I can only think of when P2 and Pz were in the same tier as an answer here.
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Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers Thread (read the op before posting a thread)
- Thread starter Celticpride
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What set would a Brave Bird Scarf Koko run? All the analysis mentions is max attack, tho I figure an electric stab like Tbolt and a pivot move like U-turn would be included with something like Rash for the nature. I know it's not the best Koko by far, but I feel like it could help my specific team which needs an electric that can rkill Volcarona and chip some grasses like M-Venu.
And I guess while I'm here I ask about what the Flyinium Z Koko set is as well (something else I was considering if I can tweak the rest of the team to handle Volcarona since Koko needs the Scarf to rkill). Neat lure to grass types, but I don't know the specific set - again nowhere near the best Koko out there, but I'd like to know. Thanks in advance!
And I guess while I'm here I ask about what the Flyinium Z Koko set is as well (something else I was considering if I can tweak the rest of the team to handle Volcarona since Koko needs the Scarf to rkill). Neat lure to grass types, but I don't know the specific set - again nowhere near the best Koko out there, but I'd like to know. Thanks in advance!
Scarf Koko should run 136 Atk with max Speed and the remaining EVs bumped into SpA to reliably revenge kill Volcarona while outspeeding some threats even after 2 boosts like Gyarados or Zygarde. Something like Brave Bird / Thunderbolt / U-Turn / HP Ice should be ok for moves. Regarding Z-Fly Koko, I wouldn't personally use it but if you're going to then you can prolly use a similar set with some Attack investment to guarantee a kill on Bulu after rocks when switching into a tbolt
Either Naive if you dont mind taking more from Water Shuriken or Hasty if Mega Pinsir isn't a problem for your team since +2 QA can do a lot with some prior chip
Dusclops/dusknoir also. Pory2/poryz have competed but pory2 has always been comparable to its evolved form.
Zapdos: Static or Pressure, and why?
I've found Static to be invaluable for paralyzing Pokemon like Landorus-T on the U-turn or as a last-ditch stop-gap measure against boosted physical sweepers, but I notice that most high-elo players (2000+) run Pressure instead even when not on full stall teams, and I'm not sure why.
I've found Static to be invaluable for paralyzing Pokemon like Landorus-T on the U-turn or as a last-ditch stop-gap measure against boosted physical sweepers, but I notice that most high-elo players (2000+) run Pressure instead even when not on full stall teams, and I'm not sure why.
Helps to stall out rocks usually. This way it's not completely stalled out when using defog. Defog has less PP than rocks, meaning a lot of players will just spam rocks and wait until the opponents PP for defog has run out. Pressure is definitely more consistent, but if you feel static is something valuable, you don't need to change it.
Pressure can also be used in conjunction with Roost to stall 8 PP moves like Stone Edge more easily.
Before USM, Defog was limited to just being on Pressure Zapdos, but with the new tutor you can also run it on Static. The choice between Pressure and Static mostly comes down to your preference now.
I know this is a late answer, but Vigoroth was a higher tier than Slaking in generations 5 and 6. (they were both NU in Generation 5, but only Vigoroth was viable there)
Would Z-Sunny Day Blace have any use? +1 Speed, stronger fire attacks and lets you eat water shuriken. Too gimmicky? It also lets you use inferno overdrive if you want a strong hit (similar to z manaphy)
I personally think it'd be way too gimmicky as it is practically a wasted moveslot and itemslot, ur probs better off running one of the common sets (scarf, specs, or subcm)
Unlike Manaphy Blace lacks the bulk and boosting move (Tail Glow) to pull off such a strategy effectively. It'd be both difficult to set up and difficult to sweep with. Not like Manaphy itself pulls this off effectively but Blacephalon just lacks many of Manaphy's perks that would make such a set usable
Perhaps Blacephalon's largest drawback for a set like that is its lack of Solar Beam. Had it got such a move, it could have some kind of utility as a move that would make Tyranitar flee like it's never done before (I remember Ninetales using a set like that in BW). But nope, just HP Grass.
