Pinsir-Mega

[Empress Mobile]

[OVERVIEW]

• Premier check for the multitude of Fighting, Grass and Bug type Pokemon in OU
• Excellent Attack stat and decent speed tier
• Decent bulk and 4x resistance to Fighting and Grass type moves gives more opportunities for setup
• Excellent ability which gives Pinsir a spammable STAB attack and a priority move
• Horrible defensive typing with 5 common weaknesses and crippling weakness to SR (especially after mega-evolving) limiting setup opportunity
• Easily worn down with no access to reliable recovery outside of team support
• Easily walled by many threats that must be dispatched before Pinsir can attempt to sweep
• Introduction of new threats a mixed bag for Pinsir

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Return
move 3: Quick Attack
move 4: Earthquake / Close Combat
item: Pinsirite
ability: Hyper Cutter / Mold Breaker
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

• SD gives Pinsir an opportunity to muscle through Pokemon that take neutral damage from its moves like Scizor, Clefable, Tapu Fini, Toxapex, Suicune, etc.
• Return is a high-powered spammable STAB attack that nails Buzzwole, Heracross, Dhelmise, Medicham, Lopunny, Venusaur, among many, many others
• Quick Attack will OHKO uninvested Pheromosa 100% of the time and can pick off a lot of weakened threats with its Aerilate boost
• Earthquake nails Electric, Fire, Steel and Rock type switch ins, but misses out on neutral coverage on Skarmory, Celesteela, Minior and Rotom-W/H
• Close Combat prevents Pinsir from being walled by non-grounded Pokemon that resist Flying, while also hitting Ice-types hard, but loses out on coverage against Tapu Koko and Nihilego, among other Pokemon

[WIP]

Set Details
========

• Mold Breaker allows Pinsir to hit Rotom forms with Earthquake before mega-evolving
• Hyper Cutter can allow Pinsir to bypass Intimidate's Attack drop before mega-evolving if you predict a switch-in correctly
• Attack and Speed are maximized to ensure sweeping potential; +Speed nature is used since you will be boosting Pinsir's attack and want Pinsir to be fast as possible

[WIP]

Usage Tips
========

[WIP]

Team Options
========

• Hazard removal is mandatory - especially something that can permanently remove the opponent's SR setter: Scizor can Defog and deal with Rock-types as well as Clefable fairly well; Starmie and Empoleon can use Rapid Spin/Defog and take care of Heatran, Landorus-T and Diancie; Dugtrio, while lacking hazard removal, can trap and remove common SR setters
• Zapdos, Magnezone, Heatran, etc., can remove Skarmory and Celesteela for Pinsir
• Tyranitar and Kyurem/Kyurem-B can threaten Zapdos and Thundurus for Pinsir
• Memento support from Dugtrio, Alolan Muk, Whimsicott, or Latios can give Pinsir an excellent opportunity to set up SD
• Healing Wish support from Jirachi, Latias or Alomomola can give Pinsir a second chance to sweep if it is forced to switch into SR or takes prior damage

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

• Knock-Off can punish bulkier switch-ins but its coverage is usually inferior to CC or Earthquake
• Stone Edge nails Zapdos and Thundurus switch-ins as well as Rotom-H but not much else
• Substitute can be used to prevent status and give Pinsir more opportunities to sweep, but it doesn't help with the fact that Pinsir is easily worn down, and there's little room for it on the set
• Feint outprioritizes priority users and bypasses Protect-type moves, but it's horribly weak
• Double-Edge is more powerful than Return, but it's usually not worth the recoil output
• X-Scissor gives Pinsir Bug-type STAB, but requires it to forgo one of its STAB moves or its coverage move, which is not preferable due to Bug+Flying's poor coverage

