega Metagross's sets, which is why I'm using Meteor Mash over Iron head.

 

[nameless90]

Screener pivot Jirachi

Jirachi @ Light Clay
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Wish
- U-turn


General idea

I think that Jirachi can have a solid niche as a supporter with U-turn+Wish and the screens + Light Clay. Be wary of Taunt users because they are able to neuter almost all your moves.
Jirachi suffers a lot from the presence of Sand and Ghosts all around, but it is still a solid pokemon to work with thanks to its numerical bulk (100/100/100 defenses) and no 4x weaknesses.
8 turns of Screens are criminally underrated considering that you can use them alongside U-turn and Wish support.

EVs (spread) and item

A basic bulky and speedish EVs spread is perfect because you can have a big-enough Wish of 202 HP and a fastish U-turn and/or Screens to work with.
Light Clay is a "must have" because it extends considerably the durability of the screens.

Team(mates) support

This Jirachi is not self-sufficient by any means, so you need some partners to deal damage because it doesn't really have .

 

[BlueLobster]

Iron Defense CM

Jirachi @ Weakness Policy / Leftovers / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 184 HP / 172 Def / 96 SpA / 56 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power / Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam / Aura Sphere
- Iron Defense
- Calm Mind

This set is a bulky wincon designed to abuse physical attackers by getting up an iron defense to tank hits in order to create opportunities for CM boosts. The EV spread allows rachi to take a specs pult shadow ball at +0 and a LO adamant bish knock and sucker at +2, while outspeeding band vish (a good setup target). Stored power is a given on a set like this, allowing it to break anything that isn't dark with enough boosts (although psychic is an option if haze pex scares you, although idk why they'd go pex on rachi considering it loses to the standard cm set), while dazzling gleam hits darks. Alternatively, aura sphere can be used to hit bish and ttar better at the cost of worse pult and grimm matchups. Weakness policy is the item of choice to allow you to 1v1 darks and ghosts better (without it you take Ls to whichever mons you didn't run the correct coverage move for), although lefties or even sitrus (RIP pinch berries) are options for better fat matchups.

 

[ReadTheMango]

Jirachi @ Life Orb
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam / Thunder / Aura Sphere
- Grass Knot / Flash Cannon / Thunder

Calm Mind offensive Rachi is a menace.

In this metagame where base 100 speed is above average, Rachi is able to get off a calm mind or hit with a strong special attack off the bat with relative ease. Its wide special movepool makes it super customisable to your team. Need something to lure and kill Seismitoad? Grass Knot is the way. Need to kill Corvi, Mandi and Gyarados all in one? Thunder is strong and has a 60% chance to para the opponent if it connects. Don't need to kill anything specifically for your team? Strong STAB moves in Psychic/Flash Cannon or even the rare Doom Desire/Steel Meme. Do you hate yourself? Run Draco Meteor! The choice is yours.

With Duggy gone, this thing is more free to setup than ever with its stupid bulk and strong attacks. Here are some calcs running down the OU Viability Rankings from S to B for your viewing pleasure. These are all assuming you have the optimal move to lure and kill the target in question.

Offensive Calcs

Clef
252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 218-260 (55.3 - 65.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 330-390 (83.7 - 98.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Corvi
252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Thunder vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Corviknight: 218-257 (54.5 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO w/ SR and Lefties
252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Corviknight: 208-247 (52 - 61.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO w/ SR and Lefties
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Thunder vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Corviknight: 325-385 (81.2 - 96.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Corviknight: 312-369 (78 - 92.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Aegis
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Thunder vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Blade: 338-398 (129.5 - 152.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Dragapult
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 356-421 (112.3 - 132.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 302-356 (95.2 - 112.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Exca
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Aura Sphere vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Excadrill: 403-476 (111.6 - 131.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Hydrei
252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 411-489 (126.4 - 150.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Aura Sphere vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 309-364 (95 - 112%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Kommo-o
252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Kommo-o: 364-432 (102.8 - 122%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Kommo-o: 460-541 (129.9 - 152.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Rotom-H
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Psychic vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-Heat: 226-266 (74.5 - 87.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Toxapex
252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 237-281 (77.9 - 92.4%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 179-213 (58.8 - 70%) -- guaranteed 2HKO w/ SR and lefties
+1 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 351-416 (115.4 - 136.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Jirachi Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 359-424 (118 - 139.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Will work on this more later, but yeah

Ran out of time, but will mention that this thing is also really bulky even without hp and sp def investment. With 1 calm mind up, it really does well into special attacking switch ins as well.

