Other Pokemon of the Week [Starmie]

[firehusky]

Base Stats: 100 HP / 100 Atk / 100 Def / 100 SAtk / 100 SDef / 100 Spe (typing that up was so fun)
Ability: Natural Cure

Alright, this week's victim is Celebi (suggested by Dr Ciel)! Celebi was recently moved up to OU. It has a unique Grass and Psychic typing, giving it numerous resistances, but weaknesses to common attacking types, such as Fire, Ice, and Dark. Celebi has great stats across the board, and can run many good sets. The most common one right now is a Sub + Swords Dance/Nasty Plot baton pass set, which aims to pass it to a partner who can sweep. Celebi is also a perfect counter to Rotom-W, resisting both STABs, while Natural Cure can heal Will-O-Wisp. However, it is 4x weak to U-Turn, and weak to Knock Off, two very common moves in the meta atm. Let's discuss!​

 

[Acrological]

What attacks would mixed x run that would benefit it?

Overheat basically for that strong fire stab just to get pokemon by shock. You can probably have DD EQ and Outrage or D claw.

I feel Tornadus-T can almost completely check it with a Taunt, and force it out with Knock-Off and U-turn along with super effective stab. All though walling one of its typing it can out speed it so that is a big deal.

Bulky Celebi can also be a big deal while setting up a Nasty plot and such.

 

[silver97]

just to start off the discussion
celebi is atm one of the best bulky grass types, ferro might be more useful in general but celebi gives an often needed ground and fight resist despite having more weaknesses, so it is sometimes preferred as a sr user over ferro because it checks things that can otherwise be dangerous, namely breloom, lopunny, terrakion, keldeo and any fighting type i guess.

I feel Tornadus-T can almost completely check it with a Taunt, and force it out with Knock-Off and U-turn along with super effective stab. All though walling one of its typing it can out speed it so that is a big deal.

tornadus-t is awesome in this metagame and yes it is pretty much a counter to celebi, only thing you have to be careful about is celebi potentially having twave that can cripple you if you carelessly switch into it

 

[Backburst]

I personally use Celebi on my favorite team. As a lure with EP and Dual STABs, Celebi brings in stuff like Heatran and Bisharp, only to crush them with a surprise super effective move. NastyPass to something like scarf Keldeo is terrifying, and so is SD Pass to stuff like Lando-T and Talonflame. It can soak some hits with a physical or specially defensive set while keeping healthy with recover and possibly leech seed. Some people even run HP bug on Mon's Celebi hard stops, reducing their over all effectiveness. (such as Keldeo running that and foregoing HP Electric for Gyarados.) Celebi's move pool is preety wide, with gems like Giga Drain, BP, EP, Heal Bell, Healing Wish, and Perish Song. All in all, Celebi is definately something to watch for int he hands of a clever player.

 

[firehusky]

Celebi is also a great check to lando-i. Another point that I want to make is how unpredictable it is. It can run a physically and specially defensive set. Celebi can also run SD pass and Nasty pass, so if he has a keldeo, and an azumarill on his team, then you don't know which boost he is running, and it could be too late when you figure it out.
Also, celebi has perish song, so it can use it to troll BP teams, since it's not affected by magic bounce.

 

[boltsandbombers]

I wouldnt really use Celebi as my check to Lando-I considering how common Sludge Wave is, especially on Calm Mind sets. Nor does Celebi like losing its leftovers to Knock Off.

 

[firehusky]

tbh, sludge wave is a rather meh coverage option, since most sets run earth power, focus blast, psychic, and knock off.
Also, pretty much nothing likes losing lefties to knock off :/
Lando basically has ways around all of it's counters (except cress), but celebi is a good enough check.

 

[AM]

Sludge wave isn't meh though, it's seen on a bunch of Lando-Is these days.

 

[boltsandbombers]

tbh, sludge wave is a rather meh coverage option, since most sets run earth power, focus blast, psychic, and knock off.
Also, pretty much nothing likes losing lefties to knock off :/
Lando basically has ways around all of it's counters (except cress), but celebi is a good enough check.

Ok, I really disagree here.

First off, here are the sludge wave 1825 OU stats from Janauary:

Sludge Wave 33.905%

Thats quite a lot.
Next, people realize how damn common Celebi is and are adapting to that by running said move. Also, it is very helpful for blowing past Fairies, mainly clef and sylveon.
Just because its not on the standard set does not mean it is a "meh coverage move".

Edit: ninja'd but I win because facts and details

 

[firehusky]

Base Stats: 100 HP / 100 Atk / 100 Def / 100 SAtk / 100 SDef / 100 Spe
Ability: Hydration

Alright, this week's victim will be Manaphy, the Prince of the Sea! (suggested by Dr Ciel) Manaphy has solid stats across the board, and a great defensive typing. It has access to Tail Glow and Rain Dance, allowing it to boost it's solid special attack. Manaphy is commonly known as the one man army against stall. It can easily set up to +6 with Tail Glow and sweep. Hydration heals status when in Rain, making it hard to stop Manaphy's sweep with paralysis or poison. It also learn Rest, making it very hard to wear down. However, it sometimes has trouble against hyper offense teams due to it's relatively slow speed, and it rarely has opportunities to set up. Let's discuss!​

 

[Scotti]

Ah manaphy. Manaphy is such an amazing mon. When I use manaphy I mostly used the scald | rest | rain dance | cm set. That set works so well against stall teams. Stall teams that use unaware mons such as clefable and quagsire, get crippled by scald burns making it harder to counter manaphy later on in the game. Well quagsire just loses, and clefable has a hard time.

