Competitive Battling Spotlight

A new Competitive Pokemon Analysis will go up later tonight (as scheduled). I have started working on it, but probably won't finish in the near future, and I have to be somewhere tonight.

Thanks for your patience!

Competitive Battling Spotlight #28: Ability Two

Today we will go in depth about the rare but effective ability, Hustle.

            What it Does:

Increases damage output of physical attacks by 1.5 times (50%), however, decreases the accuracy of moves by approximately 20%.

Example:

Durant with Hustle will have the equivalent of +1 Attack (like having a Choice Band equipped without being locked into a move), but moves with 100% Accuracy will now only be 80% accurate. Likewise, the already inaccurate Stone Edge will be relegated from 80% to 60% Accuracy.

            Who Has It Now:

-Delibird; Probably not well worth mentioning competitively, but Delibird does have STAB Aerial Ace, which will always hit 100% of the time. Slap on a Choice Band and you’ve got yourself an offensive threat that really won’t be doing much of anything.  

-Darumakka; I am only mentioning little Darm because of his base 90 Attack stat which, with Hustle and Fire type STAB, is pretty darn good. However, as the rest of his stats are below awful, this thing will really only be even decently threatening in the abysses of NU or Little Cup. 

-Durant; 109 Attack and Speed with the same typing as Scizor make Durant a truly phenomenal abuser of Hustle. If you don't miss your attacks, Durant should be punching holes in most teams. 

-Zweilous; Hustle is something that the much more prominent evolution, Hydreigon, lacks, and Zweilous makes fair use of it in the lower tiers with 85 base Attack, STAB Outrage, and pretty good type coverage.

-Raticate; In my personal opinion, Hustle actually makes Raticate decently viable in competitive terms. Giving its rather average base 81 Attack a much needed +1 boost, it allows this over-sized hamster to gnaw its way through quite a lot of threats with STAB normal moves and stuff like Wild Charge and Sucker Punch for coverage. Also, with an Adamant nature and Choice Scarf, its middling 97 Speed is compensated for, while Hustle gives it ideally a Choice Band boost all the while.

The Good and the Bad of Hustling:

            When put into perspective, Hustle is a high risk, high reward kind of ability, giving a few Pokemon the edge they need over otherwise annoying/bulky threats. The best part is that if used on an Attack boosting set (i.e. Swords Dance or Hone Claws), it won’t take many turns of setup  before your attacks are wrecking things.

Still, the Accuracy drop is very risky, and when considering that really nothing that gets Hustle has bulk worth mentioning, you’ll find yourself losing valuable Hustle Pokemon if they miss an attack. Also, the fact that nothing that gets Hustle (besides Durant) has really awesome initial Attack or Speed, many players consider this to be a wasted ability; one with great potential but nothing more.

        The Best Hustlers:

     Here are no doubt the best Hustle abusers. Despite the fact that each one of these is confined to the lower tiers, they are still reasonably viable threats in even UU, and could serve as very threatening powerhouses in NU and RU if the Miss Gods are not against you. 

Zweilous @Choice Band

4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe, Adamant

-Outrage

-Dragon Tail

-Fire Fang

-Crunch

Since Heatran is the only Pokemon that resists the Dragon+Fire coverage combo, this set is essentially unresisted in the lower tiers. With Choice Band + Hustle + Adamant nature, Zweilous reaches unbelievably high Physical power, managing to OHKO a good portion of non-defensive threats. The bulk and Speed of this set are pretty absent, so as long as you are able to get Zwei in safely and fire off a monstrous hit, you will not be disappointed. 

Raticate @ Choice Scarf

4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe, Adamant

-Quick Attack/Sucker Punch

-Double Edge/Return

-Wild Charge

-U-Turn

            Though not the best type coverage, with Hustle, this set yields essentially Choice Band and Choice Scarf in one, reaching 400+ on each stat. Priority is essential here against things that have it themselves/are (somehow) faster. Also, for choice of STAB, Double Edge is amazing, though the recoil may not be too favorable. Return may be used if the recoil scares you, and Retaliate can be used for Revenge Killing purposes. 

Durant @ Life Orb/ Leftovers

4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe, Jolly

-Hone Claws

-Iron Head

-X-Scissor

-Stone Edge/Crunch

            Durant is definitely the best user of Hustle in the entire game. With amazing Speed and good natural power, Ant can charge through teams with ease. Hone Claws was built for this Bug, as after only one turn it nullifies the Accuracy drop of Hustle, as well as adding in an additional Attack boost. Coverage on this set is limited, as is Durant’s movepool, but it remains strong as one of the best Sweepers in RU at the moment.

Who Should Get It:

Infernape- With Fantastic Speed and Attack, as well as superb coverage, Ape would become arguably more dominant in OU if it had an ability like Hustle. The Attack boost would make its Flare Blitz and Close Combat hurt even more than they already do now, and the viability of a Choice Band set would increase several times over. Plus, as an acrobatic monkey, Hustle seems a logical choice in terms of real-life perception of the beast.

Tornadus- Base 115 Attack and STAB Aerial Ace would make Hustle truly monstrous on this already-dominant genie. Pair that with the ability to already outspeed a good portion of OU at the moment, and you’ve got yourself one nasty physical Attacker on your team. Plus, the viability of a physical set over a very common Special set would make for a refreshing choice of options for Tornadus.

Flygon- Black and White brought no change for Flygon, sinking it to the middling realms of UU. However, with Hustle, a whole new level of play for the premium Dragon scout Pokemon would become available, dishing out harder hits with those U-Turns and STAB EQ+Outrage combo. If Flygon got its act together, the entire UU metagame would tremble beneath its wings.

How It Could Be Better:

Why should Hustle limit users to just physical Attacks? If there were a counterpart for Special Attackers, i.e. Togekiss, things would be very interesting. Of course, this isn’t an improvement on the ability itself (as I can’t think of many ways to make it better without making it broken), but rather a separate ability for Special Attackers, like Togekiss, who can abuse the power boost with their STABs and a never-missing Aura Sphere. How about we call this one Overzealous?

Conclusion:

            Hustle is actually a very good ability when used in your favor. Its reasoning for being so rarely seen is possibly due to the fact that not too many competitively potent Pokemon have it. However, if you can get past the 20% Accuracy drop (ideally with Hone Claws), you will see that this ability has the potential to make many threats crumble. Don’t let Hustle’s underrated potential fool you.

Competitive Battling Spotlight #27: Move One

        The first Competitive Move analysis of the Psychic type move, Calm Mind.  

           What it does:

            Calm Mind gives the user a +1 (50%) boost to both the Special Attack and Special Defense stat, making it a uniquely offensive and defensive setup move all in one.

            The Calmest Minds:

            Many Pokemon can utilize Calm Mind effectively, but the most prominent users are bulkier threats with a good HP stat and preferably good Defense and Special Attack as well. The reason high Defense is ideal is because Calm Mind boosts the Special Defense stat, meaning that users with natural physical bulk will be able to take hits from virtually any offensive threat (Special or Physical) after only a boost or two. Below is a listing of the best Calm Minders in any and every tier. This is not meant to be a complete list, and only lists a few examples of good Calm Mind abusers. You should definitely try out any Pokemon that has Calm Mind and fits the above criteria that is not listed here.

            Playing Calm Mind Defensively:

            Though I’ve described it as being both an offensive and defensive move in one, certain abusers are built inherently to take hits, as opposed to dishing them out. This means that most of these Pokemon won’t be doing too much outright damage and must rely on having several boosts before doing too much. A lot of these also have access to instant recovery and focus on withstanding turns in battle before they can make a dent in teams. Below are a few that make use of this strategy.

          

           Reuniclus

The supreme Calm Minder of OU, Reuniclus has it all; gargantuan HP, monstrous Special Attack, a well-rounded offensive (and defensive) movepool, and Magic Guard. Be weary of this little guy setting up some CMs against you, as it could very easily put away your team thereafter.

 

            Jirachi

In the rain, with 60% paralysis Thunder and 60% confusion Water Pulse, Calm Mind Jirachi becomes one of the most annoyingly effective set-uppers out there. Its naturally well-rounded stats perfect this strategy, making it a true staple of CM abuse.

Suicune

Arguably the best of his trio for possessing good typing, reasonably mixed stats and massive bulk, Suicune makes for one of the best CM set-uppers in the Underused tier. The fact that its veteran “CroCune” set (CM+RestTalk) is enhanced now with the new 30% burn chance move Scald only makes for more reason for Cune to celebrate.  

Slowbro

The premier physical wall of the UU tier, Slowbro’s ability to utilize Calm Mind is often times overlooked due to the popularity of a straight walling set. However, with 110 HP, 80 Special Defense, and 100 base Special Attack, along with recovery in Slack Off and STAB Water moves, Slowbro might just be one of the most underrated CM abusers in the game.

           

Playing Offensively:

Taking hits and restoring damage is not the only way to play. Some Pokemon are naturally fast and capable of a high initial damage output, but resort to Calm Mind for means of getting past threats that would otherwise absorb and shrug off their powerful attacks. These are the offensive users of Calm Mind, and are no more or less threatening than their hefty counterparts.

Lati@s

The Lati twins are built to abuse Calm Mind, what with their amazing offensive stats (Latios moreso), high Speed and reasonably good bulk (Latias moreso). Their movepools and STAB Dragon typing, along with base 80 HP, further compliment their idealization of making use of the +1 Special Attack and Special Defense boosts.

Alakazam

Alakazam has abysmal bulk and for that reason is only an amazing CM’er due to its base 135 Sp.Atk and 120 Speed, making it one of the fastest, most deadly offensive threats in the entire metagame. Oh, what’s that? It has Magic Guard too? Yea, Zam is an absolute beast when it comes to picking apart unprepared teams. However, because it lacks any significant amount of bulk without any Calm Mind boosts, its main reason for using CM is because this is its only means of boosting its already deadly Special Attack. Truly one of the best offensive users of the move.

Raikou

Much like Alakazam, Raikou has not the best bulk out there, but a moderate HP stat and good overall offensive stats make this one deadly sweeper in the upper tiers. Access to STAB Thunder in the rain also makes this an extremely underrated, yet highly competent, threat.

Espeon

Speed, power, and immunity to direct status moves and Taunt thanks to Magic Bounce make Espeon a great candidate for this setup move as well. With naturally high Speed and Special Attack, after just one boost Espeon will be hurting a lot of things. Also, with access to Baton Pass, she can share in the boosts with any of her teammates, making her an ideal support Pokemon.

            Playing in the Lower Tiers:

            OU and UU aren’t the only tiers to have some Calm Mind fun in! A number of usable threats in RU and even NU stand out as effective in utilizing the setup move to do some damage. Here are a few potent choices:

Mesprit

The King of NU (probably soon to be moved to RU), Mesprit serves as a perfectly balanced Pokemon with good power and bulk alike. This, as you might guess, allows it to make perfect use of the +1 Special boosts. With excellent coverage as well, Mesprit becomes a deadly sweeper after only a few turns of setup.

 

Beheeyem

Beheeyem isn’t too far off its Psychic-type counterpart Reuniclus. They both have decent Defenses, 125 Special Attack, and pretty good movepools. But even though Beheeyem has a lower HP stat and Synchronize instead of Magic Guard, it still has potential to make use of all its assets by setting up. Try CM Beheeyem in the lower tiers. You might be surprised.  

Duosion

With Eviolite equipped, the only thing that makes Duosion even minimally worse than its evolution is its much lower HP stat. Still, the retention of 125 Sp.Atk and Magic Guard, as well as higher defenses than Reuniclus (thanks to Eviolite) makes for a lower-tier mini-sweeper just as devastating as its cousin.

           

Other Notable Users:

Here are a few other Pokemon to consider and their attributions to a Calm Mind set:

-Chandelure; The highest Special Attack stat in the entire non-Uber metagame + decent bulk make Chandelure a wonderfully scary threat in UU and above.

-Serperior; Natural defensive capabilities, great Speed and access to Leech Seed for a support-ish set all help alongside STAB Giga Drain and HP Fire for coverage.

-Cofagrigus; Cofagrigus can take hits very well. It has defensive potential on par with Skarmory and an excellent Special Attack stat for a wall, making Calm Mind abuse very viable.

-Cresselia; Not the most powerful out there, but being one of the most bulky definitely helps. Cresselia will always be the epitome of annoying defensive threat (think weaker Blissey), and CM abuse makes it no less so.

-Cobalion; After +1 Special Attack and +1 Special Defense, Cobalion becomes a very balanced, very effective threat. Max out HP and Speed, and watch as foes crumble to your powerfully boosted attacks and fail to take you down with all but the most powerful Super Effective hits.

-Virizion; Essentially the same as Cobalion, but with a different typing. STAB Giga Drain as means of pseudo-recovery makes this set fifteen times better than its musketeer brethren, though.

            Conclusion:

            It is definitely not the most popular setup move, nor is it the most offensively contributory. Calm Mind requires patience and strategy in order to work more effectively, especially as it is not as outright successful as something like Nasty Plot or Growth. Still, on the right Pokemon, it can become the key to finishing teams and winning games.

Apologies

I am currently in the process of editing my Competitive Move analysis that I was supposed to have posted yesterday. I apologize for not doing so, as I was busy with midterms. A Competitive Item analysis will be posted later today, as planned.

Competitive Battling Spotlight #26: Old Pokemon Seven

Medicham, An oddity in both appearance and Competitive potential.

The Meditate Pokemon

H.P.: 60

Attk: 60

Def.: 75

Sp.A: 60

Sp.D: 75

Spe: 80

Tier: RU (as of October 2011)

Abilities:

Pure Power: Doubles the Pokemon's Attack stat. If you didn't know what this ability did before reading this, just know that it is the only thing that makes Medicham even remotely viable in the current metagame, and for good reason. Doubling the meager base 60 Attack gives this Pokemon usability that bottom-feeder NU monsters would kill to have. Such a wonderful ability on such a would-be godawful Pokemon.

Telepathy:  Takes no damage from teammates' attacks in a Double or Triple Battle. When given; a) Medicham's other options for ability, b) The fact that it would suck horrendously with any ability other than Pure Power, and c) The fact that no one would use Medicham in Doubles and Triples anyway, it should be apparent that Telepathy is a waste on this Pokemon. Stick with Pure Power.

Analysis:  

        Medicham is perhaps one of the most interesting Pokemon competitively, with awful stats across the board that naturally do nothing to compliment its good typing. However, thanks to Pure Power, Medicham's viability receives a welcomed aid, giving it essentially one of the best outright Attack stats in the game. Still, with a below average Speed and quite low defenses, Cham has always been relegated to the lower end of the usage curve, standing out only to some.

        There is hope for it still, though. 80 base Speed, while nothing in particular to gawk over, is idealized with a Scarf set, backed by 438 Attack with a Jolly nature and great coverage overall. These assets are also made much more profound with a Choice Band equipped, giving Cham the potential to destroy top threats in virtually any tier.

Potential Sets: 

     1. MediChoice Band
         6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
         Adamant/Jolly @ Choice Band
         -Bullet Punch
         -Hi Jump Kick
         -Ice Punch
         -Rock Slide/Psycho Cut/Drain Punch

        Pure Power gives Medicham a raw Attack stat higher than the likes of even Haxorus and Darmanitan, meaning that with a Choice Band, it has potential to hit harder than nearly anything unboosted in the current metagame. This is only made greater by the fact that Fighting is an excellent STAB type to have. Add in the fact that Ice Punch and Rock Slide give it near-perfect coverage, and you have one very promising offensive powerhouse on your hands.
        Unfortunately, with lack of good Speed and bulk, this set is optimized through use of forcing and predicting switches, but if you are actually able to connect with the right move, you will not be sorry. Your opponent might, though.

   2. Leadicham
       6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
       Jolly @ Life Orb
       -Fake Out

       -Bullet Punch

       -Hi Jump Kick

       -Rock Slide/Ice Punch/Recover

        With its natural strength and access to Fake Out and some good coverage options, Cham makes a reliable choice for a lead slot, threatening a lot of common first-turn foes. Fake Out is a staple on this set, scoring loads of damage on frailer opponents and working to generally scout your opponent's next move. STAB Hi Jump Kick rounds off coverage nicely, and destroys anything weak or neutral to it, while Bullet Punch is for added priority after using the first-turn Fake Out. The last slot is there to fill up coverage holes, as both Rock Slide and Ice Punch work well with Hi Jump Kick. Recover may also be selected to increase longevity and nullify Life Orb damage, though the opportunities to get up a free Recover without being hit and KO-ed by an opponent's move are slim.

   3. Bulk Up
       252 HP/6 Atk/252 Sp.Def
       Careful @ Leftovers
       -Bulk Up

       -Bullet Punch/Substitute/Recover

       -Drain Punch

       -Ice Punch/Rock Slide


        Although Medicham is quite notably frail, it does have usable bulk when used as the focus for a set. That, and access to Bullk Up as means of increasing its already-superb Attack to even greater heights (with no investment at all, it has 312 Attack initially). With STAB Drain Punch for recovery, this set really has a lot going for it if played correctly. Rock Slide is great for coverage in OU, while Ice Punch yields better coverage against the threats of the lower tiers. Priority in the form of Bullet Punch is nice here, as without any Speed Cham will be much slower than usual, but if you'd like to go for a safer, more bulky route, Substitute may also be employed. Also, if you'd prefer brute power over the ability to recover some HP, you may choose Hi Jump Kick over Drain Punch and Recover over Bullet Punch/Sub.


4. ScarfCham

       6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
       Jolly/Adamant @ Choice Scarf

       -Hi Jump Kick

       -Rock Slide

       -Ice Punch

       -Psycho Cut/Drain Punch



      With Choice Scarf, Medicham becomes noticeably faster, becomeing able to outspeed countless threats it would not otherwise and smack them with a powerful hit. Bullet Punch is a bit unnecessary here, so the best optimal coverage is displayed above. Psycho Cut may be used for powerful STAB, while Drain Punch is good for pseudo-recovery. It should be recognized that this set, with a Jolly nature and the given EVs, hits 400+ with both its Attack and Speed stats, making it a very underrated revenge killer in OU, UU and RU alike.


Conclusion: 


        Medicham has always fallen victim to its own list of flaws, which accounts for its very low tiering placement since its introduction in Ruby and Sapphire. The good news about this, however, is that Medicham can be used in virtually any tier (bar NU) thanks to its low usage, making it effective in even the upper tiers. So while many are laughing in Cham's face for its "sucky" potential, you should be giving it a shot on one of your teams. It's really one of the most underrated competitively competent Monsters in today's game.


  Competitive Usability: 

Pros- 

•  An Attack stat of over 400 with Pure Power. 
• STAB Fighting 
• A decent physical movepool, including Rock Slide and Ice Punch for coverage 

Cons- 

• Lack of bulk and support options. 
• Below average Speed.
  

Verdict:  8 out of 10 

         Design-wise, Medicham isn't pretty. It's a Fighting type, which means it has a starkly humanoid shape, but its skinny body and odd posture keep you from wishing it was anything close. It also has big lips and some odd headpiece thing that resemble a woopie-cushion or a flattened fish screaming for help. Its got a cool coloration on both the normal and shiny sprites, and the concept is cool, but otherwise that's as far as Medicham goes for me in the appeal factor.

        

        Aesthetic Design: 6 out of 10

Competitive Battling Spotlight #25: Ability One

            In accordance with the new posting schedule, today accounts for our first day of the week, as well as the first Competitive Ability Spotlight. Today’s ability is Mold Breaker.

            Description (What it Does):

Mold Breaker “breaks the mold” of the opponent’s ability, allowing it to ignore certain abilities when attacking.

Examples:

 Haxorus with Mold Breaker can hit Flygon, Rotom-W, Bronzong, and other Pokemon with Earthquake, despite them having the Levitate ability.

Pinsir (and all other Mold Breakers) can cause a flinch on Crobat, despite it having Inner Focus.

            Who Has It Now:

-Pinsir; Excellent offensive presence, decent Speed and a pretty good physical movepool make this currently Pinsir’s best choice.  

-Rampardos; The second best Attack stat in the entire game! That’s Pardos’s selling point; all the rest of its stats are garbage. 58 Speed is, however, decent for a Choice Scarf or Rock Polish set to start ripping holes through teams with Mold Breaker.

-Haxorus; Powerful, kinda fast, STAB Dragon. Mold Breaker gives Haxorus perfect coverage on everything in the metagame with just Outrage and Earthquake, bar a particularly annoying metal bird.

Who Gets It Through Dream World:

-Excadrill; The ability to hit Bronzong with your STAB Earthquakes is tempting, but I think everyone can agree that Sand Rush is superior. Still, the now-Uber mole might find breaking Lugia’s Multiscale (when released) to be very useful…

-Sawk; Though Mold Breaker is an ideally offensive ability, it might garner some usability on this pretty bulky Fighting type.

-Throh; With similar offensive stats to Heracross, Mold Breaker can serve its purpose against Sturdy abusers like Donphan, and Snow Cloak Frosslass in UU.

-Basculin; Cool! This sub-par Sharpedo knock-off can hit Water Absorbers on the switch without healing off their damage!

-Druddigon; As a Dragon type with great power and reasonable bulk, Dragon Tailing out annoying Suction Cuppers like Cradily might definitely come in handy.

What Abilities Does it Break?:

     

    Battle Armor

    Big Pecks

    Clear Body

    Contrary

    Damp

    Dry Skin

    Filter

    Flash Fire

    Flower Gift

    Heatproof

    Heavy Metal

    Hyper Cutter

    Immunity

    Inner Focus

    Insomnia

    Keen Eye

    Leaf Guard

    Levitate

    Light Metal

    Lightningrod

    Limber

    Magic Bounce

    Magma Armor

    Marvel Scale

    Motor Drive

    Multiscale

    Oblivious

    Own Tempo

    Sand Veil

    Shell Armor

    Shield Dust

    Simple

    Snow Cloak

    Solid Rock

    Soundproof

    Sticky Hold

    Storm Drain

    Sturdy

    Suction Cups

    Tangled Feet

    Telepathy

    Thick Fat

    Unaware

    Vital Spirit

    Volt Absorb

    Water Absorb

    Water Veil

    White Smoke

    Wonder Guard

    Wonder Skin

Why It’s Good:

Mold Breaker is excellent because it gives its holders a very prominent offensive presence that they might not otherwise secure. The ability to hit certain threats that would otherwise shrug off a move or garner a benefit from it for themselves is nearly unrivaled in the Pokemon Kingdom. It also helps greatly that just about every single user of Mold Breaker has a strong Attack stat, which bolsters Mold Breaker’s usability near twofold.

Generally, this ability provides some edge over other offensive threats, and usually serves to distinguish its holders as prominent offensive threats in their respective tiers. Haxorus is indeed the best user of it at the moment, but I recommend trying out some of the lower tier guys like Pinsir and Throh to see how they play around certain opponents that rely solely on their abilities to make a difference.

How It Could Be Better:

While it is no doubt a blessing, I think Mold Breaker could take its ability-stopping a bit further, perhaps even to the point where it negates all abilities upon attacking the opponent. This could come in serious handy this generation, with the dawn of highly-impenetrable Weather abusers like Swift Swim Kingdra or Chlorophyll Venusaur. Imagine being able to outspeed them with your Choice Banded Haxorus and score the OHKO you might otherwise desperately need? Stopping them, the annoying-as-hell Serene Grace abuser Jirachi, and countless others would make Mold Breaker a true ability of the gods, but for now we can marvel in the fact that it still gives us more competitive benefit than an ability like Keen Eye or Big Pecks.

Conclusion:

Mold Breaker is a quite underrated trait in the current metagame, owing to the fact that the majority of its current holders are not strong competitive choices, being outclassed by superior threats. This overshadowing should not mean that these Pokemon suck, however. Surely things could be better, but as they are now, Mold Breaker remains as one of the most uniquely successful abilities in the entire game, and should be considered as such. Go ahead and try it for yourself!