Decisions, decisions.
Firstly, I think it might be better to properly decide first where we are planning to take Syclant, and where it should stand in the metagame once revisions are completed. Are we still resolutely ploughing on with the old concept of 'a mixed sweeper' or are we trying to tweak it a bit so that we increase the learning experience from our actions, or just to make it something a little less ambitious? Personally I am inclined to favour the former, as we already have decent Spiker leads and other support Pokemon about, so we should really try to make Syclant able to achieve exactly what the concept says: Able to sweep teams, with either a physical, mixed or special set.
The similarities to Lucario here are simply irresistable, but I would leave that aside for the moment to allow us to consider the bigger picture. Firstly I cannot see Syclant working as anything but a boosting sweeper, as with its own natural power it is still not difficult to check or beat outright, as opposed to something like say, Starmie. If we want it to be more of a support-offence Pokemon, such as CB Scizor or Starmie, we should make that clear now, as well as compensating for its defensively disadvantageous typing). Obviously mixed versions of sweepers such as Salamence are becoming increasingly popular, in order to push the boundaries of wall-breaking, but then again MixAnt doesn't quite cut it, from my experience, in the same way MixMence does, in sheer wallbreaking prowess, given how its typing and stats direct it towards a less directly powerful path. Of the boosting sweepers that currently reside in the OU metagame, the most dangerous are probably DD Gyarados, Salamence, and Kingdra, SD Lucario and possibly SubPetaya Empoleon (Not forgetting the other, rarer sweepers such as NP PorygonZ and Azelf, Agiligross, etc). Most of them are able to sweep whole teams given the correct support, though Syclant cannot. It may just be a case of four-slot syndrome, given that Syclant was built for unpredictability more than raw power, which is a slightly poor exchange when checked by so large a population of the Overused tier.
If we want to go along the sweeper route, and make it effective, I would suggest that its versatility is cut down on slightly in favour of a straightforward 'path of conquest'. Gyarados and other Dragon Dancers benefit from outrunning everything they come across, forcing turns to set up, and taking hits along the way if necessary, which makes them more suited to taking on more offensively-inclined teams. Lucario and other Swords Dancers knock large holes in the opponent's team and are then, given time, able to use great type coverage and pure power to OHKO just about everything, making them better against defensively-inclined teams, especially those that lack not only powerful but also wide-covering priority. Of course, they all have their faults, but as Syclant meets its maker in what it cannot kill outright, making it able to OHKO what it outruns - essentially, a wallbreaking boosting sweeper like Lucario - is the best course of action to take IMO.
I think I am right in saying that the the top walls of OU are Blissey, Bronzong, Celebi, Cresselia, Dusknoir, Forretress, Gliscor, Hippowdon, Latias, Rotom-a, Skarmory, Snorlax, Suicune, Swampert, Tentacruel, Vaporeon and Zapdos. If we remove the Pokemon that are not hit for super effective damage by its STAB moves, we get:
Code:
Blissey
Bronzong
Dusknoir
Forretress
Rotom-a
Skarmory
Snorlax
Suicune
Swampert
Tentacruel
Vaporeon
Here's where moveslot syndrome clicks in. Assuming that we are running Tail Glow here, Superpower/Close Combat is necessary to get rid of Blissey and Snorlax. However, Hidden Power Fire has to be used to beat Gyro Ball Forretress (Skarmory and Bronzong are dealt with just as well by Ice Beam/Bug Buzz respectively). This leaves us with the Bulky Water problem. Tentacruel resists both STAB moves, Superpower and Hidden Power Fire, and has copious amounts of Special Defence to help with the task. Earth Power is necessary to get rid of it, else we lose to the other Pokemon mentioned. Physically defensive Vaporeon and Swampert can usually be got rid of via Bug Buzz, but that does not change the problem.
If we're aiming for optimum type coverage, Ground gives the best coverage with Bug and Ice, also gaining near-perfect coverage with just Ice. However, without Superpower Tail Glow Syclant cannot beat Blissey, who will almost always be Syclant's first switch-in on a stall team. For this reason I would like to improve the Swords Dance aspect of the beast first, as there is still currently no be-all-end-all physical wall, unlike on the special side of things. These are my propositions to improve the Swords Dancer to usable levels:
- A decent physical Ice-type STAB move. Ice Shard and Ice Punch don't really make the grade as wallbreaking options, and for those who are going to try to revenge-kill you, such as Scarftran, Scizor, and Lucario, Ice Shard isn't helping much. On this point I would propose something along the lines of Megahorn as an option. Two 120-BP STAB moves may seem like overkill, but Megahorn is going to be walled by plenty of things, given the six types that resist it, and Ice should be our preferential move of choice when dealing with wallbreaking. Megahorn and this new move have good concision when talking about your average stall team, so I think that this or something similar is a necessity. And I would never recommend a new move being created unless I found it truly necessary.
- A slight increase in Attack power. Not so important, this one, but I think it might help, as it does aid in collecting a few extra KOs along the way. 123 Attack seems fair enough.
- Earthquake. Powerful in the right hands, gets good coverage with Ice, etcetera. Earthquake completes the circle of moves by removing the more annoying Steel- and Fire-types (such as Scarfless Heatran and BulletPunchless Metagross) who resist Syclant's STAB moves. It isn't really that powerful without STAB backing, but is good as a coverage option.
With it the following results are obtained:
Code:
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Impish Skarmory (Ice, 120 Base Power): 83.53% - 98.20%
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Impish Forretress (Earthquake): 43.79% - 51.69%
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Impish Forretress (Fire Fang): 114.12% - 134.46%
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Bold Blissey (Megahorn): 124.51% - 146.64%
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Impish Snorlax (Megahorn): 87.79% - 103.63%
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Bold Suicune (Megahorn): 79.46% - 93.56%
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Impish Swampert (Megahorn): 93.56% - 110.15%
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Bold Vaporeon (Megahorn): 103.66% - 122.20%
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Bold Tentacruel (Megahorn): 140.11% - 165.38%)
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Impish Dusknoir (Ice, 120 Base Power): 96.94% - 114.29%
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Bold Bronzong (Megahorn): 94.08% - 110.95%
+2 252 LO Jolly Syclant (123 Atk) vs 252/252 Bold Rotom-a (Ice, 120 Base Power): 110.76% - 130.23%
Broken? On paper, not really. Compoundeyes + Dual Megahorn Moves risks the wrath of Stealth Rock, and Syclant is revenge-killed pretty easily. Running Ice Shard over one of the other moves leaves you totally open to bulky Pokemon that resist Bug and Ground such as Skarmory, and lacking priority moves hurts it deeply. It competes fiercely with Lucario, which I think is a good thing really - it is keeping people on their toes, and is also a pretty good learning experience.
On the subject of Speed, I'm fine with it as it is. I think an increase in Special Attack is appropriate, but not to any great degree; otherwise TGAnt is fine.
Well, those are my thoughts, debate if you will.
