1v1 Type: Null

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Aaronboyer

Something Worth Fighting For
is a Contributor to Smogon
AM QC: Wrath of Alakazam
QC: MaceMaster / UBERLandon21 / DEG
GP: TDPJ / Electropop
[OVERVIEW]

[OVERVIEW]

In a metagame where Knock Off, Trick, and Switcheroo are nearly irrelevant, Type: Null performs satisfactorily as a bulky tank and PP staller due to Battle Armor and Eviolite. Its absurd bulk allows it to take on several key metagame threats such as Landorus-T, Mega Aggron lacking Taunt, and Greninja. Type: Null also possesses only a single weakness in Fighting, which allows it to take on a larger portion of the metagame. However, its reliance on non-attacking moves allows Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Mega Gyarados to easily shut Type: Null down with Taunt and defeat it. Furthermore, Type: Null is also susceptible to Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny and Sawk, as well as Fighting-type coverage such as Focus Blast from Mega Gardevoir and Hoopa-U. Type: Null also has difficulty differentiating itself from other bulky Normal-type tanks such as Snorlax and Chansey, which are not nearly as one-dimensional. Lastly, Type: Null does not have any useful type resistances to complement its stellar bulk, which in practice doesn't make it seem nearly as bulky as it looks on paper.

[SET]
name: PP Staller
move 1: Confide
move 2: Iron Defense
move 3: Rest
move 4: Return
item: Eviolite
ability: Battle Armor
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Confide lowers the foe's Special Attack stat and even goes through the Substitute of Pokemon such as Primarina and Greninja. Iron Defense allows Type: Null to boost its Defense by two stages, easing the matchup against certain physical attackers such as Golem, Choice-locked Garchomp, and physical Hoopa-U. Rest alleviates Type: Null's status and fully restores its health so it can take repeated hits from top-tier threats such as Mega Metagross. Rest also guarantees sleep turns for Type: Null to burn out the PP of opposing Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro. Return, while not very strong due to the lack of Attack investment, prevents Type: Null from being completely shut down by Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele while also slowly chipping away at Pokemon such as Mega Mawile and Golem that lack reliable recovery options. However, because Type: Null doesn't have Attack investment, Return may not be enough to defeat Taunt users with recovery such as Mew.

Set Details
========

Maximum HP and Defense EVs alongside and Impish nature allow Type: Null to take on a myriad of physical attackers such as Alolan Marowak and Choice Band Garchomp. Because Type: Null is not fully evolved, an Eviolite is equipped to further augment its defensive prowess. Battle Armor prevents Type: Null from being struck with a critical hit to make the foe incapable of overcoming Type: Null's Iron Defense's Defense boosts and Confide's Special Attack drops.

Usage Tips
========

Before selecting Type: Null, consider if the opposing team has any Fighting-types such as Mega Heracross, common Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados, wallbreakers such as Porygon-Z, or dedicated PP stallers such as Mega Slowbro that can defeat it. If not, Type: Null should be a relatively safe win. If more than one of the opposing side's Pokemon fit under these parameters, consider picking another Pokemon. If Type: Null is brought in against a physical attacker such as Golem, immediately start boosting with Iron Defense; Confide should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is brought in against a special attacker such as Genesect, immediately start lowering its Special Attack stat with Confide; Iron Defense should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is against a Pokemon that can potentially be either a physical or special attacker, such as Hoopa-U, determine if the rest of the opposing team is predominantly made up of physical or special attackers, and use your best judgment. Be careful to not use Rest prematurely, as Type: Null may not be able to win the matchup any longer if too many premature uses of Rest are used. Against opposing PP stallers, use Rest as soon as you get attacked so you can get the two free turns of guaranteed sleep. Do not attack the opposing PP staller, as then they would be able to use Rest and get their two free turns of guaranteed sleep.

Team Options
========

Faster Fighting-type checks such as Tapu Lele, Aegislash, and Landorus-T that can dissuade the opponent from sending in Fighting-types make good partners for Type: Null, as scaring the opponent from choosing their Mega Lopunny, Mega Blaziken, or Sawk is crucial for Type: Null to have a good matchup. Teammates such as Tapu Bulu, Mega Diancie, and Mega Metagross that can defeat common Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele are essential in discouraging the opponent from choosing these threats to face Type: Null. Pokemon that beat common Ghost-types such as Mega Lopunny and Heatran are also incredibly useful.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Metal Sound over Return gives Type: Null 32 additional PP to play with. However, giving up Return would mean that Type: Null would become even more susceptible to Taunt users such as Mega Gyarados, and the high PP of Confide and Iron Defense along with the guaranteed sleep turns of Rest is usually sufficient for PP stalling. Toxic can badly poison the foe and mitigates Type: Null's low offensive presence. However, several Pokemon such as Zygarde-C and Mega Slowbro can alleviate their status in the very same fashion Type: Null does, via Rest. Toxic also has way less PP than all of Type: Null's other moves and leaves it susceptible not only to Taunt but also to Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and the aforementioned Zygarde-C. A more offensively-oriented set with Swords Dance could be utilized, but Type: Null is exceedingly outclassed as an offensive Swords Dance user by Pokemon such as Aegislash, Landorus-T, and Garchomp. Rock Slide nails Mega Charizard Y, but it is still relatively weak when Type: Null's Attack is uninvested.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny, Mega Heracross, Mega Lucario, and Mega Gallade can all blow back Type: Null with either a STAB super effective High Jump Kick or Close Combat. Other Pokemon that carry Fighting-type coverage such as Meloetta, Hoopa-U, and Mega Gardevoir can also defeat Type: Null easily with Focus Blast, respectively.

