Garrett
Banned deucer.
[Overview]
Palkia is a strong Ubers wallbreaker with fantastic type coverage to do its primary goal of offensively checking Kyogre while being able to threaten out many typical defensive walls in the tier. Palkia commonly takes advantage of Kyogre's rain when switching into it, appreciating a Rain boosted Water coverage move of choice and a 100% accurate Thunder for paralysis spam. Despite these factors working in Palkia's favor, Palkia very often wishes it could have an extra spot on its moveset, as it often finds having to choose between a move that optimally punishes just one of Blissey and Ferrothorn. As such, Palkia is typically handled by first scouting particular coverage moves and then switching in to a known counter.
[SET]
name: Assault Vest Pivot
move 1: Surf / Hydro Pump
move 2: Spacial Rend
move 3: Thunder
move 4: Focus Punch / Fire Blast
item: Assault Vest
ability: Pressure
nature: Hasty / Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Palkia relies on either of Surf or Hydro Pump and also Special Rend for general STAB coverage. The former allows a more accurate damage STAB, while Hydro Pump ensures a 2HKO on standard Yveltal sets. Thunder allows Palkia to hit Kyogre and Yveltal the strongest and attempt to spread Paralysis, often under Rain to boost Thunder's accuracy. The last slot is either put as Focus Punch to punish Blissey switching in to sponge a special hit, or Fire Blast to punish Ferrothorn that resists the other three of Palkia's moves. Max speed investment on Palkia allows it to barely creep enough base 99s in Yveltal and Xerneas.
Palkia running an Assault Vest threatens to live a Dynamax Cannon from Eternatus to either KO it or live it at very low HP after such an exchange. For this reason, good partners for Palkia include those that have trouble breaking through Eternatus and are weak to Kyogre in general. Yveltal is a great example of a synergistic partner, offering U-Turn support to help Palkia switch in to break while appreciating Palkia's ability to take on the Kyogre that forces Yveltal out after, for example, using Defog or Roost. Similar typical partners include Necrozma-DM and Tangrowth. Other good partners, such as Groudon or Zygarde,
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Draco Meteor can be run over Special Rend to punish specially defensive Eternatus harder, but such is more prediction reliant. Furthermore, depending on the Eternatus spread, Draco Meteor is not a guaranteed KO. Lustrous Orb over Assault Vest can also be considered for more power on Draco Meteor, but this leaves Palkia significantly weaker to Eternatus' own Dragon coverage.
Additionally, a Leftovers set with at least 308 Speed for maximally invested base 90s such as Kyogre and Groudon is an interesting option for recovery on Palkia. This can be on a Rest + Sleep Talk set for longevity against Kyogre, or an offensive pivot such as the one detailed in the above set.
Checks and Counters
====
Special Walls: Palkia's fourth move coverage dictates whether it is more resilient against Blissey or Ferrothorn. This also means that the one Palkia does not have coverage for often is a great counter to it. Also, if Palkia chooses Focus Punch over Fire Blast, then Shedinja forever counters Palkia.
Fairy Breakers: Zacian-H and Xerneas threaten Palkia out with strong Fairy coverage.
Dragon Breakers: Offensive Eternatus, Dialga, and Naganadel all threaten strong Dragon moves to take Palkia out.
Hazards: Palkia has no natural resistances to hazards, and loses an important speed tier to Sticky Web, making it more suspectible to base 90 breakers it often seeks to check.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[BasedWhat?, 528667]]
- Quality checked by: [[Manaphy, 50695], [Minority, 222996]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]
Palkia is a strong Ubers wallbreaker with fantastic type coverage to do its primary goal of offensively checking Kyogre while being able to threaten out many typical defensive walls in the tier. Palkia commonly takes advantage of Kyogre's rain when switching into it, appreciating a Rain boosted Water coverage move of choice and a 100% accurate Thunder for paralysis spam. Despite these factors working in Palkia's favor, Palkia very often wishes it could have an extra spot on its moveset, as it often finds having to choose between a move that optimally punishes just one of Blissey and Ferrothorn. As such, Palkia is typically handled by first scouting particular coverage moves and then switching in to a known counter.
[SET]
name: Assault Vest Pivot
move 1: Surf / Hydro Pump
move 2: Spacial Rend
move 3: Thunder
move 4: Focus Punch / Fire Blast
item: Assault Vest
ability: Pressure
nature: Hasty / Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Palkia relies on either of Surf or Hydro Pump and also Special Rend for general STAB coverage. The former allows a more accurate damage STAB, while Hydro Pump ensures a 2HKO on standard Yveltal sets. Thunder allows Palkia to hit Kyogre and Yveltal the strongest and attempt to spread Paralysis, often under Rain to boost Thunder's accuracy. The last slot is either put as Focus Punch to punish Blissey switching in to sponge a special hit, or Fire Blast to punish Ferrothorn that resists the other three of Palkia's moves. Max speed investment on Palkia allows it to barely creep enough base 99s in Yveltal and Xerneas.
Palkia running an Assault Vest threatens to live a Dynamax Cannon from Eternatus to either KO it or live it at very low HP after such an exchange. For this reason, good partners for Palkia include those that have trouble breaking through Eternatus and are weak to Kyogre in general. Yveltal is a great example of a synergistic partner, offering U-Turn support to help Palkia switch in to break while appreciating Palkia's ability to take on the Kyogre that forces Yveltal out after, for example, using Defog or Roost. Similar typical partners include Necrozma-DM and Tangrowth. Other good partners, such as Groudon or Zygarde,
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Draco Meteor can be run over Special Rend to punish specially defensive Eternatus harder, but such is more prediction reliant. Furthermore, depending on the Eternatus spread, Draco Meteor is not a guaranteed KO. Lustrous Orb over Assault Vest can also be considered for more power on Draco Meteor, but this leaves Palkia significantly weaker to Eternatus' own Dragon coverage.
Additionally, a Leftovers set with at least 308 Speed for maximally invested base 90s such as Kyogre and Groudon is an interesting option for recovery on Palkia. This can be on a Rest + Sleep Talk set for longevity against Kyogre, or an offensive pivot such as the one detailed in the above set.
Checks and Counters
====
Special Walls: Palkia's fourth move coverage dictates whether it is more resilient against Blissey or Ferrothorn. This also means that the one Palkia does not have coverage for often is a great counter to it. Also, if Palkia chooses Focus Punch over Fire Blast, then Shedinja forever counters Palkia.
Fairy Breakers: Zacian-H and Xerneas threaten Palkia out with strong Fairy coverage.
Dragon Breakers: Offensive Eternatus, Dialga, and Naganadel all threaten strong Dragon moves to take Palkia out.
Hazards: Palkia has no natural resistances to hazards, and loses an important speed tier to Sticky Web, making it more suspectible to base 90 breakers it often seeks to check.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[BasedWhat?, 528667]]
- Quality checked by: [[Manaphy, 50695], [Minority, 222996]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]
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