Palkia [GP: 0/2]

[Garrett]

[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]

 

[Manaphy]

mike stronta here

QC 1/2

 

[Minority]

In the overview I would add a point that Palkia doesn't really do much other than check Kyogre (no status immunes, no hazard immunes, no key resists outside of Water and Fire), and therefore faces steep competition with Eternatus, which does that and much more.

In the first paragraph of set comments please briefly describe the merit of Hydro Pump, as in, what concrete benchmark or useful damage pressing does it accomplish. This is important to know to justify the potential of missing.

In the second paragraph of set comments I want to see at least one sentence talking about how and why teams structure themselves with Palkia, as in, what kind of cores / archetypes would pick Palkia over Eternatus and why.

Checks and counters should be: Blissey, Ferrothorn, Shedinja, Fairy-types (list all the relevant ones that can beat or 1v1 Palkia), Offensive Dragon-types (list all the relevant ones), revenge-killers (basically strong stuff that OHKOs or nearly OHKOs Palkia and outspeeds it), and hazards (limits Palkia's ability to check Kyogre over time, and Sticky Web's impact is obvious).

Also make sure everything is written into prose rather than bullets before putting this into GP.

Implement all these and this is:

QC: 2/2

 

[aurora]

shouldn't hasty be slashed before timid if focus punch is the primary fourth slot move

 

[Adeleine]

Add/Fix Remove Comment
(AC)/(RC): Add/Remove Comma

Hide

[Overview]

Palkia is a strong Ubers wallbreaker with fantastic type coverage to do its primary goal task of offensively checking Kyogre while being able to threaten out many typical defensive threatening out many typical 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 rain-boosted STAB move 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. to spam for paralysis. However, it has choose between handling Blissey or Ferrothorn with its fourth move. This lets opponents scout its coverage and switch into a known counter. Additionally, outside of checking Kyogre, Palkia is largely outshined by Eternatus. (last sentence seemed to be missed from Minority's qc check; tagging in case it shouldn't be here or should somehow be changed)

[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, Surf is a more accurate primary move, 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 its accuracy. The last slot is either put as move is either Focus Punch to punish Blissey switching in to sponge a special hit (RC) or Fire Blast to punish Ferrothorn, (AC) that resists the other three of Palkia's moves. Max speed investment on Palkia allows it to barely creep enough base 99s in which resists Palkia's other three moves. Maximum Speed investment allows Palkia to barely outspeed Yveltal and Xerneas.

Palkia running an Assault Vest threatens to live Assault Vest helps Palkia take hits from Kyogre and other special attackers to nail them with its coverage or force them out to pivot its teammates in. It can survive (I imagine the first sentence makes sense, given "Assault Vest Pivot"? ofc change if appropriate) a Dynamax Cannon from Eternatus to either KO it or live it at very low HP after such an exchange. leave it at very low HP. 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, (AC) 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. as it appreciates Palkia taking on Kyogre switching into its Defog or Roost, and its U-turn helps Palkia switch in to wallbreak. Similar typical partners include Necrozma-DM and Tangrowth. Other good partners, such as Groudon or and Zygarde, (looks like this sentence got cut off. pls finish as appropriate)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====

Draco Meteor can be run over Special Rend to punish specially defensive Eternatus harder, but such it 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's own Dragon coverage. Dragon-type attacks.

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. is an interesting option with a Speed-boosting nature and at least 176 Speed EVs, which outspeeds maximally invested base 90s such as Kyogre and Groudon. This can be on a Rest + Sleep Talk set for longevity against Kyogre (RC) or an offensive pivot such as the one detailed in set similar to 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 Depending on Palkia's fourth move, either Blissey or Ferrothorn (I wasn't sure what "more resilient" meant in context; if i missed important information, just clarify a bit what you mean) is a great counter to it. Also, if Palkia chooses Focus Punch over Fire Blast, then Shedinja forever counters Palkia. it.

Fairy Breakers: Zacian-H and Xerneas threaten **Xerneas**: Xerneas threatens (bc zacian is banned) Palkia out with strong Fairy coverage. Fairy-type attacks.

Dragon Breakers: **Dragon-type Wallbreakers**: Offensive Eternatus, Dialga, and Naganadel all threaten strong Dragon-type moves to take Palkia out.

**Entry Hazards**: Palkia has no natural resistances to hazards, and loses an important speed tier to Sticky Web, making is vulnerable to all hazards and loses important Speed to Sticky Web, which makes it more suspectible to susceptible to Kyogre and other base 90 Speed wallbreakers it often seeks to check.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[BasedWhat?, 528667]]
- Quality checked by: [[Manaphy, 50695], [Minority, 222996]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [username2, userid2]

implement and then i'll give a quick run-through before stamping. lmk (you or minority/etc) lmk if any content changes should be reverted or changed further, esp the last overview sentence, the av sentence in set comments, and the incomplete sentence

 

[Fc]

This analysis needs a fairly large amount of updating and Basedwhat both hasn't expressed much interest in it and hasn't logged on in a few weeks, so as it basically needs new sets Lasen will be taking this over from this outline but with new sets, shelving this.