 

[Red_Shaggy]

Jirachi @ Life Orb
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steel Beam
- Psychic
- Thunder
- Aura Sphere/Energy Ball/Healing Wish/whatever

Steel Beam off of modest is the special equivalent of almost 2 Iron Heads, and LO Steel Beam is equivalent to almost 2.5 Scarf Iron Heads. Psychic is a secondary STAB move that hits a lot for good damage. Thunder lets you beat Corviknight and Aegislash and has a 42% chance to paralyze factoring in misses. The last slot can be Aura Sphere to heavily damage Exca and beat Ferro, Energy Ball for Seismitoad, Healing Wish to bring a team member back to full, or practically anything in its movepool.

Feats:

• Survives Hydreigon's LO Dark Pulse and OHKOs back with Steel Beam after Rocks
• Survives Dragapult's Choice Specs Shadow Ball and OHKOs back with Steel Beam
• 2HKOs 252/252+ Corviknight with Thunder
• OHKOs 252/252+ Clef with Steel Beam in case it wants to try to pass Wish
• Beats Non-Boosting Item Zeraora 1v1 if Zeraora isn't carrying Knock Off
• Survives Terrakion's Choice Band EQ and obviously OHKOs back with psychic
• Does at least 85% to 252/4 Hippowdown with LO Steel Beam, KOing with some chip

Calcs as Proof

252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Jirachi: 330-393 (81.6 - 97.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Steel Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 296-348 (91 - 107%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Jirachi: 326-386 (80.6 - 95.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Steel Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 343-406 (108.2 - 128%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Corviknight: 229-270 (57.2 - 67.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Steel Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 421-499 (106.8 - 126.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zeraora: 208-247 (65.6 - 77.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Zeraora Plasma Fists vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Jirachi: 147-174 (36.3 - 43%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Jirachi: 324-382 (80.1 - 94.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 382-452 (118.2 - 139.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Steel Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Hippowdon: 355-419 (84.5 - 99.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

 

[analysis geek]

lurerachi (Jirachi) @ Life Orb
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 20 Atk / 252 SpA / 236 Spe
Mild/Modest Nature
- Fire Punch
- Iron Head/Ancient power
- Energy Ball
- Thunderbolt
Description
This is my lure rachi set. its pretty similar to the av celesteela i ran last gen. I decided to put jirachi's well rounded coverage and stats to use.
With the current set you can lure things like corviknight toxapex ferrothorn and seismitoad and Ko or 2hko them. ancient power is for rotom-heat so if you opt to use it put the evs in attack into speed. Stealth rock users are important to help this set secure koes.
Below are some calcs displaying lurerachi's usefulness:

calcs

252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Ancient Power vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-Heat: 148-177 (48.8 - 58.4%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 174-205 (57.2 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Energy Ball vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Seismitoad: 588-697 (142 - 168.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Corviknight: 190-224 (47.5 - 56%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
20 Atk Life Orb Jirachi Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 177-208 (50.2 - 59%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Life Orb Jirachi Fire Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 172-203 (48.8 - 57.6%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

 

[Martin]

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Iron Head
- U-turn / Thunder Wave

Jirachi is a fairly solid specially defensive Wish passer thanks to its good matchup vs a handful of common Pokemon including Kyurem and Clefable, and it benefits a lot from the removal of Dugtrio as it can now do its job more consistently. Thunder Wave is an especially good option as it means Pokemon like Dragapult and Hydreigon can’t switch in consistently, and it’s preferred over Body Slam because the Ground-types it was important against aren’t available yet and because Dragapult is not immune. The listed EVs put Jirachi 1 point faster than Adamant Dracovish, which is especially important because it weakens Fisheous Rend, allowing for much safer switch-ins to teammates when carrying U-turn. However, faster spreads that outpace Togekiss and max speed are also options, though you lose a lot of bulk which isn’t ideal vs stuff like Kyurem.