**Ghost-types**: Ghost-type Pokemon such as Aegislash and Mega Gengar are able to completely wall Type: Null and win the matchup with either Sacred Sword or Focus Blast.

**Bulky Taunt Users**: Pokemon that commonly carry Taunt such as Mega Gyarados, Tapu Lele, and Mew can all restrict Type: Null into only using its weak, uninvested Return.

**Wallbreakers**: Pokemon such as Kartana, Tapu Lele, and Porygon-Z can all break through Type: Null's defenses with their Choice Band- or Specs-boosted STAB attacks. Set up wallbreakers such as Belly Drum Mega Charizard X and Substitute + Swords Dance Kartana also defeat Type: Null handily.


[CREDITS]
- Written by: [Aaronboyer, 239454]
- Quality checked by: [MaceMaster, 302951], [UberLandon21, 379544], [DEG, 234355]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [Electrolyte, 148071]]
 
Last edited:

Nalei

strong, wild garbage
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Really nice analysis! There's not a whole to change here, but I did see one thing. In a few points throughout the analysis, you give fairly irrelevant examples.
A specially defensive EV spread alongside a Careful nature can help Type: Null more easily win the matchup against special attackers such as Genesect and Mega Charizard Y. However, Type: Null long would have an even worse matchup against top tier threats such as Mega Charizard X, Zygarde-Complete, and Mega Metagross.
It already beats both of these mons without needing to run a SpD spread. Either find something that SpD Null does beat, or remove this from OO.
A more offensively oriented set with Swords Dance, but Type: Null is exceedingly outclassed as an offensive Swords Dance user by Pokemon such as Mimikyu, Landorus-T, and Mega Garchomp.
Mega Garchomp is used infrequently and SD is non-essential to its niche. Replace with Garchomp (not mega)?
If Type: Null is brought in against a physical attacker such as Golem, immediately start boosting with Iron Defense; Confide should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is brought in against a special attacker such as Magnezone, immediately start lowering its Special Attack stat with Confide; Iron Defense should only be used if you need to PP stall.
Magnezone isn't necessarily a good example here due to its ability to beat Null with Metal Sound. Maybe Genesect?
Return, while not very strong due to the lack of Attack investment, prevents Type: Null from being completely shut down by Taunt and Substitute while also slowly chipping away at Pokemon such as X and Y who lack reliable recovery options.
You probably intended to come back to this, but be sure to replace the X and Y with real mons ;)

QC 1/3!
 
QC: MaceMaster / ? / ?
GP: ? / ?
[OVERVIEW]
  • In a metagame where Knock Off, Trick, and Switcheroo are nearly irrelevant, Type: Null performs satisfactorily as a bulky tank and PP staller.
  • Because it is a non-fully evolved Pokemon, Type: Null can equip itself with an Eviolite to further increase it's its stellar bulk.
  • Battle Armor prevents the opponent from landing a critical hit on Type: Null, meaning the opponent cannot bypass their Special Attack drops or Type: Null’s Defense boosts unless they have a boosting move themselves.
  • Type Null also possesses only a singular weakness in Fighting, which allows it to take on a larger portion of the metagame.
  • However, it's its reliance on non-attacking moves allows Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Mega Gyarados to easily Taunt Type: Null and defeat it.
  • Ghost-types such as Mimikyu, Mega Gengar, and Z-Conversion Shadow Ball variants of Porygon-Z are also able to completely wall Type: Null with its only attacking move being Return. (This point is neither valid nor suitable here, as it can have Icy Wind, Toxic, among others. Include this point in Checks and Counters)
  • Furthermore, Type: Null is also susceptible to Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny and Sawk, as well as Fighting-type coverage such as Focus Blast from Mega Charizard Y and Superpower from Dragonite.
  • Lastly, Type: Null does not have any useful type resistances to complement its above average bulk, which in practice doesn't make it seem nearly as bulky as it looks on paper.

[SET]
name: Secrets
move 1: Confide
move 2: Iron Defense
move 3: Rest
move 4: Return
item: Eviolite
ability: Battle Armor
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
  • Confide lowers the foe's Special Attack stat and goes even goes through the Substitute of Pokemon such as Magnezone, Greninja, and Tapu Lele.
  • Iron Defense allows Type: Null to bolster its physical defense by two stages, easing the matchup against certain physical attackers such as Golem, choice-locked Garchomp, and Hoopa-U.
  • Rest alleviates Type: Null's status and fully restores its health so that it can take repeated hits from top-tier threats such as Mega Metagross that lacks Hammer Arm. Rest also guarantees sleep turns for Type: Null to burn out against opposing Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro.
  • Return, while not very strong due to the lack of Attack investment, prevents Type: Null from being completely shut down by Taunt and Substitute(supply examples of Pokemon which use these moves) while also slowly chipping away at Pokemon such as Mega Mawile and Golem who lack reliable recovery options.

Set Details
========
  • Maximum HP and Defense EVs alongside and Impish nature allows Type: Null to take on a myriad of physical attackers such as Choice Band Garchomp and Alolan Marowak. (Provide more commonly used Pokemon like non Taunt Mega Gyarados or Zygarde)
  • Because Type: Null is not fully evolved, an Eviolite can be equipped to further augment its defensive prowess.
  • Battle Armor prevents Type: Null from being struck with a critical hit and separates itself from other Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur that uses stat lowering moves to make the foe incapable of dealing a lot of damage.

