Project Victim of the Week

[Infernal]

Counter

Pidgeot @ Pidgeotite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Refresh
- Work Up

Mega Pidgeot is a great and fun Pokemon against Mega Sableye. It's immune to Knock Off, heals away burns with Refresh, and only takes 24.7 - 29.6% from Foul Play. You can Work Up + Hurricane with little to fear from Mega Sableye, and easily Roost off any damage taken. Because Work Up also boosts your attack, you should be careful about boosting too much. This is to avoid increased Foul Play damage. +1 is all you should need, doing 64.4 - 76.3% with Hurricane and taking 37.4 - 44.2% from Foul Play, which isn't too bad.

Although Mega Pidgeot does have some problems in OU, it performs well against many of the builds Mega Sableye is found on. Its design is also gorgeous!

 

[AD impish john]

Check

CTC (Azumarill) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off

The Heatah Fajita counter can't directly switch-in to Mega Sableye as it fears the Will-O-Wisp burn and dislikes to be Knock Off'ed removing its item which can be crucial at times. Also fack Play Rough misses...

 

[Froggyboy]

Counter

Slowbro @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

A psychic type countering a Dark/Ghost type :OOO But seriously, since this particular Sableye set lacks Taunt, Mega Slowbro is free to set up CMs all over Mega Sableye, taking nothing from Knock Off or Foul Play thanks to its incredible physical bulk, and can cleanse burns with Rest, and with Shell Armor, Sableye can't even crit like 5 times in a row to beat it lol.

0 Atk Mega Sableye Foul Play vs. 252 HP / 80+ Def Mega Slowbro: 78-92 (19.7 - 23.3%) -- possible 5HKO

 

[Tressed]

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 168 SpA / 92 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Fire Blast
- Heal Bell
- Roost

Special Attacking Altaria is about as hard of a counter to Mega Sableye as you can get. It takes minimal damage from Foul Play, doesn't really care about Knock Off, can heal Will-o-Wisp from itself and it's teammates, and can keep itself healthy for the length of a stall match with Roost.

 

[Ramses]

Desperate (Absol) @ Absolite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Play Rough

Mega Absol completely walls Mega Sableye as it can't be burned due to Magic Bounce and it takes roughly half from Foul Play unboosted. It can proceed to 2HKO it with Play Rough. It can't use it as fodder cause it gets OHKOed after Rocks by Foul Play ._.

 

[Albacore]

Counter

Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover

The irony of Utility Sableye is that it loses completely to Calm Mind Sableye, which bounces Will-O-Wisp back and just sets up on it.

0 Atk Mega Sableye Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Sableye: 39-46 (12.8 - 15.1%) -- possible 7HKO
+4 0 SpA Mega Sableye Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 144+ SpD Mega Sableye: 160-190 (52.6 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Swagata]

Counter

Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Rain Dance
- Rest

MSab is a set-up fodder for CM Manaphy. MSab can't even touch this other than remove the item with Knock Off and can go out of control if properly played.

calcs

0 Atk Mega Sableye Foul Play vs. 240 HP / 252+ Def Manaphy: 67-79 (16.7 - 19.7%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Mega Sableye Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 240 HP / 252+ Def Manaphy: 67-79 (16.7 - 19.7%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[Random Passerby]

Name: Suicune
Status:Counter

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Rest
- Roar / Sleep Talk


Basically anything with a set-up move counters this lol. CroCune doesn't care about anything Mega Sableye can do and can set up freely in front of it while also laughing off status moves with Rest. Scald doesn't do a lot but Sableye hates burns and Suicune can accumulate boosts in front of Sableye anyway. The only way for a defensive team to win against this is to have an Amoongus which is relatively passive anyway.

Calculations

0- Atk Mega Sableye Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Suicune: 55-66 (13.6 - 16.3%) -- possibly the worst move ever
0- Atk Mega Sableye Foul Play vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Suicune: 49-58 (12.1 - 14.3%) -- possibly the worst move ever
0 SpA Suicune Scald vs. 252 HP / 144+ SpD Mega Sableye: 57-67 (18.7 - 22%) -- possible 5HKO

 

[Aragorn the King]

Week 88 Voting:

Checks:

Mega Charizard Y (FullLifeGames)
Mega Lopunny (michaeloche)
Azumarill (AD Impish John)
Mega Absol (KidMagic)
Mega Gardevoir (fleggumfl)

Counters:

Mega Houndoom (Recreant)
Sylveon (SwedishBiscuit)
Togekiss (Random Passerby)
Talonflame (GnralLao)
Clefable (InvisibleWater)
Mega Diancie (Viridi)
Keldeo (looiiyut)
Mega Pidgeot (Infernal)
Mega Slowbro (froggyboy)
Special Mega Altaria (tressed)
CM Mega Sableye (albacore)
Manaphy (Mentalist Swag)
Suicune (Random Passerby)

You can vote for 1 check and 2 counters (just based on the number of entries for each). Thanks for the number of noms, guys!

