Project Next Best Thing | [Old]

[Meliodafu7]

Offensive Life Orb Clefable

Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Ice Beam / Thunder / Any Shit

This Clefable uses its insane movepool and is meant to be a lure for common stuff in OU like M-Scizor, Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and mainly, Heatran. Moonblast is STAB, Fire Blast over Flamethrower as it ensures the OHKO in Ferrothorn as well as the 2HKO in Celesteela after rocks. HP Ground is the main point of this set as it deals a shit ton of damage to Utility Heatran, and it have a chance to KO it after rocks. If Heatran isn't a concern, Ice Beam can be run to take on Gliscor and bulky variants of Zygarde such as SubCoil, while shitting on the broken WP DD set, as Ice Beam OHKOes it; also it hits Landorus-T harder than anything else. Thunder 2HKOes Toxapex after rocks, but anything else. IMO, HP Ground > All.
Also it still have some defensive utility such as checking M-Medicham, Zygarde, M-Lati@s and some variants of Landorus-T, so it still retain some of its main niche as a defensive mon.
4 Spe EV to outspeed opposing uninvested Clef and have a sweet 65% to 2HKO with Moonblast.
This set could pairs really well with CM Stored Power M-Latias, as it can take out many of its shared checks. Also, Gastrodon enjoys the fact of this set being able to take out Heatran, as it doesn't want to switch-in at all at the risk of Toxic. SD M-Scizor benefits of the profit of this sets taking out or weakening some of its best checks and counters. Finally, this sets needs rocks and/or Spikes as fuck, so shit like Ferrothorn, Stealth Rock Heatran and Greninja makes up for a great partners.

 

[Felixx]

Voting for Z-Heal Block Latios​

Calm Mind Fire and Ice Clefable

Pink Demon (Clefable) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Soft-Boiled​

• Basically Clefable becomes a really annoying win condition against a lot of Balance teams without Pex because FlameIce coverage is just dumb with CM, Ice Beam nets extra damage against Zygarde and wards off Gliscor, while Flamethrower stops M-Scizor and Kartana from SDing up on you, and prevents Ferro from stacking Spikes for free. Not having Moonblast honestly isn't that bad, it dosen't affect your match-up versus a lot of common threats, the only downside is that you don't have immediate firepower and need to set-up first, but this is Clefable we're talking about, set-up comes very easy to this mon anyways. It's still walled by Heatran however, so make sure to have good countermeasures for that.

Calcs

0 SpA Clefable Ice Beam vs. 244 HP / 152 SpD Gliscor: 264-312 (75 - 88.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
0 SpA Clefable Flamethrower vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Scizor-Mega: 248-292 (72.3 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Clefable Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Ferrothorn: 168-200 (47.7 - 56.8%) -- 33.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 0 SpA Clefable Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Ferrothorn: 248-296 (70.4 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[Dondyxd]

belly drum clef (this is my 69th post too)

Clefable @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 224 HP / 108 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt

first off s/o to Waszap he gave me this idea. since clef was a normal type in gen 1 it has a wild ass movepool and i guess it has belly drum in there somewhere for some reason. anyways this shit "beats" a bunch of common switch ins to clef lul like heatran, toxapex, ferrothorn (even though most variants of clef beat ferrothorn 1v1 but we'll gloss over that). clefable has great natural bulk so its gonna eat a lot of non super effective hits and therefore find a lot of opportunities to set up a belly drum, sitrus berry means that u stay at a serviceable amount of health after the drum, combined with drain punch this gives this dogshit clefable set a bit of recovery. drain punch at +6 ohkos most standard heatrans, ohkos the fuck out of ttar and is a 2hko on av magearna 99.6% of the time. knock off is good utility and fucks with switch ins like chansey although you beat that shit 1v1 anyways. zen headbutt ohkos standard pex but this is easily the most expendable moveslot so u can subsitute something like softboiled, wish, protect, rocks, even fucking ice punch for zygarde and landorus.
EVs to make sure you ohko heatran and outspeed adamant ttar, rest is dumped into hp to improve bulk

calcs

+6 108+ Atk Clefable Drain Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 181-213 (49.8 - 58.6%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO
+6 108+ Atk Clefable Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 386-456 (100 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 108+ Atk Clefable Zen Headbutt vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Toxapex: 300-354 (99 - 116.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Black Sludge recovery
+6 108+ Atk Clefable Drain Punch vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 748-884 (207.2 - 244.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

please dont take this one too seriously

 

[Derziks]

Clefable @ Salac Berry
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature / Timid
- Knock Off / Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Counter
- Healing Wish

Ok ok ok ok before you ask "what is this and how can one person ruin the Blob Queen herself in one stupid set?" let me just admit that this set is absolute garbage and should probably never see the light of day.