Usage Tips
========
  • Before selecting Type: Null, consider if the opposing team has any Fighting-types, common Taunt and Substitute users, wallbreakers, or dedicated PP stallers that can defeat it. If not, Type: Null should be a relatively safe win. However, because the opponent likely did bring one of these four things, choosing a teammate of Type: Null is probably more advantageous. (provide examples like Mega Slowbro or Taunt users to combat PP stallers)
  • If Type: Null is brought in against a physical attacker such as Golem, immediately start boosting with Iron Defense; Confide should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is brought in against a special attacker such as Genesect, immediately start lowering its Special Attack stat with Confide; Iron Defense should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is against a Pokemon who can potentially be either a physical or special attacker, such as Hoopa-U, determine if the rest of the opposing team is predominantly made up of physical or special attackers, and use your best judgement.

Team Options
========
  • Faster teammates that can dissuade the opponent from sending in their Fighting-type such as Tapu Lele, Mimikyu, and Landorus-T make good partners for Type: Null, as scaring the opponent from choosing their Mega Lopunny, Mega Blaziken, or Sawk is crucial for Type: Null to have a good matchup.
  • Teammates such as Tapu Bulu, Mega Diancie, and Mega Metagross that can defeat common Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele are essential in discouraging the opponent from choosing these threats to face Type: Null.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
  • Metal Sound changes Type: Null from a bulky tank to a full-on PP staller. However, giving up Return would mean that Type: Null would become even more susceptible to Taunt users such as Mega Gyarados, and the high PP of Confide and Iron Defense along with the guaranteed sleep turns of Rest are usually sufficient for PP stalling. Tackle is another option the sacrifice power for an additional 24 PP while still allowing Type: Null an attacking option. However, Tackle is so incredibly weak, and Type: Null is much better off choosing between Return or Metal Sound.
  • Toxic can badly poison the foe and mitigates Type: Null's low offensive presence. However, several Pokemon such as Zygarde-Complete and Mega Slowbro can alleviate their status in the very same fashion Type: Null does, via Rest. Toxic also has exceedingly less PP than all of Type: Null's other moves and leaves susceptible now not only to Taunt, but now also Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Mega Metagross(Mega Metagross is not a common Substitute user, Zygarde-C or Mega Charizard X is).
  • A more offensively oriented set with Swords Dance(make this a proper main clause), but Type: Null is exceedingly outclassed as an offensive Swords Dance user by Pokemon such as Mimikyu, Landorus-T, and Garchomp.
  • Rock Slide nails both Mega Charizards as well as Gyarados before it mega evolves, but is still relatively weak when Type: Null's Attack is uninvested, and Gyarados has almost no reason not to mega evolve straight away.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny, Mega Heracross, Mega Lucario, and Mega Gallade can all blow back Type: Null with either a STAB super effective High Jump Kick or Close Combat. Other Pokemon that carry Fighting-type coverage such as Mega Metagross and Mega Gardevoir can also defeat Type: Null easily with Hammer Arm or Focus Blast, respectively.

**Taunt Users**: Pokemon that commonly carry Taunt such as Mega Gyarados, Tapu Lele, and Mew can all restrict Type: Null into only using its weak, uninvested Return.

**Wallbreakers**: Pokemon such as Magearna, Donphan, and Porygon-Z can all break through Type: Null's defenses with their Choice Band- or Specs-boosted STAB atttacks.(Give better Choice Band and Choice Specs user examples like Kartana, and Greninja
AM QC, implement if you feel like it n.n
 

Landon

im in that tonka
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
AM QC: Wrath of Alakazam
QC: MaceMaster / ? / ?
GP: ? / ?
[OVERVIEW]
  • In a metagame where Knock Off, Trick, and Switcheroo are nearly irrelevant, Type: Null performs satisfactorily as a bulky tank and PP staller.
  • Because it is a non-fully evolved Pokemon, Type: Null can equip itself with an Eviolite to further increase it's stellar bulk.
  • Battle Armor prevents the opponent from landing a critical hit on Type: Null, meaning the opponent cannot bypass their Special Attack drops or Type: Null’s Defense boosts unless they have a boosting move themselves.
  • Type Null also possesses only a singular weakness in Fighting, which allows it to take on a larger portion of the metagame.
  • However, its reliance on non-attacking moves allows Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Mega Gyarados to easily Taunt Type: Null and defeat it.
  • Furthermore, Type: Null is also susceptible to Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny and Sawk, as well as Fighting-type coverage such as Focus Blast from Mega Charizard Y I personally don't know if Focus Blast Zard Y should be included as it isn't common enough. You could possibly provide something else or just keep it, but as I said I don't think it's worth putting since it's a rare sight to see. and Superpower from Dragonite.
  • Lastly, Type: Null does not have any useful type resistances to complement its above average bulk, which in practice doesn't make it seem nearly as bulky as it looks on paper.