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I've seen this dichotomy a number of times on the ladder, and I've become curious why some players and sets are more willing to place their faith in hax than others. The higher up one goes, the rarer things like Ash-Greninja with Surf become but the more frequently I see Charizard-Y carrying Fire Blast over Flamethrower.
I don't really have numbers to back me up here (and I would appreciate if someone would point me to them), so I'm curious to hear about why accuracy is valued over power on certain offensive sets and vice versa. On what sets have you found Flamethrower more useful than Fire blast, Surf more useful than Hydro pump, HP Fighting more useful than Focus Blast, etc.?
I don't really have numbers to back me up here (and I would appreciate if someone would point me to them), so I'm curious to hear about why accuracy is valued over power on certain offensive sets and vice versa. On what sets have you found Flamethrower more useful than Fire blast, Surf more useful than Hydro pump, HP Fighting more useful than Focus Blast, etc.?
It differs from Pokémon to Pokémon. With Ash Greninja in particular, Surf post-transformation is only 15 BP stronger than Water Shuriken’s total, so it frankly isn’t worth using because it fails to net any notable KOs, whereas Mega Charizard Y is insanely strong and wants Flamethrower because of how much it spams it’s fire STAB and Fire Blast’s low PP can bite you in the butt. Obviously, the increased accuracy is a huge thing there too. HP Fighting is seldom usable on any Pokémon and should never be used over Focus Blast due to how pitifully weak it is. This is even applicable with mons like SG Magearna that neglects to use Aura Sphere due to Focus Blast netting key KOes vs relevant Pokemon (offensive Heatran is the main one that comes to mind). I hope I helped clear this up for you!
Should Blacephalon run Timid or Naive/Hasty if running Explosion on the Choice Scarf set? The analysis doesn't mention either, but when it doesn't run negative attack, it guarantees a OHKO on Volcarona, whereas with Timid its got a 46% chance to OHKO. But is the loss of bulk worth it, normally?
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Hey - I moved this post to the SQSA thread where it belongs. Generally, accuracy * base power gives the answer to what’s more common.
Fire Blast: 110 * .85 = 93.5
Flamethrower: 90 * 1.00 = 90
Blizzard: 110 * .70 = 77
Ice Beam: 90 * 1.00 = 90
That’s a rule of thumb, at least. Volcanion, for example, can run one nuke move in Steam Eruption, and a more reliable STAB in Flamethrower.
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So generally, it's a good idea to only run one nuke move? What about special Hydreigon with both Fire Blast and Draco Meteor?
(not trying to be obnoxious here. I'm just curious to know if there is an overarching pattern to how moves are selected in most cases).
More for STAB moves, I guess. There will always be cases where you just need a reliable 100% acc moves to chip the last 10% or so of HP. Hydre had Dark Pulse for example.
If Fire Blast is objectively better by this calculation, why is flamethrower still a relatively common move on a lot of sets? Are players irrational in their risk-aversion, or is there a point to wanting to de-hax the game? For that matter, how does high critical hit chance factor into this calculation?
Again, it’s more a rule of thumb. 100% accuracy will always have a place. There is a clear trade off to either and one is not strictly superior to another. Sometimes it’s also a movepool thing, like Manectric only learns Flamethrower and not Fire Blast. Also, more PP can be relevant, especially where 8 PP is not a lot.
I can’t think of any high crit moves that have comparable to what I described.
Two that come to my mind are Stone Edge and Psycho Cut. Psycho cut has twice the crit chance of zen headbutt in addition to having superior accuracy, but it's base power of 10 fewer makes a huge difference in use. Stone Edge, on the other hand, is another move where I suspect the high crit chance impacts how often players use it, as it is the most-used move I can think of which only has an effective power of 80 by your calculation.
These decisions don't depend only on the kind of calculation above (damage*accuracy) per se, but also on how the moves hit particular targets. So if a move with less than perfect accuracy has a good chance of OHKOing or 2HKOing a particular mon, then its often worth running the less accurate move.
For instance, choice scarf Blacephalon might run Fire Blast instead of Flamethrower for the chance to OHKO Celesteela (31.3% chance of OHKOing) compared to the 2HKO that Flamethrower gets (72.3 - 85.9% damage), which after leftovers, leech seed, and protect looks more like a 3HKO, if that.