The idea here is pretty obvious - bluff a boring old unaware clef set by going for early disruption with the good ol' knock 'n' rock till something comes out to bonk you to oblivion. That's when you gettem with the good gottem and watch their HP bar fall. Megacham, Landorus, Victini, and pretty much anything else your normal clef set will check gets dropped by a well-timed Counter (and can sometimes nab their Z too depending on clef's HP) all while netting you a nice BOOSTO which can secure you some mid-late game rocks or rekindle a burnt out sweeper like Greninja with a Healing Wish. This could actually see some synergy on Venusaur-m or Latias-m balance or even a bulky offense team that will be taking hits in order to hit harder.

You can sub out Knock Off for Moonblast if you want to deal with Dragon/Dark/Fighting types with high HP more reliably (Zygarde, Tyranitar, etc). This spread lets you hit 330 speed after a boosto, beating out the 328s like Victini, Charizard and Mew and guarantee your Healing Wish or Rocks for the late game sweeperoni macaroni.

thx

 

[curiosity]

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam

With the recent resurgance of gliscor - one of clefable's best switch-ins - and the continuous rise of zygarde, clefable now finds a valid reason to run ice beam. Ice Beam not only prevents gliscor (and spdef zygarde) from setting up, as well as dealing more damage to the likes of zygarde, whilst annoying tapu bulu and tickling tangrowth. The freeze chance is also nice, especially for the likes of magearna and mega lati@s.

also, if it doesn't hurt, can you try to keep the sets viable? I'm all for creativity, but we are trying to find the next best thing.

 

[nameless90]

Z-Cosmic Power

Clefable @ Psychium Z
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Cosmic Power
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Stored Power


General idea
Clefable's problem is to have low stats that hold it back from tanking consistently on both sides of the spectrum, even with the aid of Leftovers, so it is prone to be prone down if hard pressed by your opponent.
A Z-boosted Cosmic Power allows you to gain a +1 on Def and +2 on SpD, so you are now able to tank special hits without relying on Leftovers, which are nice to have but they don't do miracles on their own. Keep in mind that this Clefable can survive 2 Flare Blitz in a row from a 252 Atk Mega Char-X without too much luck thanks that +1 Def. Also, the Z-Cosmic Power is Taunt-proof.
Softboiled is mandatory to keep Clefable at high HP; Moonblast is the STAB with a nice side effect.
Stored Power is the coverage move I picked because it is nice along with Cosmic Power and helps to get past some traditional checks with enough boosts.

Calcs:

Hide

0 Atk Ferrothorn Iron Head vs. +1 252 HP / 252 Def Clefable: 108-128 (27.4 - 32.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Flare Blitz vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 165-195 (41.8 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Celesteela Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 152-182 (38.5 - 46.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
136+ Atk Muk-Alola Poison Jab vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 134-158 (34 - 40.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 183-216 (46.4 - 54.8%) -- 62.1% chance to 2HKO but you outspeed Marowak. If you had already a +1 Def, you win 1 vs 1.
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 127-151 (32.2 - 38.3%) -- 96.7% chance to 3HKO


0 SpA Venusaur-Mega Sludge Bomb vs. +2 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 126-150 (31.9 - 38%) -- 94.4% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Hydro Pump vs. +2 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 166-196 (42.1 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
180 SpA Nihilego Sludge Wave vs. +2 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 158-188 (40.1 - 47.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Sludge Wave vs. +2 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 218-257 (55.3 - 65.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO, but you can soft check it
252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Fire Blast vs. +2 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable in Sun: 171-202 (43.4 - 51.2%) -- 6.6% chance to 2HKO

EVs spread and item
The EVs spread is the defensive one that you can find in the dex, but with 4 EVs in Spe to outspeed no invested Clefable in order to win mirror games 1 vs 1 with other Clefables.
The item is Psychium Z and allows Clefable to boost its Def and double boost its SpD at once, so now you are covered even on the other side of the spectrum. You can use it to have a one-time Psychic nuke if you feel it necessary.

Teammates support
Despite being pretty resilient, Clefable need some turns to be a threat and not forget that a critical hit can mess up anything.
This Clefable loves one free turn to set up a Z-boosted CP, so a slow U-turn/Volt Switch is appreciated. Thunder Wave support is always appreciated. Heatran can deal easily with many traditional check (i.e. SD Mega Scizor and set-up sweepers) and can use SR to allow Clefable to do a Z-SPower with ease. Nidoking hits really hard even after a +2 SpD; Clear Smog from Amoonguss is also a problem.