[SET]
name: Secrets
move 1: Confide
move 2: Iron Defense
move 3: Rest
move 4: Return
item: Eviolite
ability: Battle Armor
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
  • Confide lowers the foe's Special Attack stat and goes even goes through the Substitute of Pokemon such as Magnezone, Greninja, and Tapu Lele. I would provide better examples, Zone and Lele never run Sub and Sub on Gren is super rare. Plus, Zone and Lele just beat Null anyways.
  • Iron Defense allows Type: Null to bolster its physical defense by two stages, easing the matchup against certain physical attackers such as Golem, choice-locked Garchomp, and Hoopa-U.
  • Rest alleviates Type: Null's status and fully restores its health so that it can take repeated hits from top-tier threats such as Mega Metagross that lacks Hammer Arm. Rest also guarantees sleep turns for Type: Null to burn out against opposing Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro.
  • Return, while not very strong due to the lack of Attack investment, prevents Type: Null from being completely shut down by Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele while also slowly chipping away at Pokemon such as Mega Mawile and Golem who lack reliable recovery options.

Set Details
========
  • Maximum HP and Defense EVs alongside and Impish nature allows Type: Null to take on a myriad of physical attackers such as Choice Band Garchomp and Alolan Marowak.
  • Because Type: Null is not fully evolved, an Eviolite can be equipped to further augment its defensive prowess.
  • Battle Armor prevents Type: Null from being struck with a critical hit to make the foe incapable of overcoming Type: Null's Iron Defense's Defense boosts and Confide's Special Attack drops.
Usage Tips
========
  • Before selecting Type: Null, consider if the opposing team has any Fighting-types, common Taunt and Substitute users, wallbreakers, or dedicated PP stallers such as Mega-Gyarados, Mega Charizard X, Porygon-Z, and Mega Slownbro that can defeat it. If not, Type: Null should be a relatively safe win. However, because the opponent likely did bring one of these four things, choosing a teammate over Type: Null is probably more advantageous.
  • If Type: Null is brought in against a physical attacker such as Golem, immediately start boosting with Iron Defense; Confide should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is brought in against a special attacker such as Genesect, immediately start lowering its Special Attack stat with Confide; Iron Defense should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is against a Pokemon who can potentially be either a physical or special attacker, such as Hoopa-U, determine if the rest of the opposing team is predominantly made up of physical or special attackers, and use your best judgement.

Team Options
========
  • Faster teammates that can dissuade the opponent from sending in their Fighting-type such as Tapu Lele, Mimikyu, and Landorus-T make good partners for Type: Null, as scaring the opponent from choosing their Mega Lopunny, Mega Blaziken, or Sawk is crucial for Type: Null to have a good matchup.
  • Teammates such as Tapu Bulu, Mega Diancie, and Mega Metagross that can defeat common Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele are essential in discouraging the opponent from choosing these threats to face Type: Null.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
  • Metal Sound changes Type: Null from a bulky tank to a full-on PP staller. However, giving up Return would mean that Type: Null would become even more susceptible to Taunt users such as Mega Gyarados, and the high PP of Confide and Iron Defense along with the guaranteed sleep turns of Rest are usually sufficient for PP stalling. Tackle is another option the sacrifice power for an additional 24 PP while still allowing Type: Null an attacking option. However, Tackle is so incredibly weak, and Type: Null is much better off choosing between Return or Metal Sound.
  • Toxic can badly poison the foe and mitigates Type: Null's low offensive presence. However, several Pokemon such as Zygarde-C and Mega Slowbro can alleviate their status in the very same fashion Type: Null does, via Rest. Toxic also has exceedingly less PP than all of Type: Null's other moves and leaves susceptible now not only to Taunt, but now also Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and the aforementioned Zygarde-C.
  • A more offensively oriented set with Swords Dance could be utilized, but Type: Null is exceedingly outclassed as an offensive Swords Dance user by Pokemon such as Mimikyu, Landorus-T, and Garchomp.
  • Rock Slide nails both Mega Charizards as well as Gyarados before it mega evolves, but is still relatively weak when Type: Null's Attack is uninvested, and Gyarados has almost no reason not to mega evolve straight away.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny, Mega Heracross, Mega Lucario, and Mega Gallade can all blow back Type: Null with either a STAB super effective High Jump Kick or Close Combat. Other Pokemon that carry Fighting-type coverage such as Mega Metagross and Mega Gardevoir can also defeat Type: Null easily with Hammer Arm or Focus Blast, respectively.

**Ghost-types**: Ghost-type Pokemon such as Mimikyu, Mega Gengar, and Z-Conversion Shadow Ball variants of Porygon-Z are able to completely wall Type: Null with its only attacking move being Return.

**Taunt Users**: Pokemon that commonly carry Taunt such as Mega Gyarados, Tapu Lele, and Mew can all restrict Type: Null into only using its weak, uninvested Return.

**Wallbreakers**: Pokemon such as Kartana, Greninja, and Porygon-Z can all break through Type: Null's defenses with their Choice Band- or Specs-boosted STAB atttacks. Both Banded or Specs Greninja should lose to Type: Null. Banded Low Kick does 50%-59%, while Specs Dark Pulse is doing 30%-35%. Specs Hydro Cannon does 55%-65% and makes Greninja have to recharge a turn, thus giving Type: Null the win. The calcs were based off a Jolly or Timid Greninja vs. a max HP Type: Null. Ultimately, I would provide another mon over Greninja.
Really good QC, loved the choice of words you used as well!
QC 2/3 when implemented
 

yogi

I did not succumb...
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
AM QC: Wrath of Alakazam
QC: MaceMaster / UBERLandon21 / ?
GP: ? / ?
[OVERVIEW]

