[OVERVIEW]
Despite being outclassed by most Grass-types in the metagame, Petilil's access to Healing Wish, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, and Chlorophyll makes Petilil a good addition to sun teams as a Healing Wish user and reliable check to Water-, Electric-, and Ground-types. Its access to Sleep Powder means Petilil frees a moveslot for Bellsprout, and Healing Wish allows Petilil to rejuvenate a weakened team member without losing momentum in the battle. However, Petilil lacks coverage and relies on Hidden Power to damage its common checks such as Foongus and Vullaby, though it can neutralize incoming Fire-types with Sleep Powder and Stun Spore. Petilil also shares weaknesses to Fire, Flying, and Ice with Chlorophyll users such as Bellsprout, Bulbasaur and Deerling, making the team struggle somewhat against these shared threats if it does not have proper checks to them. Since Petilil is outclassed by other Grass-types, its's usage is restricted to sun teams, where it supports Vulpix and other Chlorophyll sweepers such as Bellsprout quite reliably.
[SET]
name: Sun Support
move 1: Giga Drain / Solar Beam
move 2: Sleep Powder
move 3: Healing Wish
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice / Stun Spore
item: Eviolite
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Timid
evs: 120 Def / 120 SpA / 36 SpD / 200 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Giga Drain allows Petilil to recover half of the damage dealt as health and is Petilil's preferred STAB move. However, Solar Beam is a far more offensive choice as it OHKOes almost all Pokemon weak to Grass and deals significant damage to neutral foes. Despite not having the pinpoint accuracy of Foongus's Spore, Sleep Powder still hits most of the time and allows Petilil to put a foe to sleep for a few turns. Healing Wish lets Petilil sacrifice itself to cure a team member of status and restore them back to full health. Hidden Power Fire gets a slight boost in damage under sun and allows Petilil to 2HKO a large portion of its checks, such as Snover, Ferroseed, and Foongus after Stealth Rock damage. On the other hand, Hidden Power Ice is Petilil's only coverage for Vullaby, which is immune to powder moves, and 2HKOes after its Eviolite has been knocked off and after Stealth Rock damage. Hidden Power Ice can also potentially 2HKO the rest of Petilil's Grass-type checks apart from Snover and Ferroseed. Stun Spore is a good choice for a secondary status move once Sleep Cause is in effect to paralyze fast Pokemon or ones with Vital Spirit or Insomnia.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread and nature along with Eviolite allow Petilil at full health to survive an Acrobatics from Fletchling, Sludge Bomb or Sludge Wave from Croagunk, Brave Bird from defensive Vulalby, or Sludge Bomb from Foongus to ensure the use of Healing Wish. The bulk also lets Petilil check Water-, Electric- and Ground-types more efficiently. Petilil's maximum unboosted Speed of 13 is doubled to 26 under the sun courtesy of its ability Chlorophyll, which allows Petilil to outspeed Choice Scarf Pokemon with 17 Speed.
Usage Tips
========
Sun is mandatory, as Petilil outspeeds the unboosted metagame and has a better offensive presence under the sun. Setting up sun before Petilil switches in can also allow it to Speed tie with +2 Shell Smash Sweepers such as Omanyte and Shellder and outspeed Clamperl and Tirtouga to revenge kill them. Petilil should never be left in against foes that threatens a potential OHKO, such as Fletchling, Ponyta and Skrelp. Petilil will perform best when faced with Pokemon that have a significant weakness to Grass-types, such as Water-, Electric-, and Ground-types, but be careful of potential coverage moves such as Ice Beam on Chinchou. Healing Wish should be used when Petilil is low on health to make full use of Petilil's longevity, or could be used as a strategy to bring a teammate safely into the battle, even if they are healthy.