Checks and Counters
===================

• Electric-types: Zapdos, Thundurus, Rotom-W, Raikou, Tapu Koko, etc., can OHKO Pinsir with their STAB attacks. However, grounded ones must watch out for Earthquake. Rotom-W must also watch out for Earthquake if Pinsir hasn't mega-evolved.
• Fire-types: Entei and Volcanion can force Pinsir out but they must watch out for Earthquake/Stone Edge; Air Balloon Heatran can beat Pinsir 1v1 if Pinsir lacks Close Combat
• Flying-types: Skarmory and Celesteela can wall Pinsir's attacks, especially if it runs Earthquake. However, Skarmory must use careful prediction when using Roost. Minior and Aerodactyl easily force Pinsir out and can set up Shell Smash and Hone Claws/Stealth Rock respectively. Landorus-T can set up SR, OHKO with Stone Edge, resists CC, is immune to Earthquake, and can punish the use of Pinsir's STAB moves if it runs Rocky Helmet.
• Diancie: Most Rock-types fear Pinsir's coverage moves, but Diancie will easily tank either of them and OHKO with Diamond Storm or Power Gem
• Status: Pinsir hates all form of status, particularly paralysis and burn; Sableye can Prankster Will-O-Wisp before Mega-evolving; Thundurus can Prankster Thunder Wave; Zapdos fears nothing from Pinsir and can use Thunder Wave/Toxic; Cofagrigus can remove Pinsir's ability and use Will-O-Wisp, completely crippling Pinsir
• Stealth Rock: Pinsir loses 25-50% of its health switching in on Stealth Rock; if you are unable to remove it from the field Pinsir probably won't be able to sweep

[WIP]

 

[Vague]

there's not much of a reason to run earthquake anymore since aegis is gone so close combat should be used now. also jolly is the better nature rn so adamant can be slashed with jolly.

hyper cutter should be the only ability since mold breaker literally announces "Pinsir has broken the mold!" which shouldn't be able to lure in Rotom-W.

feint can be slashed with quick attack since they're both priority (feint just hits weavile before ice shard) and x-scissor shouldn't be oo since return is usually stronger on super effective hits iirc. knock off isn't too good either since its way too strapped for moveslots for something vastly inferior.

also it'd be better to mention viable defoggers instead of things like scizor and empoleon. tapu fini, starmie and latios should suffice.

 

[jc104]

[OVERVIEW]

• Premier check for the multitude of Fighting, Grass and Bug type Pokemon in OU
• Excellent Attack stat and decent speed tier
• Decent bulk and 4x resistance to Fighting and Grass type moves gives more opportunities for setup
• Excellent ability which gives Pinsir a spammable STAB attack and a priority move
• Horrible defensive typing with 5 common weaknesses and crippling weakness to SR (especially after mega-evolving) limiting setup opportunity
• Easily worn down with no access to reliable recovery outside of team support
• Easily walled by many threats that must be dispatched before Pinsir can attempt to sweep
• Introduction of new threats a mixed bag for Pinsir

I feel like this overview is rather missing the point. You don't use Pinsir as a check to Fighting, Grass and Bug type pokemon; you use Pinsir to sweep the opponent's team. Also, it's not "easily walled by many threats". Pinsir is barely walled by anything at all. Yes, there are a fair few pokemon that can just about live a hit and retaliate, but it's not like any pokemon are just going to sit there and ignore Pinsir.

So I'd lead with how Pinsir is a powerful setup sweeper with few good counters, but then I would stress how it needs a lot of support to remove Stealth Rock, to remove counters, and also uses up the mega slot. It's definitely the kind of Pokemon you want to build a team around.

Also I'd consider adding Scarf Tapu Lele to checks and counters. It won't necessarily OHKO Pinsir from full but it can outspeed and do ~95%, and because Psychic Terrain blocks quick attack it's one of very few pokemon that can check Pinsir at any level of health. Most of the checks you've listed have to be in tip-top condition (which is well worth mentioning by the way).

I also think you should remove Diancie because the Diancite is not yet available.

 

[Empress Mobile]

Thanks for the replies! I am going to let someone else have this analysis (Vague asked for it in PM but I'm not sure how the hand-off process works) and try to reserve something when the lower tiers start to be formed. I shouldn't have tried to take on something like this right now. Anyway, I agree with most of what has been posted in response to my overview and moveset/counter choices, and I think perhaps I have also been misusing Pinsir in a way, trying to patch up weaknesses to Bug and Fighting types on my team rather than trying to construct a team around it. I totally agree it is worth mentioning that most of the threats I mentioned need to be near full health without status to properly check/remove Pinsir.

Again thanks for the advice, and I'm hoping someone who has a little more time to dedicate to this will take it over.

 

[Hootie]

Okay locking.