In a metagame where Knock Off, Trick, and Switcheroo are nearly irrelevant, Type: Null performs satisfactorily as a bulky tank and PP staller. Because it is a non-fully evolved Pokemon, Type: Null can equip itself with an Eviolite to further increase it's stellar bulk. Battle Armor prevents the opponent from landing a critical hit on Type: Null, meaning the opponent cannot bypass their Special Attack drops or Type: Null’s Defense boosts unless they have a boosting move themselves (i mean, without any expansion this is quite literally what you'd be describing in moves/set details. these two points can be merged with the first). Type Null (type: null) also possesses only a singular weakness in Fighting, which allows it to take on a larger portion of the metagame. However, its reliance on non-attacking moves allows Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Mega Gyarados to easily Taunt Type: Null and defeat it. Furthermore, Type: Null is also susceptible to Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny and Sawk, as well as Fighting-type coverage such as Focus Blast from Mega Gardevoir and Superpower from Dragonite (as far as i'm aware from running calcs, choice band dragonite cannot beat you if you iron defense on the turn that it superpowers, allowing you to take an essentially -3 superpower next turn and rest up). Lastly, Type: Null does not have any useful type resistances to complement its above average bulk, which in practice doesn't make it seem nearly as bulky as it looks on paper. (ok. this is absolutely a contradiction from what was explained earlier. you go from it having stellar bulk to it having above average bulk. and its typing being decent because it only has one weakness to being lacklustre because of it only having one resistance (immunity ig), something needs to be edited here because right now all this will do is confuse the reader)

i feel like there should be some contrast to other bulky normal-types that are higher in rank in the cons section. the intro as a whole is pretty small and doesn't quite explain why it's an ok pick in the current meta. give examples of things it can pp stall and such.

[SET]
name: Secrets (change to something along the lines of pp staller, specialised set names are reserved for certain cases)
move 1: Confide
move 2: Iron Defense
move 3: Rest
move 4: Return
item: Eviolite
ability: Battle Armor
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Confide lowers the foe's Special Attack stat and even goes through the Substitute of Pokemon such as Primarina, Greninja, and Alolan Ninetales (is there a more relevant meta example than a c- pokemon?). Iron Defense allows Type: Null to bolster its physical defense by two stages, easing the matchup against certain physical attackers such as Golem, choice-locked Garchomp, and Hoopa-U. Rest alleviates Type: Null's status and fully restores its health so that it can take repeated hits from top-tier threats such as Mega Metagross that lacks Hammer Arm (i did the calcs and hammer arm metagross still loses to you if you iron defense, so you need a better example than this). Rest also guarantees sleep turns for Type: Null to burn out against opposing Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro. Return, while not very strong due to the lack of Attack investment, prevents Type: Null from being completely shut down by Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele while also slowly chipping away at Pokemon such as Mega Mawile and Golem who lack reliable recovery options.

Set Details
========

Maximum HP and Defense EVs alongside and Impish nature allows Type: Null to take on a myriad of physical attackers such as Choice Band Garchomp and Alolan Marowak (change alolan marowak to be first, because by having it second it makes it seem like it has a choice band). Because Type: Null is not fully evolved, an Eviolite can be equipped to further augment its defensive prowess (can makes it seem optional). Battle Armor prevents Type: Null from being struck with a critical hit to make the foe incapable of overcoming Type: Null's Iron Defense's Defense boosts and Confide's Special Attack drops.

Usage Tips
========

Before selecting Type: Null, consider if the opposing team has any Fighting-types, common Taunt and Substitute users, wallbreakers, or dedicated PP stallers such as Mega-Gyarados, Mega Charizard X, Porygon-Z, and Mega Slownbro (mega slowbro) that can defeat it (if i'm correct like, most of these lose to you bar mega-gyarados. p-z will get pp stalled, charizard x has to contend with you spamming iron defense and mega slowbro will almost certainly lose to you if you play rests correctly). If not, Type: Null should be a relatively safe win. However, because the opponent likely did bring one of these four things, choosing a teammate over Type: Null is probably more advantageous (what even is this sentence. first of all address the previous point, then actually do something about this sentence because it's legit "oh if they pick something don't pick this". put some substance behind this and at least explain scenarios). If Type: Null is brought in against a physical attacker such as Golem, immediately start boosting with Iron Defense; Confide should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is brought in against a special attacker such as Genesect, immediately start lowering its Special Attack stat with Confide; Iron Defense should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is against a Pokemon who can potentially be either a physical or special attacker, such as Hoopa-U, determine if the rest of the opposing team is predominantly made up of physical or special attackers, and use your best judgement. (this last point basically equates to "guess")

for a pokemon with a set that's dedicated to pp stalling, there hasn't really been very good examples of this. you actually apply some scenarios of at least something rather than the absolute most obvious thing. also talk about how to play rest in the pp stall game too

Team Options
========

Faster teammates that can dissuade the opponent from sending in their Fighting-type such as Tapu Lele, Mimikyu, and Landorus-T make good partners for Type: Null, as scaring the opponent from choosing their Mega Lopunny, Mega Blaziken, or Sawk is crucial for Type: Null to have a good matchup (i mean yes i understand the point, but it's not really phrased very well. legit just say "fighting-type checks"). Teammates such as Tapu Bulu, Mega Diancie, and Mega Metagross that can defeat common Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele are essential in discouraging the opponent from choosing these threats to face Type: Null.

i'm almost certain that some scenarios could be played out here, along with a few more teammates

