Sinistea [QC 0/2]

[Stoward]

[SET]
name: Nasty Plot Breaker
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Psychic / Giga Drain
item: Eviolite
ability: Weak Armor
nature: Timid
evs: 36 HP / 244 SpA / 4 SpD / 196 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Sinistea has a nice pure Ghost typing, access to Nasty Plot, an impressive ability in Weak Armor which makes it hard to revenge kill thanks to it being immune to most priority attacks, and boasts decent enough stats to utilise these. However, It’s lack of coverage options means that it’s completely walled by the two main Dark-types, Pawniard and the omnipresent Vullaby. Furthermore, it is heavily outclassed offensively by Drifloon and Frillish, who both boast better movepools as they can both hit Vullaby and Pawniard. Drifloon also has the ability to act as a setup sweeper with Calm Mind and obtain a similar speed boost with Uburden without having to take a significant amount of damage to do so. As a result Sinistea has an unfortunate place in LC. As for the coverage options available. Giga Drain is a good option to provide Sinistea with some longevity, while also allowing it to OHKO Onix. Psychic allows it to beat Mareanie as it can OHKO it after Stealth Rock Damage, preventing it from using Haze. Sinistea is best used early game as a lure for Pawniard and Vullaby as its lack of coverage invites them in. Once these have been removed, Sinistea should either be brought in on weaker physical attacks such as Cutiefly’s U-Turn or after one of its teammates have been KO’d to provide it with a free opportunity to set up with Nasty Plot and break through teams.

Teams with Sinistea need to be able to check Pawniard and Vullaby if Sinistea wishes to see any time on the battlefield as they both resist all of Sinistea’s attacks. Onix is a great partner for checking both of these Pokémon as it has enough natural bulk to switch into Pawniard and Vullaby’s attacks, can dish out heavy damage to them both with Earthquake and Head Smash respectively and can use them as a free setup opportunity. Trapinch and Diglett are also valuable partners as they’re able to trap and potentially remove Pawniard, making It easer for Sinistea to break through teams. Hazard support from Onix, Ferroseed or Dwebble is also greatly appreciated as it allows Sinistea to claim crucial KOs such as OHKOing Mareanie at +2 with Psychic. Sticky Web Support from Cutiefly is also valuable as it means that Sinistea isn’t reliant on Weak Armor boosts to be able to outspeed foes and in return it’s able to block Rapid Spin. Dark-types such as Pawniard and Vullaby are also valuable as they’re able to check opposing Ghost-types such as Drifloon and Frillish, while appreciating Sinistea’s ability to threaten common Dark-type checks such as Onix.

 

[DC]

Beginner AM Check (Implement what you want):

• Wisp (Crippling physical attackers to help with weak armor procs) deserves a spot instead of Dark Pulse (Shadow Ball hits most mons Dark Pulse would hit)
• The wording on the first sentence is a little off (weak armor making it hard to revenge kill because of immunity to most priority attacks)
• Frillish is not that common so you can probably remove the mentions about it
• Earthquake doesn't KO Eviolite Pawn so u might want to change that sentence
• Probably change the stealth rock section to entry hazards in general and include Dwebble as a potential setter

 

[jake]

I have been thinking about this set for a little while. I think Will-O-Wisp is strictly better than one of the two coverage moves. I know that puts it even more in direct competition with other Ghost-types, but the ability to neuter Vullaby and Pawniard seem so much more valuable than the largely minimal additional coverage Psychic/Giga give. That's a lot more valuable, I think. I think the moves should go like this:

- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Psychic / Giga Drain

I don't think Hex is preferable because of the dismal damage output if the opponent isn't statused, but I'm not opposed to it. Sinistea also has no longevity whatsoever, so it won't be repeatedly involved in a game like Frillish might be.

[SET COMMENTS]

Sinistea has a nice pure Ghost typing, access to Nasty Plot, an impressive ability in Weak Armor which makes it hard to revenge kill thanks to it being immune to most priority attacks, and boasts decent enough stats to utilise these.

Like Dreamcatcher said, this is a little awkwardly worded. "Nice pure Ghost typing" is kind of strange, and the Weak Armor / priority immune mention is a little confusing to process. I'd suggest breaking this into two distinct thoughts: "Sinistea has decent stats and an equally decent typing", and "Sinistea's access to Nasty Plot and its ability Weak Armor creates an opportunity to sweep" (however you want to write it).

Furthermore, it is heavily outclassed offensively by Drifloon and Frillish, who both boast better movepools as they can both hit Vullaby and Pawniard.

If you're gonna include Frillish, I'd recommend dropping "heavily". Frillish isn't that good offensively, though Drifloon is.

Sinistea is best used early game as a lure for Pawniard and Vullaby as its lack of coverage invites them in.

I think the opposite might be true (first sentence), although my playing experience with Sinistea is limited. It's definitely not a lure (implication that it draws in and beats a common answer) in any way, even with WoW, so that should probably be reworded some.

Teams with Sinistea need to be able to check Pawniard and Vullaby if Sinistea wishes to see any time on the battlefield as they both resist all of Sinistea’s attacks. Onix is a great partner for checking both of these Pokémon as it has enough natural bulk to switch into Pawniard and Vullaby’s attacks, can dish out heavy damage to them both with Earthquake and Head Smash respectively and can use them as a free setup opportunity. Trapinch and Diglett are also valuable partners as they’re able to trap and potentially remove Pawniard, making It easer for Sinistea to break through teams. Hazard support from Onix, Ferroseed or Dwebble is also greatly appreciated as it allows Sinistea to claim crucial KOs such as OHKOing Mareanie at +2 with Psychic. Sticky Web Support from Cutiefly is also valuable as it means that Sinistea isn’t reliant on Weak Armor boosts to be able to outspeed foes and in return it’s able to block Rapid Spin. Dark-types such as Pawniard and Vullaby are also valuable as they’re able to check opposing Ghost-types such as Drifloon and Frillish, while appreciating Sinistea’s ability to threaten common Dark-type checks such as Onix.

I don't know how common this is on analyses, but I think Sinistea is actually a solid partner for Drifloon in terms of Ghost-type spam. Both have similar answers that can be crippled and/or otherwise handled. It's late for me atm so I'll just post -- let me know when you implement and I'll give a 1/2 after reading over it once more. Might also have a couple more thoughts on the team partners bit at the end here too

 

[Stoward]

Yeah imma drop this. My laptop screen broke and I’m still waiting for parts to get it fixed so writing analyses is a bit of a pain and I’m honestly under the impression that Sinistea isn’t even viable enough for a preview analysis. Meant to say something sooner so I’m sorry that you’ve had to go to the effort of checking this.