Team Options
========
Vulpix and an additional Chlorophyll sweeper are mandatory teammates as they both gain quite a lot from Petilil's presence; Petilil compliments Vulpix by resisting its weakness to Ground and Water and helps two of the most used Chlorophyll sweepers in Bellsprout and Bulbasaur by allowing them to run another move over Sleep Powder. Furthermore, since both Bellsprout and Bulbasaur can get weakened by Life Orb recoil and resisted priority attacks or might get statused by moves like Thunder Wave, they appreciate Petilil healing them completely with the use of Healing Wish so they can continue to fulfill their roles without hesitation. Flying- and Fire- type checks such as Chinchou, Onix, Tirtouga, and Omanyte make good teammates, as Petilil has trouble handling them. Checks to Ice- and Poison-types such as Pawniard and Magnemite are also good teammates. Stealth Rock and Knock off users are handy for weakening Vullaby and Foongus to allow Petilil to get a potential KO on them.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Despite Petilil's lack of coverage, a set with Growth and Life Orb can be used, but it is outclassed by Bulbasaur, Cherubi, and Bellsprout. Heal Bell can also be run to cure the entire team of status. A bulkier set with Synthesis could be used, but due to its lack of moveslots and proper coverage, Petilil can't make proper use of its longevity. A Substitute + Leech Seed set is a possibility, but it renders Petlilil very passive and also is outclassed by the likes of Cottonee and Ferroseed. Petilil can also run Sunny Day in its fourth moveslot to function as an additional sun setter.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-types**: Most of the metagame's Flying-types resist Petilil's STAB moves and can outspeed it and KO it with their super effective STAB moves. Fletchling tops the list of checks, as its Acrobatics threatens Petilil with a priority OHKO. Drifloon can come in and set up a Subtitute on Petilil.
**Fire-types**: Most Fire-types such as Ponyta, Larvesta, Magby, Houndour, Vulpix, and Torchic threaten to OHKO Petilil after Stealth Rock damage.
**Poison-types**: Hard-hitting Poison-types such as Gastly, Croagunk, and Skrelp can almost certainly OHKO Petilil.
**Ice-types**: Snover and Amaura are immense threats to Petilil, as they can get rid of the sun and make Petilil much easier to revenge kill with their STAB Ice moves. Pokemon that carry Ice-type moves as coverage, such as Omanyte, Shellder, and Chinchou, can also pose a threat.
**U-turn**: One of the major downfalls of using Petilil is that it needs to be very wary of U-turn, a move that a lot of the Pokemon in the metagame run as filler, mainly Larvesta whose STAB U-turn can severely damage Petilil. Others such as Mienfoo, Bunnelby, Vullaby, and any other Pokemon that gets access to U-turn should be treated with much caution.
Despite being outclassed by most Grass-types in the metagame, Petilil's access to Healing Wish, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, and Chlorophyll makes Petilil a good addition to sun teams as a Healing Wish user and reliable check to Water-, Electric-, and Ground-types. Its access to Sleep Powder means Petilil frees a moveslot for Bellsprout, and Healing Wish allows Petilil to rejuvenate a weakened team member without losing momentum in the battle. However, Petilil lacks coverage and relies on Hidden Power to damage its common checks such as Foongus and Vullaby, though it can neutralize incoming Fire-types with Sleep Powder and Stun Spore. Petilil also shares weaknesses to Fire, Flying, and Ice with Chlorophyll users such as Bellsprout, Bulbasaur and Deerling, making the team struggle somewhat against these shared threats if it does not have proper checks to them. Since Petilil is outclassed by other Grass-types, its's usage is restricted to sun teams, where it supports Vulpix and other Chlorophyll sweepers such as Bellsprout quite reliably.
[SET]
name: Sun Support
move 1: Giga Drain / Solar Beam
move 2: Sleep Powder
move 3: Healing Wish
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice / Stun Spore
item: Eviolite
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Timid
evs: 120 Def / 120 SpA / 36 SpD / 200 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Giga Drain allows Petilil to recover half of the damage dealt as health and is Petilil's preferred STAB move. However, Solar Beam is a far more offensive choice as it OHKOes almost all Pokemon weak to Grass and deals significant damage to neutral foes. Despite not having the pinpoint accuracy of Foongus's Spore, Sleep Powder still hits most of the time and allows Petilil to put a foe to sleep for a few turns. Healing Wish lets Petilil sacrifice itself to cure a team member of status and restore them back to full health. Hidden Power Fire gets a slight boost in damage under sun and allows Petilil to 2HKO a large portion of its checks, such as Snover, Ferroseed, and Foongus after Stealth Rock damage. On the other hand, Hidden Power Ice is Petilil's only coverage for Vullaby, which is immune to powder moves, and 2HKOes after its Eviolite has been knocked off and after Stealth Rock damage. Hidden Power Ice can also potentially 2HKO the rest of Petilil's Grass-type checks apart from Snover and Ferroseed. Stun Spore is a good choice for a secondary status move once Sleep Cause is in effect to paralyze fast Pokemon or ones with Vital Spirit or Insomnia.