 

[p2]

Mega Lopunny

Clefable
Togekiss

i forgot to specify what garde is, i suppose it should be a counter but i mean it dies to 2 foul plays so its not a solid counter at all

 

[SketchUp]

Mega Gardevoir, Togekiss and CM Mega Sableye

 

[nameless90]

Mega Gardevoir

Clefable
Manaphy

 

[Coton]

Mega Gardevoir a check ?? Not a counter ? Weird
Mega Charizard Y
Clefable
Diancie

 

[Random Passerby]

Mega Gardevoir (why isn't this a counter?)

Clefable
Manaphy

 

[michaeloche]

Azumarill as check, Mega Diancie and Manaphy as counters

edit: mixed up checks and counters, should now be correct

 

[Aragorn the King]

i forgot to specify what garde is, i suppose it should be a counter but i mean it dies to 2 foul plays so its not a solid counter at all

Yeah, to clarify this for the above posters, I put it as a check because once it switches in on one Foul Play + SR it isn't a reliable switch in. (However, it's very borderline, so if you specified I would've left it as a counter.)

Anyway, for my votes:

Mega Gardevoir

Mega Sableye
Manaphy

 

[InvisibleWater]

Azumarill

Talonflame
Manaphy

 

[looiiyut]

Azumarill

CM Mega Sableye
Special Mega Altaria

 

[bludz]

Mega Charizard Y

Calm Mind Mega Sableye
Special Mega Altaria

Chose all Mega Evos (since they don't care about Knock Off unlike Clefable) that don't mind being Wisped

 

[Aragorn the King]

Thanks guys for all the votes! Also, I hope you guys all had a great Christmas :)

Results:

Checks: Mega Charizard Y (FullLifeGames) | Azumarill (AD impish john) | Mega Gardevoir (fleggumfl)
Counters: Clefable (InvisibleWater)| CM Mega Sableye (Albacore) | Manaphy (Mentalist Swag)
​

Week 89: Slowbro

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
- Psyshock / Calm Mind

Again, a more defensive mon, so focus on stuff that can easily break it / stop it from doing its job.

 

[p2]

Counter

Shaymin @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Seed Flare
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earth Power
- Rest

Natural Cure and Rest allows Shaymin to consistently switch into Slowbro, absorbing Scald burns and Twave and forcing Slowbro out with Seed Flare which cleanly OHKOs unboosted Slowbro and has a good chance to OHKO +1 Slowbro after some prior damage

252 SpA Life Orb Shaymin Seed Flare vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Slowbro: 499-588 (126.6 - 149.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Shaymin Seed Flare vs. +1 252 HP / 24 SpD Slowbro: 330-393 (83.7 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Slowbro Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Shaymin: 87-103 (25.5 - 30.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

 

[heritage]

Counter

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 Spe
Bold Nature
- Recover
- Baton Pass
- Giga Drain
- Nasty Plot

Although not as relevant as a Pokemon now as it was before, Celebi can freely set up on Slowbro and OHKO it at +2 or pass its boosts along to other teammates. It resists both Scald and Psyshock while boosting faster than Slowbro and healing off any damage off with Recover. It doesn't fear burns or paralysis as much as most Pokemon, as Natural Cure activates when switching out or using Baton Pass. Even if Slowbro has Fire Blast (which isn't on this particular set), Celebi can still stall it out.

What Slowbro does

0 SpA Slowbro Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 148+ Def Celebi: 33-40 (8.1 - 9.9%) -- possibly the worst move ever

0 SpA Slowbro Scald vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Celebi: 43-51 (10.6 - 12.6%) -- possibly the worst move ever

0 SpA Slowbro Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Celebi: 158-188 (39.1 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

What Celebi does

0 SpA Celebi Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Slowbro: 188-224 (47.7 - 56.8%) -- 38.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 0 SpA Celebi Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Slowbro: 378-446 (95.9 - 113.1%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

 

[Swede]

Counter

Best Gen 4 sprite ever

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Recover

An awesome ability and a terrific typing effectively shuts down Slowbro's shots at Scalding and Thunder Waving. All Slowbro has left is the pitiful Psyshock, while it perishes to poisoning over time. Recover replenishes 'Rodon's health.

0 SpA Slowbro Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 79-94 (18.5 - 22%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Gastrodon Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Slowbro: 64-76 (16.2 - 19.2%) -- possible 8HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[EraiMHFU]

Edit: Soft-Counter (it hates getting twaved on the switch)

This is obvius lol

Shiny serp is gorgeus *_*

Serperior @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Taunt

Slowbro lacks Fire Blast, so serp can switch in freely, Taunt prevents Slack Off, Calm Mind and T-wave, and serp just uses it as setup fodder.

 

[toshimelonhead]

Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Protect / Toxic
- Refresh / Rest
- Perish Song / Encore

0 SpA Slowbro Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 164+ Def Politoed: 82-97 (21.4 - 25.3%)

This is old school Politoed coming back in Gen 6 with something to do other than set up rain. The easiest route to check Slowbro is to use Perish Song, Protect, Refresh if you have status, and switch before Perish Song activates. Outside of Perish Song, Politoed can run Toxic + Encore if Slowbro tries to set up a Calm Mind. Rest is an option as well to restore HP and status.