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Metal Sound changes Type: Null from a bulky tank to a full-on PP staller (i mean, it really is already a pp staller considering how rest is played, and metal sound seems absolutely pointless). However, giving up Return would mean that Type: Null would become even more susceptible to Taunt users such as Mega Gyarados, and the high PP of Confide and Iron Defense along with the guaranteed sleep turns of Rest are usually sufficient for PP stalling (so, why is this even mentioned). Tackle is another option the sacrifice power for an additional 24 PP while still allowing Type: Null an attacking option. However, Tackle is so incredibly weak, and Type: Null is much better off choosing between Return or Metal Sound (again, why?). Toxic can badly poison the foe and mitigates Type: Null's low offensive presence. However, several Pokemon such as Zygarde-C and Mega Slowbro can alleviate their status in the very same fashion Type: Null does, via Rest. Toxic also has exceedingly less PP than all of Type: Null's other moves and leaves susceptible now not only to Taunt, but now also Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and the aforementioned Zygarde-C. A more offensively oriented set with Swords Dance could be utilized, but Type: Null is exceedingly outclassed as an offensive Swords Dance user by Pokemon such as Mimikyu, Landorus-T, and Garchomp. Rock Slide nails both Mega Charizards as well as Gyarados before it mega evolves, but is still relatively weak when Type: Null's Attack is uninvested, and Gyarados has almost no reason not to mega evolve straight away. (stab return does more than a super effective rock slide, just saying)

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny, Mega Heracross, Mega Lucario, and Mega Gallade can all blow back Type: Null with either a STAB super effective High Jump Kick or Close Combat. Other Pokemon that carry Fighting-type coverage such as Mega Metagross and Mega Gardevoir can also defeat Type: Null easily with Hammer Arm or Focus Blast, respectively. (like explained earlier, mega metagross doesn't win 1v1)

**Ghost-types**: Ghost-type Pokemon such as Mimikyu, Mega Gengar, and Z-Conversion Shadow Ball variants of Porygon-Z are able to completely wall Type: Null with its only attacking move being Return. (ok but, you do realise you can actually pp stall a load of these pokemon right?)

**Taunt Users**: Pokemon that commonly carry Taunt such as Mega Gyarados, Tapu Lele, and Mew can all restrict Type: Null into only using its weak, uninvested Return.

**Wallbreakers**: Pokemon such as Kartana, Tapu Lele, and Porygon-Z can all break through Type: Null's defenses with their Choice Band- or Specs-boosted STAB atttacks. (like i explained earlier porygon-z just loses to you) (don't repeat pokemon that you've already mentioned, so get rid of the lele mention) (only swords dance kartana can beat you, choice band still loses to a combo of rest and iron defense)
This is an AM QC check for the use of 1v1 QC to check over. They of course have the final say but a lot of this is pretty standard stuff.
 

DEG

The night belongs to you
is a Community Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
This is an AM QC check for the use of 1v1 QC to check over. They of course have the final say but a lot of this is pretty standard stuff.
Implement this +

-Hoopa-U isn't always a physical attacker.
-Don't run tackle, ever.
-In offensive check and counters add set up wallbreakers like bd zard, sub sd mons: kartana.

Implement and PM me so I can live QC this on discord/PS DEG#3248
 

Lumari

empty spaces
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris an Administrator Alumnus
TFP Leader
remove add / fix (comments); (AC=add comma; RC=remove comma; SC=semicolon)
GP 1/2
[OVERVIEW]

In a metagame where Knock Off, Trick, and Switcheroo are nearly irrelevant, Type: Null performs satisfactorily as a bulky tank and PP staller due to Battle Armor and held Eviolite. Type: Null's Its absurd bulk allows it to take on several key metagame threats such as Landorus-T, Mega Aggron lacking Taunt, and Greninja. Type: Null also possesses only a singular single weakness in Fighting, which allows it to take on a larger portion of the metagame. However, its reliance on non-attacking moves allows Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Mega Gyarados to easily Taunt shut Type: Null down with Taunt and defeat it. Furthermore, Type: Null is also susceptible to Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny and Sawk, as well as Fighting-type coverage such as Focus Blast from Mega Gardevoir and Hoopa-U. Type: Null also has difficulty differentiating itself from other bulky Normal-type tanks such as Snorlax and Chansey, (AC) who which are not nearly as one-dimensional. Lastly, Type: Null does not have any useful type resistances to complement its stellar bulk, which in practice doesn't make it seem nearly as bulky as it looks on paper.

[SET]
name: PP Staller
move 1: Confide
move 2: Iron Defense
move 3: Rest
move 4: Return
item: Eviolite
ability: Battle Armor
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Confide lowers the foe's Special Attack stat and even goes through the Substitute of Pokemon such as Primarina and Greninja. Iron Defense allows Type: Null to bolster its physical Defense by two stages, easing the matchup against certain physical attackers such as Golem, Choice-locked Garchomp, and physical Hoopa-U. Rest alleviates Type: Null's status and fully restores its health so that it can take repeated hits from top-tier threats such as Mega Metagross. (RH) Rest also guarantees sleep turns for Type: Null to burn out against opposing Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro. Return, while not very strong due to the lack of Attack investment, prevents Type: Null from being completely shut down by Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele while also slowly chipping away at Pokemon such as Mega Mawile and Golem who that lack reliable recovery options. However, because Type: Null doesn't have Attack investment, Return may not be enough to defeat Taunt users with recovery such as Mew.