 

[Marigold]

CM Electrium Clefable

Treble Clef (Clefable) @ Electrium Z
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder

A more offensive, straightforward take on Clefable's calm mind set. This variation differentiates itself from other z-move sets (like psychium, which is also a good set) by being able to compress targeting celesteela, toxapex, and heatran to an extent into the same z move. You lose the ability to hit ferrothorn, but you set up on it cause gyro ball does 44-52, so you pp stall that.

calcs

+2 0 SpA Clefable Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 242-285 (62.6 - 73.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery*
+1 0 SpA Clefable Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 248 HP / 156 SpD Celesteela: 326-384 (82.1 - 96.7%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 0 SpA Clefable Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 214-254 (70.6 - 83.8%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock, 1 layer of Spikes, and Black Sludge recovery

*against Heatran, you cm as it switches in, and cm again as they magma storm. Bonus points if they miss, which gives you a third cm and lets you do this...

+3 0 SpA Clefable Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 302-356 (78.2 - 92.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock, 1 layer of Spikes, and Leftovers recovery

Pair this clefable with spike stack for maximum effectiveness, and that's honestly easy to do because clefable eases you from having to defog away your own hazards thanks to magic guard. Happy luring!

 

[matthewc20090]

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Sing

good night tran
good night celesteela
good night ferro
good night lele
good night moon

 

[curiosity]

don't worry don't dream it's over is still here
​

Thank you everyone for voting yet again! This week's winner (with a distinctive majority) is the Specs set by Eclipse ! Your submission will be added to the hall of fame shortly. For transparency, here are your votes:

Specs - III
Psychinium Z Heal Block - III
darkinium - I
dual screens - I

I forgot to give clef a NP whoops. Not to mention that this is one of the best songs period
​

Continuing with the theme of overwhelming amount of submissions from last week, the amount of interesting sets submitted this week was astounding, so I won't spend too much dwelling on an introduction. There is one thing i'd like to say however, and that is the abundance of sets that were both viable and creative. I believe this is one of the most diverse week we've had since garchomp!

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Thunder Wave Utility
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Jordy
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Flamethrower Utility
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Flame from Heaven
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Comic Power + Stored Power
=== by ===
1_TrickPhony
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Specially Defensive utility
=== by ===
Steel With It
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Offensive Life Orb
=== by ===
PrideMustang
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Calm Mind Flamethrower + Ice Beam
=== by ===
Felixx
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Belly Drum
=== by ===
Dondyxd
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Unaware Healing Wish
=== by ===
Derziks
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Ice Beam utility
=== by ===
better than hitler™
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Psychium Z Stored Power
=== by ===
nameless90
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Electrium Z Calm Mind
=== by ===
KuraiTenshi26

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Sing Clefable
=== by ===
matthewc20090
​

My vote will go to Psych Z Stored Power.

Deadline is on Sunday, AEST (GMT+10). Happy Voting!

Side note - there's been a recent issue with people not being able to follow the rules, so I just wanted a quick touch up of the rules.

The rule that people seem to be forgetting is that the purpose of your submitted set must be clear (aka obvious).
I've seen around 5-6 submissions now that have failed to follow this rule, whether it's in the form of having too many slashes or just being an assortment of random moves or items,
THEY ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE ENTRIES. Consider this the last formal warning.

 

[Jordy]

Fthrower utility

 

[nameless90]

Comic Power + Stored Power by 1_TrickPhony
because is similar to my own set, even though TrickPhony chooses the combination of Leftovers + regular Cosmic Power.
It is not bad by any means, but I feel that the set-up is too slow on the SpD (many special attackers in OU still beat a +1 SpD Clefable with Leftovers).

 

[Flame from Heaven]

T-Wave

 

[Felixx]

Sing Fable

 

[1_TrickPhony]

Comic Power + Stored Power by 1_TrickPhony
because is similar to my own set, even though TrickPhony chooses the combination of Leftovers + regular Cosmic Power.
It is not bad by any means, but I feel that the set-up is too slow on the SpD (many special attackers in OU still beat a +1 SpD Clefable with Leftovers).

Ill send my vote for psychium Z stored power. Love the idea that it cant be taunted.

Btw if you are worried about SpD wallbreakers, you can try the grassy seed secondary set I mentioned, which starts with a better SpD spread, while still having terrain recovery while setting up. It will usually survive things like specs lele or ash gren switch in.

 

[AssessTheThreat]

Voting for the psychium z stored power set because of its crazy amount of staying power and the fact that it can set up without worrying about taunt.