The offensive tail glow set is also pretty cool. With the ability to choose from scald | energy ball | ice beam | psychic, it can put in work against a large amount of balanced teams in the meta. The tail grow rain dance set is pretty cool to prevent status, and it has a second move choice unlike the cm + rain dance set. However it lacks the recovery of the cm rain dance set, but is still a great set overall.

I mostly run manaphy on balanced or bulky offensive teams, as they love the defensive and offensive support it brings. Manaphy is pretty bulky and can take on physical attackers such as Lando-t, bisharp, talonflame etc. It can also lure in defensive mons with energy ball and psychic, allowing other mons on the team to put in work. It also does great against rain teams with it great bulky and abusing the rain with hydration.

Overall manaphy is a great mon, and it will continue to be a powerful force in the metagame.

 

[firehusky]

Manaphy works well with Mega Metagross and Mega Gallade, two strong threats. If you're running Energy Ball as a coverage move, it can easily take on Quagsire and Slowbro, and a Tail Glow set can also take out Mega Sableye. Pairing it with mons that can deal with Thundurus and the like is also a good idea.

CM Rain Dance is a cool set, as Manaphy can wait until it's checks and counters are gone and then late game it can boost up and clean up the team. Both TG Rain Dance and CM Rain Dance are great sets, but I prefer Tail Glow, because I feel like Suicune is better for the CM + Rest stuff.

 

[leremyju]

Manaphy is amazing. It has a variety of set up moves and tons of offensive options in psychic, ice beam, energy ball, etc..
I think one of the bad parts about it is that to use Hydration its kind of forced to run Rain Dance. Pre Metagross suspect it was also a check. Honestly I love the max defense calm mind Manaphy because it sets up on so much and just wins.

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

 

[DarkNostalgia]

As a Manaphy lover, I've using a core of Gothitelle+TGRD Manaphy. Gothitelle takes out common bulky grass types such as Amoonguss, Venusuar and Ferrothorn who wall Manaphy, paving a way for a Manaphy sweep.

Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
- Scald
- Energy Ball

 

[OLD GREGG (im back baby)]

Manaphy isn't always the first mon that comes to mind when building rain teams but it is one of the best options. Tail Glow + 3 attacks really shits on a whole lot of mons and having something else bring the rain allows Manaphy to go entirely offensive. When I use Manaphy, I always use an Ev spread of 252HP / 4 Spa / 252 Spe Timid to give Manaphy more all around bulk and speed since TG will be boosting it's Spa to insane levels very quickly.

 

[firehusky]

Manaphy isn't always the first mon that comes to mind when building rain teams but it is one of the best options. Tail Glow + 3 attacks really shits on a whole lot of mons and having something else bring the rain allows Manaphy to go entirely offensive. When I use Manaphy, I always use an Ev spread of 252HP / 4 Spa / 252 Spe Timid to give Manaphy more all around bulk and speed since TG will be boosting it's Spa to insane levels very quickly.

Tbh I would rather go with a Modest nature though, it nets a lot more 2HKOs and OHKOs, while also having more power.
Any thoughts on the best item for Manaphy? Leftovers is preferred for passive recovery, but I think life orb or mystic water could also work.

 

[firehusky]

Base Stats: 50 HP / 160 Atk / 110 Def / 160 SpA / 110 SpD / 110 Spe
Ability: Clear Body ---> Magic Bounce

Alright, this week's victim will be Mega Diancie! Mega Diancie has great offensive stats, and a reliable 110 base speed. It's ability Magic Bounce allows it to bounce back hazards and status moves, such as Thunder Wave. It's signature move, Diamond Storm is an improved Stone Edge, with a 50% chance to boost it's defense. Mega Diancie can run two sets very effectively, Calm Mind, and Rock Polish. CM sets can run over stall teams easily, while offensive teams have trouble dealing with RP variants. However, Diancie is actually quite frail, as 50 base HP is extremely low. It is also weak to common priority moves such as Aqua Jet and Bullet Punch, and has to deal with a low base 50 speed prior to mega evolution. Let's discuss!​

 

[Acrological]

Dinacie can be a threat if you dont have much priority and your team is a little weakened with its high base attacks it can sweep through you team. A CB Scizor can easily check while having power on your team or another variant :P

 

[firehusky]

Yeah Mega Diancie has fantastic dual offensive stats, and two great STAB moves in the form of Diamond Storm with a nifty chance to boost defense, and moonblast. It also has fantastic coverage options such as psyshock to hit stuff such as mega venusaur, earth power to hit steel-types such as heatran, and HP fire for pokemon such as ferrothorn, while also catching scizor on the switch.
If mega meta gets banned, I think mega diancie will be a lot more popular, as the main thing holding it back was how common mega metagross was, and how easily it could check it with bullet punch.

