[OVERVIEW]
Mesprit is a highly flexible Pokemon that is capable of fulfulling a multitude of roles within the ZU metagame. Its balanced stats and useful movepool allow Mesprit to work well in offensive and defensive utility roles, while its Nasty Plot set is a threatening sweeper that is extremely challenging for bulky builds to deal with. Mesprit is also a good check to Fighting-types such as Hisuian Decidueye and Passimian, and Levitate lets it deal with many Ground-types, such as Rhydon and Sandaconda. Unfortunately, Mesprit's balanced stats means that it isn't truly exceptional at any role that it tries to play, as its offensive stats aren't fantastic, and bulky sets are prone to getting chipped down over time. Its Psychic typing also leaves it vulnerable to common Dark-types, such as Sneasel, Brute Bonnet, and Hisuian Qwilfish, while also leaving it weak to the ubiquitous U-turn. Finally, Mesprit's coverage is quite limited, as it lacks a way to hit Steel-types hard and doesn't hit much of the metagame for super effective damage. This can lead to it sometimes struggling to break through bulky threats such as Articuno, Snorlax, and Porygon2.
[SET]
Specially Defensive Pivot (Mesprit) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock / Healing Wish
- Psychic Noise
- U-turn
- Knock Off / Healing Wish
[SET COMMENTS]
Mesprit's decent defensive profile and access to useful utility moves like Stealth Rock and Healing Wish allow it to act as a good defensive pivot. Its bulk and typing allows it to check foes such as Jolteon, Charizard, Dudunsparce, and Passimian locked into Close Combat. Psychic Noise is a useful STAB move that allows Mesprit to force out Hisuian Decidueye, which is the most common Defogger in the tier. Its decent Base Power and ability to prevent healing allow Mesprit to annoy other defensive Pokemon like Cramorant, Palossand, and Sandaconda. U-turn allows Mesprit to pivot out of poor matchups such as Glastrier and Spiritomb while keeping up momentum for its team. Knock Off allows Mesprit to punish foes that would feel comfortable coming in otherwise, such as Orthworm, Articuno, and Snorlax. Healing Wish is another option for offensive teams that allows Mesprit to fully heal an offensive teammate and give it another go at breaking down the opponent's team. It is capable of running both Knock Off and Healing Wish if your team already has another Stealth Rock user. Maximum Special Defense investment is preferred in order to better take hits from the likes of Charizard, Magneton, and Pyroar. A Sassy nature is preferred to give Mesprit a slow U-turn and maximize the damage that its physical attacks do. Steel is the preferred Tera type, as it turns each of Mesprit's weaknesses into a neutrality or a resistance and gives it a superb general defensive typing. It notably lets Mesprit handle Grafaiai, Dudunsparce, and Whimsicott with more confidence. Tera Steel also has good synergy with Levitate and allows Mesprit to comfortably handle foes such as Sandslash, Rhydon, and Palossand. Leftovers grants Mesprit passive recovery and helps it stay as healthy as possible throughout the match.
Mesprit is one of the few bulky Stealth Rock setters in the tier that also has access to a pivoting move, which makes it highly useful for both balance and offense. Mesprit lacks reliable recovery, so teams utilizing it shouldn't expect it to be a stalwart wall. Rather, its good support movepool and defensive traits allow it to act as a stopgap that can take a few hits while also supporting its offensively oriented teammates via pivoting and utility moves such as Knock Off and Healing Wish. Mesprit's physical bulk is somewhat lacking, so physically defensive teammates such as Weezing, Sandaconda, and Palossand make for good partners. These three help out against Fighting-types such as Passimian, Hitmonlee, and Hisuian Sneasel, which Mesprit struggles to check in the long term. Dipplin serves as a good physically defensive partner and in particular a Knock Off absorber, which is highly useful for Mesprit because it fears Knock Off greatly. Mesprit is also vulnerable to Dark-types such as Hisuian Qwilfish, Sneasel, and Brute Bonnet. Teammates such as Hisuian Decidueye and Virizion can help with the latter, while Hisuian Qwilfish and the aforementioned Weezing can help with the former two. Teammates such as Passimian, Virizion, and Charizard can help check Steel-types such as Magneton and Orthworm, which Mesprit struggles to deal with on its own. Strong wallbreakers, such as Typhlosion, Glastrier, Brute Bonnet, and Alolan Exeggutor, appreciate Mesprit's slow U-turn getting them in safely, and they benefit from Mesprit's ability to use Knock Off to remove various items from defensive Pokemon such as Regirock, Orthworm, and Articuno. Mesprit also pairs well with other VoltTurn users; Passimian, Grafaiai, Whimsicott, and Floatzel also benefit from Mesprit bringing them in safely and can form a pivoting core that can slowly wear down the opponent's team. Pokemon such as Floatzel, Typhlosion, Charizard, and Glastrier appreciate Healing Wish support should Mesprit choose to run it, as they are all vulnerable to being worn down over the course of a match, and many teams are not prepared to deal with them a second time.