 

[curiosity]

Stay - David Bowie
​

thank you everyone for another great week! In another tight vote, this week's winner is Psychium Z + Stored Power by nameless90 ! Your submission will be added to the hall of fame shortly. For transparency, here are the votes:

Flamethrower Utility - I
Cosmic Power + Stored Power - I
Thunder Wave Utility - I
Sing Utility - I
Psychium Z + Stored Power - II

​

Everlong - Foo Fighters​

​

This week's case study is Greninja! Both Greninjas are undoubtedly metagame defining forces, which is reflected by the rise of 'mons such as Gastrodon, Assault Vest Magearna and Tapu Bulu. Both have the ability to pressure both offence and balance alike, thanks to a multitude of factors, including their incredibly strong stab, high offensive stabs and access to a wide arsenal of moves. Due to its amazing variety of moves, greninja can just about do anything, but can you find the next best thing?

here are the banned sets of the week

Deadline is on Saturday 17th of June.

Happy Posting!

 

[Flame from Heaven]

Z Dig Ninja

Greninja @ Groundium Z
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Dig
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot
- Spikes
Say hello to the greatest Toxapex and AV Magearna lure in history. This set is very hard to switch into for teams lacking Ferrothorn, Mega Scizor, or Mega Venu. This set pair sure well with mons like Specs Lele, Charizard Y, CM Mega Latias, and Blacephalon.
252 Atk Protean Greninja Tectonic Rage (160 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Toxapex: 290-344 (95.7 - 113.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery.

 

[Jordy]

Greninja-Ash (M) @ Darkinium Z / Waterium Z
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Work Up

This is a different spin to Ash Greninja that makes up for the loss of Choice Specs in favor of a z-move. Thanks to the outstanding amount of switches Ash Greninja can force it can use these switches to set up with Work Up, this gives Ash Greninja a much easier time transforming, without having to be Choice-locked.

 

[snorlax142857]

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Grass Knot
- Gunk Shot
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Extrasensory / Ice Beam

Lures and removes Gastrodon, which is rising in usage and used by many teams as their greninja check.

252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Gastrodon: 359-426 (84.4 - 100.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Guaranteed KO after minimal chip, otherwise a roll.

The rest of the set is pretty standard, last slot is customizable to deal with what ur team struggles against (hp fire for ferro/sciz, extrasensory for pex and venu, ice beam for dragons)

 

[wonnered]

Power-Up Punch Greninja

Greninja @ Groudium Z
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Ice Punch
- Dig​

The Moveset:

This Greninja really just wants to force some switches by bluffing the numerous other sets gren can run and then boost up. Power-Up Punch is the star of this set by providing +1 to guarantee OHKOs, with Z-Dig providing the ultimate lure set. Gunk Shot and Ice Punch provide pretty good coverage, hitting things like Bulu, Lando, and Zygarde. Ice Punch>Ice Beam because it better hits Zygarde at full investment and +1 and neutral damage on defensive Lando OHKO's after rocks. Finally Z-Dig is a nuke for things like Magearna, Heatran, and Toxapex to secure the OHKO. I toyed with fight-z with PUP, but I felt the coverage given with the already very known Z-Dig was more viable. Grass Knot can be run for Gastrodon over Dig if you run Z-Power-Up Punch.

Calcs

252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 312-372 (81.6 - 97.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 468-552 (122.5 - 144.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+1 252 Atk Protean Greninja Tectonic Rage (160 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 338-398 (111.5 - 131.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Black Sludge recovery

+1 252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Zygarde: 408-484 (97.1 - 115.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery

+1 252 Atk Protean Greninja Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 416-492 (105.5 - 124.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Protean Greninja Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Clefable: 278-330 (70.5 - 83.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Threats:

• Gren really does not appreciate things it can't just boost through with power-up punch into Z-Dig
• Mons that are beaten by Z-Dig can generally out play normal digs after your Z is burnt, so watch out for that.
• Things that outspeed Greninja can easily revenge kill. Webs or screens support would help gren clean.

All in all this was just a cool thing I built while procrastinating studying during finals week. Gren isn't meant to sweep, just lure usual checks to it's other sets and have the ability to clean late game after threats to it are gone. This is my first post on Smogon so I hope I didn't do too bad.

 

[itsjustaperplane]

Reserving Z Happy Hour

Greninja @ Normalium Z
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Happy Hour
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam​

This set of Greninja can be really threatening as a late-game sweeper after all its checks are KOed or weakened, Z-Happy Hour gives a +1 in every stats, which means it's only outspeed by Scarf Koko. The EV spread is self-explanatory. HP Fire mainly hits Ferrothorn and guarantee an OHKO on M-Mawile, Hydro Pump hits a lots of things for neutral/super-effectives damages like Charizard-X, Clefable or Heatran, Ice Beam hits Dragon-types and such as M-Lati@s, hits Grass-types harder than HP Fire and can OHKO Tornadus-T without SRs.