 

[bludz]

Man, this thing is fun. Sweeps through weakened teams almost effortlessly. Really only walled by some steel types and really fat mons. Loves fire type teammates to remove steels, as Heatran is smacked by Earth Power anyway so fire covers all your bases (Ferro, Scizor, etc). This does compound a water weakness but Celebi is also a fantastic partner as you can run Nasty Pass (oml the THREAT) and also resists water/ground while Diancie checks smogonbird and dark types. Both hate Scizor but that's why you run a fire type. Works great in a DFS core too, Magnezone is a really common partner.

Protect is probably the best 4th moveslot to allow scouting, free mega evolution and mindgames against scarfers. RP good for sweeps and CM while the worst of the 3 options can decimate balance teams after a boost (seriously I almost got 6-0'd one game until I got a CM up and just swept). Not a big fan of HP Fire because of the speed tier and Diancie is meant to sweep not support (i.e. Latis) but I suppose there is possible viability on a RP set.

 

[firehusky]

As you pointed out, Magnezone is an excellent partner. It's steel trapping abilities and HP fire allow it to easily dispatch of most steel types such as skarmory, ferrothorn, and mega scizor. Magnezone can also utilise it's slow volt-turn to bring diancie in safely. Protect + 3 attacks seems like a decent set, what about an all out attacker set, with psyshock, moonblast, diamond storm, and earthpower? Of course, it's harder to mega safely, but you get extra coverage against poison types.

 

[boltsandbombers]

As you pointed out, Magnezone is an excellent partner. It's steel trapping abilities and HP fire allow it to easily dispatch of most steel types such as skarmory, ferrothorn, and mega scizor. Magnezone can also utilise it's slow volt-turn to bring diancie in safely. Protect + 3 attacks seems like a decent set, what about an all out attacker set, with psyshock, moonblast, diamond storm, and earthpower? Of course, it's harder to mega safely, but you get extra coverage against poison types.

Basically, the Protect + 3 Attacks set is the all out attacker for the most part. I guess that a 4 attacks set might have some merit (would be interested to see a replay I guess), but I dont think it would be too hard to fit Psychic (better choice over psyshock because mega venu runs physical bulk) if your team can patch up for one of the lacking coverage moves, and it is helpful to lure in said mega venu for teammates such as keldeo. Psyshock is the better choice on a Calm Mind set to break through opposing Calm Mind users like Clefable. Most of what I have to say on this mon has been stated already, but what is most prevalent to me is Mega Diancie's versatility, as between its All-Out Attacker, Calm Mind, and Rock Polish sets it keeps you on your toes trying to guess which set it is when switching something in.

 

[firehusky]

Basically, the Protect + 3 Attacks set is the all out attacker for the most part. I guess that a 4 attacks set might have some merit (would be interested to see a replay I guess), but I dont think it would be too hard to fit Psychic (better choice over psyshock because mega venu runs physical bulk) if your team can patch up for one of the lacking coverage moves, and it is helpful to lure in said mega venu for teammates such as keldeo. Psyshock is the better choice on a Calm Mind set to break through opposing Calm Mind users like Clefable. Most of what I have to say on this mon has been stated already, but what is most prevalent to me is Mega Diancie's versatility, as between its All-Out Attacker, Calm Mind, and Rock Polish sets it keeps you on your toes trying to guess which set it is when switching something in.

Good point. Once you mispredict and let Diancie get up that Rock Polish, it's extremely hard to revenge kill bar priority moves like aqua jet and bullet punch. The premier check to most set up sweepers is prankster thundurus, as it can paralyze you. However, Diancie has magic bounce, so it bounces back all status attempts, making it even harder to stop once it gets going. I laddered for a little bit on the suspect ladder and noticed that mega diancie was actually really common, and it actually is quite underrated. Many people even think it's broken.

 

[Holiday]

Eww this fairy slut

Tbh I don't like using Protect + 3 Attacks. Gotta stay boosting with my yung CM set. It's kinda cool to use it with Landorus-I, who can also run a CM or RP set (I run RP if MDiancie is CM, and vice versa) as the Calm Minding one can break down the tougher walls so the Rock Polisher can sweep the frail ones with the new speed. Overall, Mega Diancie isn't something game breaking, but when you use it in the proper core and when her checks are weakened, OU's Diamond Princess certainly leaves a mark.

 

[Backburst]

Please don't be fooled into thinking Magnezone is actually a good partner. Overlapping weakness to ground and a lot of scizor carry superpower just to kill mag on the switch. Think of a better teammate like Volcarona, who likes a clear field, and can set up a quiver dance if they swap into scizor.

Protect+3 or Rp both work well. I have no experience with CM. Don't run hp fire on non-RP sets, as you speed tie and ohko Gengar and the Lati twins. Good mega overall, but sad that p.def rotom-w can revenge you even at 70%.