Set Details
========

Maximum HP and Defense EVs alongside and Impish nature allows allow Type: Null to take on a myriad of physical attackers such as Alolan Marowak and Choice Band Garchomp. Because Type: Null is not fully evolved, an Eviolite is equipped to further augment its defensive prowess. Battle Armor prevents Type: Null from being struck with a critical hit to make the foe incapable of overcoming Type: Null's Iron Defense's Defense boosts and Confide's Special Attack drops.

Usage Tips
========

Before selecting Type: Null, consider if the opposing team has any Fighting-types such as Mega Heracross, common Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados, wallbreakers such as Porygon-Z, or dedicated PP stallers such as Mega Heracross, Mega Gyarados, Porygon-Z, and Mega Slowbro that can defeat it. If not, Type: Null should be a relatively safe win. If more than one of the opposing sides' side's Pokemon fit under these peramaters, consider not picking Type: Null. If Type: Null is brought in against a physical attacker such as Golem, immediately start boosting with Iron Defense; Confide should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is brought in against a special attacker such as Genesect, immediately start lowering its Special Attack stat with Confide; Iron Defense should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is against a Pokemon who that can potentially be either a physical or special attacker, such as Hoopa-U, determine if the rest of the opposing team is predominantly made up of physical or special attackers, and use your best judgement. Be careful to not use Rest prematurely, as Type: Null may not be able to win the matchup any longer if too many premature uses of Rest are used. Against opposing PP stallers, use Rest as soon as you get attacked so you can get the two free turns of guaranteed sleep. Do not attack the opposing PP staller, as then they would be able to use Rest and get their two free turns of guaranteed sleep.

Team Options
========

Faster Fighting-type checks that can dissuade the opponent from sending in their Fighting-type such as Tapu Lele, Mimikyu, and Landorus-T make good partners for Type: Null, as scaring the opponent from choosing their Mega Lopunny, Mega Blaziken, or Sawk is crucial for Type: Null to have a good matchup. Teammates such as Tapu Bulu, Mega Diancie, and Mega Metagross that can defeat common Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele are essential in discouraging the opponent from choosing these threats to face Type: Null. Pokemon that beat common Ghost-types such as Mega Lopunny and Heatran are also incredibly useful.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Metal Sound over Return gives Type: Null 32 additional PP to play with. However, giving up Return would mean that Type: Null would become even more susceptible to Taunt users such as Mega Gyarados, and the high PP of Confide and Iron Defense along with the guaranteed sleep turns of Rest are is usually sufficient for PP stalling. Toxic can badly poison the foe and mitigates Type: Null's low offensive presence. However, several Pokemon such as Zygarde-C and Mega Slowbro can alleviate their status in the very same fashion Type: Null does, via Rest. Toxic also has exceedingly way less PP than all of Type: Null's other moves and leaves it susceptible now not only to Taunt (RC) but now also to Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and the aforementioned Zygarde-C. A more offensively oriented set with Swords Dance could be utilized, but Type: Null is exceedingly outclassed as an offensive Swords Dance user by Pokemon such as Mimikyu, Landorus-T, and Garchomp. Rock Slide nails both Mega Charizard Y, but it is still relatively weak when Type: Null's Attack is uninvested.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny, Mega Heracross, Mega Lucario, and Mega Gallade can all blow back Type: Null with either a STAB super effective High Jump Kick or Close Combat. Other Pokemon that carry Fighting-type coverage such as Meloetta, Hoopa-U, and Mega Gardevoir can also defeat Type: Null easily with Focus Blast, respectively.

**Ghost-types**: Ghost-type Pokemon such as Mimikyu and Mega Gengar are able to completely wall Type: Null and win the matchup with either Curse or Focus Blast.

**Bulky Taunt Users**: Pokemon that commonly carry Taunt such as Mega Gyarados, Tapu Lele, and Mew can all restrict Type: Null into only using its weak, uninvested Return.

**Wallbreakers**: Pokemon such as Kartana, Tapu Lele, and Porygon-Z can all break through Type: Null's defenses with their Choice Band- or Specs-boosted STAB atttacks attacks. Setup wallbreakers such as Belly Drum Mega Charizard X and Substitute + Swords Dance Kartana also defeat Type: Null handedly handily.
 

Aaronboyer

Something Worth Fighting For
is a Contributor to Smogon
All mentions of Mimikyu have been replaced with Aegislash due to the results of the recent Mimikyu suspect test banning the mon.
 

Electrolyte

Wouldn't Wanna Know
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bread = done

add remove (comments)
[OVERVIEW]

In a metagame where Knock Off, Trick, and Switcheroo are nearly irrelevant, Type: Null performs satisfactorily as a bulky tank and PP staller due to Battle Armor and Eviolite. Its absurd bulk allows it to take on several key metagame threats such as Landorus-T, Mega Aggron lacking Taunt, and Greninja. Type: Null also possesses only a single weakness in Fighting, which allows it to take on a larger portion of the metagame. However, its reliance on non-attacking moves allows Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and Mega Gyarados to easily shut Type: Null down with Taunt and defeat it. Furthermore, Type: Null is also susceptible to Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny and Sawk, as well as Fighting-type coverage such as Focus Blast from Mega Gardevoir and Hoopa-U. Type: Null also has difficulty differentiating itself from other bulky Normal-type tanks such as Snorlax and Chansey, which are not nearly as one-dimensional. Lastly, Type: Null does not have any useful type resistances to complement its stellar bulk, which in practice doesn't make it seem nearly as bulky as it looks on paper.

