I personally used Whismur on a team dedicated to using Whismur, which used Spritzee, Porygon, Slowpoke and Solosis as TR setters and Grimer as the final mon. It worked, but Whismur definitely wasn't the main player (though it was usually more important than Porygon actually, which surprised me). It filled the role of coming in every single time a mon died and revenge killing, assuming Trick Room was up. It performed this role better than most other mons, due to Hyper Voice ignoring subs and Fire Blast hitting like a truck. I personally can't think of a Pokemon that could fill that role better, but I'm not the most experienced in LC, so feel free to correct me.I don't think Trick Room should be taken into account given that Whismur can't learn Trick Room itself, and it's too weak to warrant use as a dedicated Trick Room sweeper, seeing how Trick Room teams already struggle to cover all of their bases. Mixed and physical sets would be done better by Munchlax and Lickitung, which lack decent special STAB moves but I believe outclass Whismur in every other way.
Feel free to bring up anything we may have missed, but I'm not sure if Whismur is the way to go, as I can't think of a competitively designed team that would genuinely appreciate it over another Normal-type. That being said, it's always nice to see potential contributors - if you plan to stick around for gen 7, I'm sure it'll be much easier to reserve an analysis for a viable Pokemon.
Thanks for the feedback! While I certainly agree Whismur is outclassed by most other normal types, I feel like it covers a niche in that it is able to hit bulky grass types hard with Fire Blast (with Porygon lacks). Nevertheless, I agree that its role is better filled by Porygon after your explanation, and will be leaving it at that.I just feel that Whismur is a bit too weak - for example, it needs Life Orb to even 2HKO Tauntfoo with Hyper Voice or OHKO Pawniard with Fire Blast, which itself leaves it vulnerable to being revenge-killed. The Pokemon that commonly run Substitute are Abra, Diglett, Snivy, and Gastly, but they would generally not be using Substitute on your team, and Hyper Voice does not affect Gastly. I feel that Download Porygon's far superior offensive presence (Psychic cleanly OHKOes Tauntfoo and Hidden Power Fighting OHKOes Pawniard, for example; if Porygon filled Whismur's role and ran Life Orb, even Hidden Power Fire could OHKO Pawniard), on top of its own access to Trick Room, would render it a better choice for Trick Room teams overall. If you're looking for a general Special Attacker, I think that 75 base SpA would be a good benchmark to aim for as it would allow the Pokemon to 2HKO Tauntfoo with a neutral STAB 90 base power atttack.
We do not have a list of unreserved Pokemon at the moment; the new generation is coming up and our current analyses are in good shape, so new analyses aren't being prioritized right now.
Genderless pokemon cannot learn breeding moves so Klink can't have Shift Gear & Gear Grind at lv5. Whismur is also an awful pokemon and i don't think there is a point on making an analysis for a pokemon that has completely no use on competitive teams, its stats are low, doesn't have any notable trait and Porygon is infinitely better plus it won't lack a way of hitting bulky grasses hard btw, Porygon learns Ice Beam.Thanks for the feedback! While I certainly agree Whismur is outclassed by most other normal types, I feel like it covers a niche in that it is able to hit bulky grass types hard with Fire Blast (with Porygon lacks). Nevertheless, I agree that its role is better filled by Porygon after your explanation, and will be leaving it at that.
The only Pokemon that doesn't have an analysis right now that I thought might be worth looking at is Klink, as the combination of Shift Gear and Gear Grind could make it threatening, but I don't have much experience with it and it is outclassed by Pawniard, so I won't be reserving it. I'll come back for SuMo to potentially write some analyses then
It can't break through subs.240+ SpA Life Orb Porygon Ice Beam vs. 204 HP / 236+ SpD Eviolite Pumpkaboo-Super: 13-18 (52 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
188+ SpA Life Orb Whismur Fire Blast vs. 204 HP / 236+ SpD Eviolite Pumpkaboo-Super: 13-18 (52 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Again, not trying to argue that Whismur is better than Porygon, but it does have a niche as a TR Revenge Killer that can break through subs and hit bulky grass types harder than Porygon can. It is practically outclassed in every way, but this is the one niche it does have, though it is very small.
EDIT: Also, I forgot about Klink lacking those moves. Without them, he does seem pretty useless yeah.
EDIT 2: Gave Porygon LO as well, while Whimur's niche gets diminished, Porygon rarely carries Life Orb and it still shows that Whismur is not useless. Plus, Fire Blast hits Steel types as well.
It can, Hyper Voice ignores SubstitutesIt can't break through subs.
Yeah, I know. I have stopped trying to argue that Whismur deserves an analysis, since I have realized that I was wrong. It is almost completely outclassed by Porygon, with it having a very small niche in its access to Hyper Voice and Fire Blast. That one niche is what I am trying to defend, but unless you absolutely need something that has access to both of those moves (for whatever reason), don't use Whismur.Yes, but if you let Porygon hold a Life Orb as well, it's just as strong:
240+ SpA Life Orb Porygon Ice Beam vs. 204 HP / 236+ SpD Eviolite Pumpkaboo-Super: 13-18 (52 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
But Pumpkaboo-Super is one of the rare specially defensive Pokemon. Against the Pokemon that Porygon's Download activates against, it hits much harder.
Also, I looked into this a bit more and Porygon can learn Round, which is also sound-based:
240+ SpA Life Orb Porygon Round vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Snivy: 13-17 (61.9 - 80.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 240+ SpA Life Orb Porygon Round vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Snivy: 21-25 (100 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO
188+ SpA Life Orb Whismur Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Snivy: 17-21 (80.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
So Porygon is a little bit weaker without Download and a little bit stronger with it. Keep in mind that the metagame is predominantly physically based so Porygon will get its Download boost more often than not.