Set Details
========
The given EV spread and nature along with Eviolite allow Petilil at full health to survive an Acrobatics from Fletchling, Sludge Bomb or Sludge Wave from Croagunk, Brave Bird from defensive Vulalby, or Sludge Bomb from Foongus to ensure the use of Healing Wish. The bulk also lets Petilil check Water-, Electric- and Ground-types more efficiently. Petilil's maximum unboosted Speed of 13 is doubled to 26 under the sun courtesy of its ability Chlorophyll, which allows Petilil to outspeed Choice Scarf Pokemon with 17 Speed.
Usage Tips
========
Sun is mandatory, as Petilil outspeeds the unboosted metagame and has a better offensive presence under the sun. Setting up sun before Petilil switches in can also allow it to Speed tie with +2 Shell Smash Sweepers such as Omanyte and Shellder and outspeed Clamperl and Tirtouga to revenge kill them. Petilil should never be left in against foes that threatens a potential OHKO, such as Fletchling, Ponyta and Skrelp. Petilil will perform best when faced with Pokemon that have a significant weakness to Grass-types, such as Water-, Electric-, and Ground-types, but be careful of potential coverage moves such as Ice Beam on Chinchou. Healing Wish should be used when Petilil is low on health to make full use of Petilil's longevity, or could be used as a strategy to bring a teammate safely into the battle, even if they are healthy.
Team Options
========
Vulpix and an additional Chlorophyll sweeper are mandatory teammates as they both gain quite a lot from Petilil's presence; Petilil compliments Vulpix by resisting its weakness to Ground and Water and helps two of the most used Chlorophyll sweepers in Bellsprout and Bulbasaur by allowing them to run another move over Sleep Powder. Furthermore, since both Bellsprout and Bulbasaur can get weakened by Life Orb recoil and resisted priority attacks or might get statused by moves like Thunder Wave, they appreciate Petilil healing them completely with the use of Healing Wish so they can continue to fulfill their roles without hesitation. Flying- and Fire- type checks such as Chinchou, Onix, Tirtouga, and Omanyte make good teammates, as Petilil has trouble handling them. Checks to Ice- and Poison-types such as Pawniard and Magnemite are also good teammates. Stealth Rock and Knock off users are handy for weakening Vullaby and Foongus to allow Petilil to get a potential KO on them.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Despite Petilil's lack of coverage, a set with Growth and Life Orb can be used, but it is outclassed by Bulbasaur, Cherubi, and Bellsprout. Heal Bell can also be run to cure the entire team of status. A bulkier set with Synthesis could be used, but due to its lack of moveslots and proper coverage, Petilil can't make proper use of its longevity. A Substitute + Leech Seed set is a possibility, but it renders Petlilil very passive and also is outclassed by the likes of Cottonee and Ferroseed. Petilil can also run Sunny Day in its fourth moveslot to function as an additional sun setter.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-types**: Most of the metagame's Flying-types resist Petilil's STAB moves and can outspeed it and KO it with their super effective STAB moves. Fletchling tops the list of checks, as its Acrobatics threatens Petilil with a priority OHKO. Drifloon can come in and set up a Subtitute on Petilil.
**Fire-types**: Most Fire-types such as Ponyta, Larvesta, Magby, Houndour, Vulpix, and Torchic threaten to OHKO Petilil after Stealth Rock damage.
**Poison-types**: Hard-hitting Poison-types such as Gastly, Croagunk, and Skrelp can almost certainly OHKO Petilil.
**Ice-types**: Snover and Amaura are immense threats to Petilil, as they can get rid of the sun and make Petilil much easier to revenge kill with their STAB Ice moves. Pokemon that carry Ice-type moves as coverage, such as Omanyte, Shellder, and Chinchou, can also pose a threat.
**U-turn**: One of the major downfalls of using Petilil is that it needs to be very wary of U-turn, a move that a lot of the Pokemon in the metagame run as filler, mainly Larvesta whose STAB U-turn can severely damage Petilil. Others such as Mienfoo, Bunnelby, Vullaby, and any other Pokemon that gets access to U-turn should be treated with much caution.
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