Pokémon Sirfetch'd

[theFabledCoolCat]

Yeah Sirfetch'd is very easy to obtain quite early and more or less breaks the story wide open.
That said I don't think it's quite that bad for standard play either, but it's redundant with stuff like Hawlucha running about and its main gimmick (crits, one that isn't even truly free as it requires an item slot) not really compensating at all for how it needs quite a bit of support to function (awkward to switch in, mediocre bulk, susceptible to all hazards, has a hard time pressuring without some sort of speed boost).

 

[lexgamer]

I feel like a lot of folks like to view every new pokemon with their OU glasses on. I like to view little guys like this vegetable wielding duck with a lower bar for them. Like for example I realize moves that require you to 'recharge' like hyper beam, blast burn, and this meteor assault suck in most cases, but I've actually had a ton of luck with them in a pinch, being able to simply delete a threat or finish off a match I'd otherwise have lost. That said I feel there's plenty of potential in the right tier for this duck while abusing his gimmick to the fullest. What I did with mine is:

Gimmick Master
Sirfetch'd @ Leek
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Leaf Blade
- Night Slash
- Meteor Assault

100% crit on your main 2 moves, Night Slash to hit psychics, Leaf Blade otherwise as you ignore defensive boosts. Then 50% crit on the couple moves you use much less/are situational.

Otherwise I suppose you could also Focus Energy instead of a Swords Dance for 100% crit on any move you use and forgo Leaf Blade/Night Slash while not being locked in to moves:

Every Day I'm Critin'
Sirfetch'd @ Leek
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Focus Energy
- Superpower
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off/Poison Jab

Superpower over Close Combat because 100% crit means it ignores your attack drop (correct me if I'm wrong, in which case just Close Combat) and so you don't get the SpD drop. The rest is self explanatory.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

I feel like a lot of folks like to view every new pokemon with their OU glasses on. I like to view little guys like this vegetable wielding duck with a lower bar for them. Like for example I realize moves that require you to 'recharge' like hyper beam, blast burn, and this meteor assault suck in most cases, but I've actually had a ton of luck with them in a pinch, being able to simply delete a threat or finish off a match I'd otherwise have lost. That said I feel there's plenty of potential in the right tier for this duck while abusing his gimmick to the fullest. What I did with mine is:

Gimmick Master
Sirfetch'd @ Leek
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Leaf Blade
- Night Slash
- Meteor Assault

100% crit on your main 2 moves, Night Slash to hit psychics, Leaf Blade otherwise as you ignore defensive boosts. Then 50% crit on the couple moves you use much less/are situational.

Unless there's a very specific and notable OHKO, I don't see why you would ever use Meteor Assault over Close Combat, which isn't all that much weaker.

Otherwise I suppose you could also Focus Energy instead of a Swords Dance for 100% crit on any move you use and forgo Leaf Blade/Night Slash while not being locked in to moves:

Every Day I'm Critin'
Sirfetch'd @ Leek
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Focus Energy
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off/Poison Jab

This also seems very outclassed by Swords Dance. Focus Energy + Leek gives a 50% boost to your moves, while Swords Dance gives a 100% boost, while also not requiring an item and also allowing for further boosting. The main time Focus Energy would be better is against Unaware Pokemon, but being able to get a 30% boost from Life Orb not only means that the power gap isn't as big as you might think, but it also means you don't need to waste a turn setting up to guarantee your power boost, so you can actually deal more damage in practice by attacking as the Unaware mon switches in.

vs Clefable

252+ Atk Life Orb Sirfetch'd Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 226-268 (57.3 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Life Orb Sirfetch'd Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 205-244 (52 - 61.9%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Adamant always 2HKOs, while Jolly almost always 2HKOs.

vs Quagsire

252 Atk Life Orb Sirfetch'd Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 211-250 (53.5 - 63.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Life Orb Sirfetch'd Leaf Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 421-499 (106.8 - 126.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Even Jolly will always 2HKO with Close Combat, or just OHKO with Leaf Blade if you're running it for some reason.

vs Pyukumuku

252+ Atk Life Orb Sirfetch'd Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Pyukumuku: 173-204 (55 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Life Orb Sirfetch'd Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Pyukumuku: 157-187 (50 - 59.5%) -- 81.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Adamant always 2HKOs, while Jolly 2HKOs most of the time. Jolly Leaf Blade actually has a slightly lower chance to 2HKO, for the record.

vs Swoobat

252+ Atk Life Orb Sirfetch'd Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swoobat: 322-380 (95.2 - 112.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

252 Atk Life Orb Sirfetch'd Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swoobat: 294-346 (86.9 - 102.3%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

Because Swoobat currently doesn't have access to Simple, it's possible that it will use Unaware if lower tiers form before Home drops. Knock Off can OHKO even if it fully invests in physical defense.

The only other time Focus Energy + Leek could be better is against defense boosters, which might see more use this gen because of Body Press, but besides Cotton Guard Dubwool, most of the defense boosters I can think of destroy Sirfetch'd either way (like Bulk Up Corviknight) or get destroyed by Sirfetch'd either way (like Bulk Up Obstagoon).

 

[lexgamer]

Unless there's a very specific and notable OHKO, I don't see why you would ever use Meteor Assault over Close Combat, which isn't all that much weaker.

Yeah, like I was sayin' I know it typically sucks, but there's a big difference between theorizing on paper and things actually in motion. For one example, last gen on my charizard-y I ran air slash, solar beam, fire blast, and blast burn. In that case it was more of not really needing anything else for that last slot that my team couldn't already cover/handle. And I had many moments where I'd hit with fire blast as my best option, but deal only 40-45% against a boosted foe, then take a hit and nearly die myself. Now, typically speaking that would be game over for me, but with blast burn I was able to win. (In fact, in Ultra Sun I never lost a single match, granted my team was built and tested prior in Moon, and I didn't play Ultra Sun for long, but it was still a strong record) Is Metero Assault Gimmicky? Yeah, totally, :) but he's not going to be top tier anyway, so I built him the way I described and have been happy with the builds success.

The only other time Focus Energy + Leek could be better is against defense boosters, which might see more use this gen because of Body Press, but besides Cotton Guard Dubwool, most of the defense boosters I can think of destroy Sirfetch'd either way (like Bulk Up Corviknight) or get destroyed by Sirfetch'd either way (like Bulk Up Obstagoon).

I wouldn't use this idea over my first one either, but yeah defense boosters was the niche I had in mind as well. As far as something like the standard bulk up corviknight from the strategy dex though, while close combat is guarranteed 2 hit KO, but meteor assault can OHKO, and sirfetch'd is faster, and brave bird might not even kill, so you could try to sneak in a night slash for ~30% before finishing it off with meteor assault, a feat which close combat could not.

252+ Atk Sirfetch'd Meteor Assault vs. 252 HP / 32 Def Corviknight on a critical hit: 385-454 (96.2 - 113.5%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

Any hoo, just some thoughts.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

252+ Atk Sirfetch'd Meteor Assault vs. 252 HP / 32 Def Corviknight on a critical hit: 385-454 (96.2 - 113.5%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

This calc is very misleading because it relies on a crit, which isn't guaranteed with just the Leek. The actual chance to OHKO is

0.75 * 0.5 = 0.375 = 37.5%

A 37.5% chance to OHKO Corviknight is definitely not high enough to warrant running Meteor Assault over Close Combat.

In the case of hitting Corviknight with Night Slash as it switches in and then following up with a Fighting move, Close Combat will actually KO if it crits, which would be 50% of the time with a Leek and no Focus Energy. Meteor Assault has a chance to KO even without a crit, resulting in an overall chance just shy of 76% to KO with Leek Night Slash into Leek Meteor Assault. This isn't such a substantial improvement to warrant running Meteor Assault over Close Combat. You seem to underestimate just how damning it is to be forced to recharge. There has to be a VERY good reason to use Meteor Assault over a STAB move that actually works properly.

I also noticed that you edited the Focus Energy set to use Superpower over Close Combat. That also sounds like a bad idea. Close Combat may lower your Special Defense (which isn't very good to begin with, so you're not losing much), but Superpower forces you to use Focus Energy if you want to fully ignore the Attack drops.