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A Choice Specs set utilizing Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, Psyshock or Shadow Ball, and either Trick or U-turn is feasible. However, Mesprit isn't powerful enough to consistently break down defensive cores without perfect prediction, it can't hit Steel-types for significant damage, and its mediocre Speed tier means it isn't especially good against offensive teams either. The Nasty Plot set can consider Psychic Noise or Stored Power as its Psychic-type STAB move. The former prevents recovery from the likes of Articuno, Pallosand, and Snorlax, while the latter will become extremely powerful if Mesprit accrues multiple Nasty Plot boosts. However, Psyshock's ability to pressure common special walls like Lanturn, Snorlax, and Articuno makes it the most consistent option. The defensive pivot set can consider Colbur Berry as an alternative item to take Knock Off from the likes of Passimian, Hisuian Decidueye, and Grafaiai as well as Dark-type attacks from Brute Bonnet. However, the loss of Leftovers recovery means that only offensive teams looking to play fast should consider this, and it loses value if Mesprit is forced to Terastallize. The defensive pivot could also use other Tera types, such as Tera Fairy to give a Dark resistance that is useful when facing down Sneasel, Brute Bonnet, and Passimian and Tera Water to grant useful resistances for Typhlosion, Floatzel, and Clawitzer. Tera Water, however, leaves Mesprit open to common Grass- and Electric-type attacks from Hisuian Decidueye, Jolteon, and Brute Bonnet. Options like Thunder Wave to deter setupor and Pain Split to give Mesprit some form of recovery may seem appealing for the defensive set, but Mesprit tends to perform its role more consistently with the given moves.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Dark-types and Dark-type Coverage**: Dark-types such as Sneasel, Brute Bonnet, and Hisuian Qwilfish threaten Mesprit with their STAB moves and either force it to switch out or Terastallize. Mesprit is capable of pivoting out or hitting them with Fairy-type coverage as they switch in, however. Pokemon that Mesprit would otherwise check, such as Grafaiai, Passimian, Hisuian Decidueye, Hisuian Sneasel, and Sandslash often run Dark-type coverage, limiting its ability to comfortably deal with them. Sableye and Spiritomb don't fear Mesprit's STAB moves, and Sableye can threaten to lock Mesprit into an ineffective move with Prankster Encore, though neither of them appreciate Fairy-type coverage, Knock Off, or Trick.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-type attackers such as Oricorio-G, Mismagius, and Rotom threaten Mesprit with their STAB moves, but they can't comfortably switch in to most sets due to the threat of Knock Off, Trick, or a STAB move.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Orthworm, Magneton, and Perrserker resist Mesprit's common coverage options, and they can use it as an opportunity to fire off a strong attack or, in Orthworm's case, set up Stealth Rock, Spikes, Coil, or Iron Defense. However, they must be wary of Trick or Knock Off. Additionally, certain Pokemon Mesprit usually checks, such as Defog Hisuian Decidueye and Whimsicott, often run Tera Steel and can therefore turn the tables on Mesprit.
**Strong Wallbreakers**: Mesprit's rather modest bulk means it can't comfortably answer many of the tier's strongest offensive threats. Typhlosion, Jolteon, and Floatzel outrun non-Choice Scarf Mesprit and threaten to do serious damage, even to the defensive set. Even slow wallbreakers such as Alolan Exeguttor and Clawitzer are still faster than the defensive pivot set and threaten it with extreme damage.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sputnik.475916/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/5dots.543866/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/missangelic.452572/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Mesprit is a highly flexible Pokemon that is capable of fulfulling a multitude of roles within the ZU metagame. Its balanced stats and useful movepool allow Mesprit to work well in offensive and defensive utility roles, while its Nasty Plot set is a threatening sweeper that is extremely challenging for bulky builds to deal with. Mesprit is also a good check to Fighting-types such as Hisuian Decidueye and Passimian, and Levitate lets it deal with many Ground-types, such as Rhydon and Sandaconda. Unfortunately, Mesprit's balanced stats means that it isn't truly exceptional at any role that it tries to play, as its offensive stats aren't fantastic, and bulky sets are prone to getting chipped down over time. Its Psychic typing also leaves it vulnerable to common Dark-types, such as Sneasel, Brute Bonnet, and Hisuian Qwilfish, while also leaving it weak to the ubiquitous U-turn. Finally, Mesprit's coverage is quite limited, as it lacks a way to hit Steel-types hard and doesn't hit much of the metagame for super effective damage. This can lead to it sometimes struggling to break through bulky threats such as Articuno, Snorlax, and Porygon2.