This is set paired well with Spikes and SRs user such as Ferrothorn, to weaken things for Greninja and help it to sweep.

 

[Geobody]

Power-Up Punch Greninja
View attachment 121349
Greninja @ Groudium Z
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Ice Punch
- Dig​

Running Ice Punch over Ice Beam loses out on a bunch of OHKOs especially if you are unboosted. Being a mixed threat is what allows Protean Greninja to function.

Calcs

Ice Punch
252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 188 HP / 0 Def Zygarde: 336-400 (83.1 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
-1 252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 204-244 (53.4 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 312-372 (81.6 - 97.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Garchomp: 300-352 (71.4 - 83.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Kartana: 79-94 (30.3 - 36.1%) -- 49.2% chance to 3HKO
+3 252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Kartana: 195-231 (75 - 88.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Gliscor: 328-388 (93.1 - 110.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Poison Heal
252 Atk Protean Greninja Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 162-192 (42.2 - 50.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Ice Beam
88 SpA Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 188 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 456-540 (112.8 - 133.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
88 SpA Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 520-616 (136.1 - 161.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
88 SpA Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 496-588 (118 - 140%) -- guaranteed OHKO
88 SpA Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Kartana: 261-307 (100.3 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO
88 SpA Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 244 HP / 152 SpD Gliscor: 460-544 (130.6 - 154.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
88 SpA Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 236-282 (61.6 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[nameless90]

Toxic Spikes Protean Greninja

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Ice Beam
- Extrasensory
- Hydro Pump

General idea
Toxic Spikes are generally inferior to their counterpart (regular Spikes) because a Poison type can enter and absorb them.
What I really want to underline is that 12% poison timer with a single layer of TSpikes, which is already huge towards HO teams and towards stall teams you can choose to lay down two layers in order to cast a Toxic onto the opposite team.
Defensively speaking, this status move allows Greninja to become a Poison-type pokemon, so it resists Grass, Fairy, Bug and Fighting moves, all moves that generally are supereffective towards Greninja.
The best part of Toxic Spikes is that they attract Poison pokemons such as. Toxapex, Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur, so you have the chance to hit them with Extrasensory or Ice Beam with little prediction.

EVs (spread) and item
The EVs spread is a standard offensive one. The item is a classic Life Orb in order to achieve some KOs or 2HKOs, which would be otherwise impossible.

Team(mates) support
Gravity support from Landorus-T is always nice because many Flying-types and Levitate users are worn down badly by poison (regular or not).
Tapu Fini is a problem but it doesn't have reliable recovery, so you are able to pressure it easily. A way to deal with Steels is mandatory (i.e. Scarf Magnezone).


Calcs:

Hide

252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 164-195 (54.1 - 64.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 248 HP / 156+ SpD Venusaur-Mega: 198-237 (54.5 - 65.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 315-374 (97.5 - 115.7%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 0 HP / 80 SpD Nihilego: 218-257 (60.7 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Gengar: 369-437 (140.8 - 166.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Heracross-Mega: 281-330 (93 - 109.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 315-374 (97.5 - 115.7%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Qwilfish: 463-549 (170.8 - 202.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Scolipede: 393-463 (150.5 - 177.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 216+ SpD Amoonguss: 281-330 (65.1 - 76.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Kartana: 391-461 (150.3 - 177.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[wonnered]

Running Ice Punch over Ice Beam loses out on a bunch of OHKOs especially if you are unboosted. Being a mixed threat is what allows Protean Greninja to function.

I know that's what a regular protean greninja would want to do, but the power up punch just lets it hit hardest from the physical side, as well as allowing it to not miss out on OHKO's on even max defense zygarde and defensive landorus with rocks up.

 

[Mellow]

Greninja-Ash (M) @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Taunt

This set is meant to punish teams that use Toxapex / Gastro as their Gren answer. With Taunt, Greninja blocks the two from Toxicing it, meaning Pex can't touch it and Gastro usually 3HKOs. Gren retaliates by spamming Pulse and taking them out with the Z when they're in range. Spikes is probably better in most cases but I didn't like the other set I reserved (Psychium) since Gastro is too prominent and this set is interesting.

calcs

252 SpA Greninja-Ash Black Hole Eclipse (160 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 166-196 (54.7 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 SpA Greninja-Ash Black Hole Eclipse (160 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Gastrodon: 241-285 (56.7 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery