Other Priority in OU

[doughboy]

One of the interesting characteristics I have noticed about this generation is the huge expansion of priority options compared to last generation. From 4th generation to 5th generation, the common priority users stayed the same. The mainstay priorities were Bullet Punch (Scizor / small Lucario), Ice Shard (Mamoswine), Mach Punch (Breloom), and Extremespeed (Lucario / Dragonite). Only a handful of Pokemon that were common in the OU metagame really used these powerful priorities. Not to say that other Pokemon couldn't use a priority, such as Weaville; Feraligatr; Metagross; and Conkeldurr, but the priority used in OU was almost always from Mamoswine, Breloom, Scizor, and Dragonite (these were the strongest priority moves).

From 5th Generation to 6th Generation we have seen a huge bloom in priority users. First, many Pokemon were introduced that have a new type of priority or have an old priority move that didn't have a good user. Second and more importantly, many old Pokemon that had priority were buffed to get a chance to shine in OU or got priority this generation. As opposed to just 5 pokemon really using priority in OU, we now have a good variety of Pokemon that have powerful priority.

New Priority Users:

Shadow Sneak

Aegislash is currently one of the most dominant Pokemon in OU right now and it is also the most common priority user. In addition to its stellar defensive typing of Steel/Ghost and 60/150/150 defenses, it has access to immediate base 150 Atk and base 150 SpA through Stance Chance. Aegislash is the first user of Shadow Sneak to have base +120 attack.

It shouldn't be a mystery as to why Shadow Sneak is such a popular option on Aegislash. The priority makes up for Aegislash's low base 60 speed. Since Steel does not resist Ghost anymore and Ghost has great neutrality, Shadow Sneak can become a nifty option to clean up late game. The base 150 priority can also be a nice revenge killing tool against fast Ghost and Psychic types or weakened sweepers.
Unfortunately, Aegislash can be easily out-prioritized due to his slow base speed.

Aqua Jet (why stupid formating issues xenoforums q.q)

Last generation, Aqua Jet was only found on Rain teams looking for a sweet endgame sweeper. Rain-boosted Aqua Jets were some of the most powerful priorities in the tier, usually with Feraligatr. Now, Aqua Jet is a common sight in the OU tier thanks to a newly buffed Azumarill. Azumarill gained a Fairy-typing this generation that adds an impressive set of resists and an immunity to Dragons. In addition, Azumarill can now use Belly Drum + Aqua Jet together legally due to new breeding mechanics this generation. Normally, one finds Azumarill firing off its powerful Huge Power boosted moves with a Choice Band, acting as a pivot and revenge killer, or boosting with Belly Drum, acting as a late game sweeper.

Another new Aqua Jet user is Crawdaunt. Crawdaunt is not as popular as Azumarill because it does not have a nice pair of resists, but it does make up for it with a better STAB and power. Since Steel does not resist Dark anymore, Crawdaunt can spam its Dark-type STAB much more easily. Knock Off now has 95 base power when an opposing Pokemon has an item. That stings very much coming off an Adaptability+Choice Band boost. Crawdaunt also has a base 100 physical water-STAB: Crabhammer. In tandem, few Pokemon can stomach the awesome power Crawdaunt offers.

Sucker Punch

Sucker Punch is not resisted by Steel-types anymore. This new property makes it much harder for offensive teams to stomach, in addition to its great 80 base power. Bisharp takes advantage of this new property the most because now its Steel+Dark STAB combination compliment each other perfectly. With just one SD and a Dread Plate, Bisharp has the capability of to OHKO Garchomp with Sucker Punch. Talk about power.

Sucker Punch has been a common move among many of the Mega-Evolutions introduced into the tier. Mega-Mawhile incorporates Sucker Punch into its moveset because with Play Rough Mega-Mawhile obtains perfect neutral coverage. It also makes up for its low speed. While Mega-Mawhile does not have STAB on Sucker Punch, having the highest attack stat in the game makes up for the power (base 105 Huge Power). Mega-Absol can use Sucker Punch very well because Magic Bounce prevents the usage of most non-attacking moves. It also has STAB and base 150 attack to back it.

Our mega-friend Mega Kanghaskan used his 120 base power (after parental bond) Sucker Punch too well in OU to beat faster threats so he got the boot.

Flying-type Priority

For the first time time in Pokemon, we have flying type priority! Talonflame is very popular right now, since its Gale Wings Brave Bird is such a great revenge killing tool. While Talonflame isn't very powerful on its own with base 81 attack, it effectively has the strongest priority move in the game coming in at 180 base power (factoring in STAB). That makes it twice as powerful as Scizor's STAB-Technician Bullet Punch, which clocks in at 90 base power. Here is a calc that shows that power difference:

252+ Atk Choice Band Technician (Scizor) Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def (custom): 162-192 (47.5 - 56.3%) -- 82.42% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band (Talonflame) Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def (custom): 235-277 (68.91 - 81.23%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Talonflame can out prioritize every other priority user in OU due to its extremely high base speed. Gale Wings has the nifty side effect of also giving priority to Roost and Tailwind.

Mega-Pinsir also has priority in the form of Aerialite Quick Attack. While its priority is not as strong as Talonflame, its main sweeping move Return, blows Talonflame out of the sky. Return clocks in at 199 base power when factoring in Aerialite's 30% boost. This same boost applies to Quick Attack, which becomes 78 base power after the Aerialite boost. When you bring in Swords Dance and a nice base 155 attack into the equation with the Aerialite boost, you have a monster on your hands.

Unfortunately, both of the users of Flying-type priority are x4 weak to Stealth Rock!

Bullet Punch

Lucario had access to Bullet Punch in generation 5 and included it on his SD set to beat Terrakion and Gengar. What distinguishes Bullet Punch Lucario this generation is that Bullet Punch is boosted by Adaptability on Mega Lucario. Adaptability boosted Bullet Punch on Mega Lucario is just as strong as Scizor's Technician boosted Bullet Punch. After an SD, Mega Lucario's Bullet Punch is actually strong enough to kill many fairy-types that might stand in its way. While its Bullet Punch is mainly to aid its sweep, it can still be used as a revenge killing tool.


Quick Attack / Extreme Speed

Diggersby adds another Huge Power user on our list. His Quick Attack actually hits harder than Azumarill Aqua's Jet on a neutral target. While not as good as Aqua Jet for a revenge killing tool, since it is resisted by more targets, Quick Attack can still allow Diggersby to pick off threats late game and combat its low speed.

While not as powerful as Dragonite, Zygarde does have access to Extemespeed. Zygarde's Extremespeed is not great for revenge killing because it is quite weak, but it is an excellent aid to Zygarde's sweeping potential. DD Zygarde is a weird combination of Dragonite and Garchomp. It has the bulk and movepool that Dragonite has, but the extra Ground-STAB to help it take out Steel / Fairies that Garchomp can and it isn't weak to Stealth Rock.
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So how do these new priority moves contribute to OU? Well, the addition to all these priority users in addition to all the old ones means teams are not as reliant on speed to check offensive threats. Azumarill, Mega-Mawhile, and Aegislash all make excellent bulky pivots for an offensive team, but still maintain the ability to check offensive threats. This variety also means in an offense vs offense matchup, one can not easily "clean" sweep through an opposing team with just one sweeper (multiple priorities can chip at one sweeper). What do you guys think? Anymore new / improved users you can think of?

 

[sidakarya]

M-Lucario is actually the most versatile priority user of all, having three priority-moves to choose from. He also has access to Vacuum Wave, another move that's boosted by Adaptability, that works on special based sets. Arguably are special-sets even more dangerous than physical sets, being much more difficult to wall. The threat of +2 Vacuum Wave will make faster revenge-killers (and there aren't many!) think not twice, but thrice about coming in. He also gets Extremespeed, which does not get boosted, but on physical sets is useful for winning against the few faster priority-users like Talonflame.

One other form of priority, that hasn't been mentioned, is Prankster. Thundurus-I stands out as an extremely potent Prankster; his priority Thunderwave and Taunt help to cripple many boosting sweepers as an emergency-measure. It also helps, that he is a monstrous attacker in his own right. Klefki has got all the hype in the first few months of X+Y. While its stats are somewhat lacking and has no offensive presence, it stands out from Thundurus by having access to priority dual screens and Spikes (also that sodding Swagkey set, but let's not go there), and with the best defensive typing as well (shared with Mawile)

 

[Exeggutive]

One you overlooked was special Lucario. One of its big flaws as a special sweeper in gen 5 was his weaker priority moves but with lucarioite, vacuum wave lucario has the strongest special priority in the game.

Another thing is prankster. With thundurus I in ou, he is easily the best offensive prankster in the game. klefki is good too with spikes and twave. Not sure if that counts but it's good lol

Genesect can use espeed now too and be a very strong mixed attacker that isn't as vulnerable to other priority. Or it can run a surprise cb set with iron head/espeed/u turn/filler.

 

[Shroomisaur]

Well, Genesect immediately springs to mind as a new user of Extremespeed, and it can make great use of it too with a possible CB + Download boost, or Shift Gear to boost even further. I'm glad sidakarya mentioned Prankster as well, because Prankster TWave and Taunt from Thundurus and TWave and Screens from Klefki are extremely useful.

Priority is something I personally feel Gamefreak went a little overboard with this generation, as all the incredibly powerful users now have really shaken up the metagame.

 

[asterat]

Just saying scizor uses bullet punch too...

Also dragonite extremespeed

Mention prankster banette/sableye?


EDIT: Sorry I'm bad at words.

 

[doughboy]

Just saying scizor uses bullet punch too...

Also dragonite extremespeed

Mention prankster banette/sableye?

keyword you missed: new

 

[BROloom]

Mega-Pinsir also has priority in the form of Aerialite Quick Attack. While its priority is not as strong as Talonflame, its main sweeping move Return, blows Talonflame out of the sky. Return clocks in at 199 base power when factoring in Aerialite's 33% boost. This same boost applies to Quick Attack, which becomes 53 base power after the Aerialite boost. When you bring in Swords Dance and a nice base 155 attack into the equation with the Aerialite boost, you have a monster on your hands.

Why did you add STAB when calculating returns base power, then neglected to do that with quick attack? I also believe that the boost is 30%, not 33%.

 

[haunter]

Greninja gets both Water Shuriken and Shadow Sneak (although it rarely has room for priority on its sets).

Talonflame is definitely the most threatening priority user in OU (actually it's OU just because of its strong priority Brave Bird).

Entei should probably also get a mention. While it got Extremespeed already in B/W, his new signature move, Sacred Fire, could give it, for the first time, some potential in OU.

 

[farranpoison]

I feel like the Dark buff to Sucker Punch could definitely help some Dark types in the lower tiers in terms of coverage. Skuntank, Mightyena, Cacturne... Even Protean Kecleon might carve itself a niche with the new Sucker Punch. Well, at least they'll be somewhat decent rather than terrible.

 

[November Blue]

This isn't really relevant, as it doesn't exist, but one other form of priority that we might see in the future is Prankster + Nature Power.

Nature Power is listed as a non-attacking move, and could give a powerful attacker a bunch of different priority moves. Notably, Nature Power becomes Moonblast during Misty Terrain. Priority Moonblast...

Anyway, priority has become so widespread this gen that it's practically become a Pokemon class of its own. There are so many different kinds of priority users that you can easy fit three or more onto a team.

An important point is that a lot of powerful priority also has good neutral coverage. Sucker Punch, Brave Bird, Bullet Punch, ect. Due to this, priority moves are often legitimate attacks rather than type-dependant revenge killing or checking tools.

Two more priority moves that are worth mentioning are King's Shield and Baby-Doll Eyes.

King's Shield is not just a part of Aegislash's Stance Change, but a great check to physical attackers. Aegislash has more than enough bulk to switch in and threaten to cut an opponent's Attack, which gives it the ability to force out Pokemon that could normally deal good damage to it, such as Talonflame and Absol. Smeargle can also use King's Shield, which, along with Parting Shot, can give it some use as a pivot.

Baby-Doll Eyes is a new Fairy-type move with +1 priority that lowers the foe's Attack by one stage. It hasn't really been explored yet, but Furfrou and Espeon can both make use of it.

 

[alphatron]

Kangaskhan is a female only Pokemon.

To be honest, I'm not sure if Zygarde is that good a user of extreme speed. He requires way too many boosts with coil (or dragon dance if you REALLY want to use that) in order for extreme speed to be threatening.

Protean keckleon gets stab on both sucker punch and shadow sneak but...this is keckleon we're talking about.

 

[SergantGold]

Kangaskhan is a female only Pokemon.

To be honest, I'm not sure if Zygarde is that good a user of extreme speed. He requires way too many boosts with coil (or dragon dance if you REALLY want to use that) in order for extreme speed to be threatening.

Protean keckleon gets stab on both sucker punch and shadow sneak but...this is keckleon we're talking about.

Zygarde is extemely threatening with a coil set either way. Edgequake+E-speed+Coil with Zygardes vast bulk is positively amazing, especially considering coil will make stone edge 100% accurate. E-speed is just there to give it a chance against mamo unless I'm mistaken.

And lol kecleon.

And @ the OP Adaptibility BP is 40 x 2 = 80 and scizor's BP is 40 x 1.5(technician) x 1.5(stab) = 90.
So Scizor's is still stronger assuming no boost on Lucario and Scizor is CB or mega. If it's mega it can boost alongside Lucario mega.