[SET]
Specially Defensive Pivot (Mesprit) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock / Healing Wish
- Psychic Noise
- U-turn
- Knock Off / Healing Wish
[SET COMMENTS]
Mesprit's decent defensive profile and access to useful utility moves like Stealth Rock and Healing Wish allow it to act as a good defensive pivot. Its bulk and typing allow
Mesprit is one of the few bulky Stealth Rock setters in the tier that also has access to a pivoting move, which makes it highly useful for both balance and offense. Mesprit lacks reliable recovery, so teams utilizing it shouldn't expect it to be a stalwart wall. Rather, its good support movepool and defensive traits allow it to act as a stopgap that can take a few hits while also supporting its offensively oriented teammates via pivoting and utility moves such as Knock Off and Healing Wish. Mesprit's physical bulk is somewhat lacking, so physically defensive teammates such as Weezing, Sandaconda, and Palossand make for good partners. These three help out against Fighting-types such as Passimian, Hitmonlee, and Hisuian Sneasel, which Mesprit struggles to check in the long term. Dipplin serves as a good physically defensive partner and in particular a Knock Off absorber, which is highly useful for Mesprit because it fears Knock Off greatly. Mesprit is also vulnerable to Dark-types such as Hisuian Qwilfish, Sneasel, and Brute Bonnet. Teammates such as Hisuian Decidueye and Virizion can help with the latter, while Hisuian Qwilfish and the aforementioned Weezing can help with the former two. Teammates such as Passimian, Virizion, and Charizard can help check Steel-types such as Magneton and Orthworm, which Mesprit struggles to deal with on its own. Strong wallbreakers, such as Typhlosion, Glastrier, Brute Bonnet, and Alolan Exeggutor, appreciate Mesprit's slow U-turn getting them in safely, and they benefit from Mesprit's ability to use Knock Off to remove various items from defensive Pokemon such as Regirock, Orthworm, and Articuno. Mesprit also pairs well with other VoltTurn users; Passimian, Grafaiai, Whimsicott, and Floatzel also benefit from Mesprit bringing them in safely and can form a pivoting core that can slowly wear down the opponent's team. Pokemon such as Floatzel, Typhlosion, Charizard, and Glastrier appreciate Healing Wish support should Mesprit choose to run it, as they are all vulnerable to being worn down over the course of a match, and many teams are not prepared to deal with them a second time.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A Choice Specs set utilizing Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, Psyshock or Shadow Ball, and either Trick or U-turn is feasible. However, Mesprit isn't powerful enough to consistently break down defensive cores without perfect prediction, it can't hit Steel-types for significant damage, and its mediocre Speed tier means it isn't especially good against offensive teams either. The Nasty Plot set can consider Psychic Noise or Stored Power as its Psychic-type STAB move. The former prevents recovery from the likes of Articuno, Pallosand, and Snorlax, while the latter will become extremely powerful if Mesprit accrues multiple Nasty Plot boosts. However, Psyshock's ability to pressure common special walls like Lanturn, Snorlax, and Articuno makes it the most consistent option. The defensive pivot set can consider Colbur Berry as an alternative item to take Knock Off from the likes of Passimian, Hisuian Decidueye, and Grafaiai as well as Dark-type attacks from Brute Bonnet. However, the loss of Leftovers recovery means that only offensive teams looking to play fast should consider this, and it loses value if Mesprit is forced to Terastallize. The defensive pivot could also use other Tera types, such as Tera Fairy to give a Dark resistance that is useful when facing down Sneasel, Brute Bonnet, and Passimian and Tera Water to grant useful resistances for Typhlosion, Floatzel, and Clawitzer. Tera Water, however, leaves Mesprit open to common Grass- and Electric-type attacks from Hisuian Decidueye, Jolteon, and Brute Bonnet. Options like Thunder Wave to deter setup
Checks and Counters
===================
**Dark-types and Dark-type Coverage**: Dark-types such as Sneasel, Brute Bonnet, and Hisuian Qwilfish threaten Mesprit with their STAB moves and either force it to switch out or Terastallize. Mesprit is capable of pivoting out or hitting them with Fairy-type coverage as they switch in, however. Pokemon that Mesprit would otherwise check, such as Grafaiai, Passimian, Hisuian Decidueye, Hisuian Sneasel, and Sandslash often run Dark-type coverage, limiting its ability to comfortably deal with them. Sableye and Spiritomb don't fear Mesprit's STAB moves, and Sableye can threaten to lock Mesprit into an ineffective move with Prankster Encore, though neither of them appreciate Fairy-type coverage, Knock Off, or Trick.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-type attackers such as Oricorio-G, Mismagius, and Rotom threaten Mesprit with their STAB moves, but they can't comfortably switch in to most sets due to the threat of Knock Off, Trick, or a STAB move.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Orthworm, Magneton, and Perrserker resist Mesprit's common coverage options, and they can use it as an opportunity to fire off a strong attack or, in Orthworm's case, set up Stealth Rock, Spikes, Coil, or Iron Defense. However, they must be wary of Trick or Knock Off. Additionally, certain Pokemon Mesprit usually checks, such as Defog Hisuian Decidueye and Whimsicott, often run Tera Steel and can therefore turn the tables on Mesprit.
**Strong Wallbreakers**: Mesprit's rather modest bulk means it can't comfortably answer many of the tier's strongest offensive threats. Typhlosion, Jolteon, and Floatzel outrun non-Choice Scarf Mesprit and threaten to do serious damage, even to the defensive set. Even slow wallbreakers such as Alolan Exeguttor and Clawitzer are still faster than the defensive pivot set and threaten it with extreme damage.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sputnik.475916/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/5dots.543866/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/missangelic.452572/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Last edited:
