Pinsir (Analysis) [QC 3/3]

[Diana]

Pinsir

Status: QC Approved, now to wait until January.
QC Checks: Omicron, Zebraiken, Ice-eyes


[Overview]

-Amazing Attack stat held back by average Speed
-Decent movepool grants it good coverage
-Has trouble damaging some common Pokemon
-Not the best NU Pokemon but a very solid choice for any team

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Earthquake / Close Combat
item: Life Orb
ability: Mold Breaker / Hyper Cutter
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

-Swords Dance boosts Pinsir's Attack to sky-high levels, allowing it to break through slower opponents
-X-Scissor is solid STAB
-Stone Edge does major damage to Flying-types
-Earthquake for Eelektross, Magneton, and reliability on Fire-types, Close Combat for a bit of extra power. Both work nicely against Rhydon and Regirock after the Swords Dance boost so it's mostly personal preference

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

-Faster Pokemon need to be dealt with before sweeping. Swellow, Scolipede, Scarf users and such
-Rhydon deals with Swellow and Scolipede nicely
-Absol can bypass Scarf users with Sucker Punch and can switch in easily on Gardevoir. It also handles Misdreavus nicely if it manages to avoid a status move.
-Works well with fast teammates to clean up after Pinsir breaks down opposing walls. Scolipede and Swellow themselves actually are solid teammates themselves because of this

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: X-Scissor
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Close Combat
item: Choice Band
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

-Choice Band is a good option on Pinsir for immediately firing off powerful moves without taking a turn to Swords Dance
-X-Scissor is standard STAB
-Stone Edge for Flying-types
-Earthquake for Eelektross, Magneton, and Fire-types
-Close Combat hits Rhydon, Regirock, and Klinklang

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

-Jolly outspeeds quite a few important things but this set's aim is just to hit really hard then switch out
-Paralysis support from the likes of Eelektross and Tangela is helpful but not necessary
-Typical suspects for teammates: Rhydon, Swellow, Slowking, Absol, and Torterra all work here for reasons stated in other sets

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: X-Scissor
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Close Combat / Knock Off
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe


[SET COMMENTS]


-Pinsir remedies its average Speed by using a Choice Scarf
-Outspeeds important opponents such as Swellow and +1 Altaria and Gardevoir
-X-Scissor is a solid STAB that hits threats such as Exeggutor, Mesprit, and Gardevoir super effectively
-Stone Edge provides solid coverage on Flying-types that trouble Pinsir
-Earthquake is a good option for Fire-, Steel-, and Rock-types that can take X-Scissor
-Close Combat deals a bit more damage to most Steel- and Rock-types than Earthquake, and the defense-lowering side effect isn't too bad since this set switches a lot. Alternatively, Knock Off is an option as it can remove Eviolite from the many NFE Pokemon in the tier


[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]


-Teammates that enjoy having a way of revenge-killing Psychic-types work well with Pinsir
-Emboar and Throh are good examples of these
-Pinsir really doesn't like Fire-types, Flying-types, Rhydon, and Regirock so teammates to help with these are important
-Slowking is a good switch into Fire-types and can threaten with Scald and is able to heal itself
-Klinklang and Magneton both handle Flying-types, as do Rhydon and Regirock
-Torterra is a great switch-in to Rhydon and Regirock and threatens back with Wood Hammer and Earthquake
-Rapid Spin support can also be helpful. Wartortle is a solid choice for this as it can actually help against Rock- and Fire-types

[Other Options]

-Stealth Rock is typically better left to other Pokemon, however it is a decent lead that really ruins Mesprit.
-Quick Attack is quite weak, but could be useful to pick off a faster Pokemon such as a weakened Swellow
-Flail needs a ton of support, but is quite deadly if pulled off well
-Toxic is nice for softening bulky Pokemon, mostly Rhydon and Regirock

[Checks and Counters]