[SET]
name: PP Staller
move 1: Confide
move 2: Iron Defense
move 3: Rest
move 4: Return
item: Eviolite
ability: Battle Armor
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Confide lowers the foe's Special Attack stat and even goes through the Substitute of Pokemon such as Primarina and Greninja. Iron Defense allows Type: Null to bolster boost its Defense by two stages, easing the matchup against certain physical attackers such as Golem, Choice-locked Garchomp, and physical Hoopa-U. Rest alleviates Type: Null's status and fully restores its health so that it can take repeated hits from top-tier threats such as Mega Metagross. Rest also guarantees sleep turns for Type: Null to burn out the PP of against opposing Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro. Return, while not very strong due to the lack of Attack investment, prevents Type: Null from being completely shut down by Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele while also slowly chipping away at Pokemon such as Mega Mawile and Golem that lack reliable recovery options. However, because Type: Null doesn't have Attack investment, Return may not be enough to defeat Taunt users with recovery such as Mew.

Set Details
========

Maximum HP and Defense EVs alongside and (don't miss this) Impish nature allow Type: Null to take on a myriad of physical attackers such as Alolan Marowak and Choice Band Garchomp. Because Type: Null is not fully evolved, an Eviolite is equipped to further augment its defensive prowess. Battle Armor prevents Type: Null from being struck with a critical hit to make the foe incapable of overcoming Type: Null's Iron Defense's Defense boosts and Confide's Special Attack drops.

Usage Tips
========

Before selecting Type: Null, consider if the opposing team has any Fighting-types such as Mega Heracross, common Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados, wallbreakers such as Porygon-Z, or dedicated PP stallers such as Mega Slowbro that can defeat it. If not, Type: Null should be a relatively safe win. If more than one of the opposing side's Pokemon fit under these paramaters parameters, consider not picking Type: Null another Pokemon. If Type: Null is brought in against a physical attacker such as Golem, immediately start boosting with Iron Defense; Confide should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is brought in against a special attacker such as Genesect, immediately start lowering its Special Attack stat with Confide; Iron Defense should only be used if you need to PP stall. If Type: Null is against a Pokemon that can potentially be either a physical or special attacker, such as Hoopa-U, determine if the rest of the opposing team is predominantly made up of physical or special attackers, and use your best judgment. Be careful to not use Rest prematurely, as Type: Null may not be able to win the matchup any longer if too many premature uses of Rest are used. Against opposing PP stallers, use Rest as soon as you get attacked so you can get the two free turns of guaranteed sleep. Do not attack the opposing PP staller, as then they would be able to use Rest and get their two free turns of guaranteed sleep.

Team Options
========

Faster Fighting-type checks such as Tapu Lele, Aegislash, and Landorus-T that can dissuade the opponent from sending in their Fighting-types such as Tapu Lele, Aegislash, and Landorus-T make good partners for Type: Null, as scaring the opponent from choosing their Mega Lopunny, Mega Blaziken, or Sawk is crucial for Type: Null to have a good matchup. Teammates such as Tapu Bulu, Mega Diancie, and Mega Metagross that can defeat common Taunt and Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and Tapu Lele are essential in discouraging the opponent from choosing these threats to face Type: Null. Pokemon that beat common Ghost-types such as Mega Lopunny and Heatran are also incredibly useful.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Metal Sound over Return gives Type: Null 32 additional PP to play with. However, giving up Return would mean that Type: Null would become even more susceptible to Taunt users such as Mega Gyarados, and the high PP of Confide and Iron Defense along with the guaranteed sleep turns of Rest is usually sufficient for PP stalling. Toxic can badly poison the foe and mitigates Type: Null's low offensive presence. However, several Pokemon such as Zygarde-C and Mega Slowbro can alleviate their status in the very same fashion Type: Null does, via Rest. Toxic also has way less PP than all of Type: Null's other moves and leaves it susceptible now not only to Taunt but also to Substitute users such as Mega Gyarados and the aforementioned Zygarde-C. A more offensively-(add hyphen)oriented set with Swords Dance could be utilized, but Type: Null is exceedingly outclassed as an offensive Swords Dance user by Pokemon such as Aegislash, Landorus-T, and Garchomp. Rock Slide nails Mega Charizard Y, but it is still relatively weak when Type: Null's Attack is uninvested.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny, Mega Heracross, Mega Lucario, and Mega Gallade can all blow back Type: Null with either a STAB super effective High Jump Kick or Close Combat. Other Pokemon that carry Fighting-type coverage such as Meloetta, Hoopa-U, and Mega Gardevoir can also defeat Type: Null easily with Focus Blast, respectively.

**Ghost-types**: Ghost-type Pokemon such as Aegislash and Mega Gengar are able to completely wall Type: Null and win the matchup with either Sacred Sword or Focus Blast.

**Bulky Taunt Users**: Pokemon that commonly carry Taunt such as Mega Gyarados, Tapu Lele, and Mew can all restrict Type: Null into only using its weak, uninvested Return.

**Wallbreakers**: Pokemon such as Kartana, Tapu Lele, and Porygon-Z can all break through Type: Null's defenses with their Choice Band- or Specs-boosted STAB attacks. Set(add space) up wallbreakers such as Belly Drum Mega Charizard X and Substitute + Swords Dance Kartana also defeat Type: Null handily.

GP 2/2
 
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