-Misdreavus takes any move Pinsir can dish out easily, thanks to its Ghost typing and good bulk with Eviolite.
-Rhydon and Regirock can take Earthquake and Close Combat if needed and hit back with Stone Edge. Neither like Toxic, however, and both should watch out for Swords Dance and Choice Band sets
-Swellow can revenge kill versions without a Choice Scarf
-Pokemon that resist a move on the Choice Scarf version that can hit back hard work as decent checks. Sawk, Magmortar, and Klinklang all fit this definition
-Rapid Spin support can also be helpful. Wartortle is a solid choice for this as it can actually help against Rock-types

[Dream World]

-Moxie is Pinsir's Dream World ability
-It's quite useful on Pinsir, and if not using Mold Breaker with Earthquake, is a very good choice

 

[Rakan]

Get rid of Toxic on the Choice Scarf set and move Close Combat to the fourth slot. You can slash Knock Off there if you want, as there are plenty of NFE Pokemon in NU. I am also in favor of adding a Choice Band / Life Orb set and a Swords Dance Set. Pinsir is actually pretty fast by NU standards.

 

[Diana]

I really like Toxic in that spot to be honest, but I'll move it out if people want it.

85 is probably going to look a lot better when things move up/down as a lot of things that are faster and scare it should be gone. I'll work on the other two sets too and update with those in a bit.

 

[Endorfins]

any reason for jolly on choice scarf?
rotom s outspeeds with scarf regardless

 

[Diana]

Jolly on Scarf outspeeds things like +1 Altaria, +1 Magmortar, and Scarf Gardevoir.

Edit: Band and Swords Dance are up. There's a lot here so I'm willing to change things up if needed.

 

[Rakan]

I don't know if I would make Stealth Rock its own set. I might just either slash it somewhere or mention in the AC / OO. There are better mons to set up Stealth Rock; Pinsir is better off abusing its nice Attack and good coverage.

 

[tennisace]

Seconding this, last generation it was a good lead in lower tiers, but there aren't dedicated leads anymore so meh. I'd put it in OO but make special mention it fucks over Mesprit leads hard.

 

[destinyunknown]

You should mention rapid spin support (especially in choice scarf set), because considering it's weak to all types of hazards, is not a very consistent scarfer without support :/

 

[Diana]

I'm fine with both changes, I'll implement now.

 

[jake]

I would strongly prefer SD to be the first set. Base 85 is actually pretty fast in the slow-as-molasses NU, and Pinsir really rips through the entire tier after a boost. Choice Scarf should really be the last set, as it's outclassed when compared to Sawk, who gets Sturdy, resists SR, and has a far stronger STAB move in Close Combat. Sure, you get to hit Weezing with Pinsir, but that doesn't matter when you're locked into X-Scissor.

Give Misdreavus mention in Checks and Counters since it's pretty much the only thing in NU that fully counters it.

 

[athleteandy1]

Convince me that the scarf and band sets can't be merged into one choice set.

 

[Rakan]

Convince me that the scarf and band sets can't be merged into one choice set.

Choice Band and Choice Scarf play very differently, and thus, should be different sets. Choice Band serves to make gaping holes in the opponent's team, while Choice Scarf serves as a great revenge killer. So in short, they should be different sets.

The order of sets should be:

Swords Dance
Choice Band
Choice Scarf

once you do that, you can consider this QC APPROVED (1/3)

 

[Diana]

I'm going to be honest, I still really like Scarf Pinsir, but sure, I'll rearrange things.

Also I can't believe I forgot Misdreavus... Adding that in too.

 

[jake]

My big issue with Scarf being the #1 set is that Scarf Sawk is everything that Scarf Pinsir wants to be but better. You can hit Weezing on the switch-in with Pinsir but that's about it.

QC (2/3)

 

[Ice-eyes]

Yeah looks fine now.

QC APPROVED (3/3)

 

[Diana]

All right, I guess it's time to wait for January now to see what happens when the tiers shift.

 

[jake]

took over and finished this a few days ago, moving to L&O