I actually started an account here just to post some moveset ideas I had for Tsareena, as she's one of my fave mons from this gen, and I'd love to see a good viable set for her. When I started digging on my own, I was initially excited cause I thought Play Rough and High Jump Kick was great, unique coverage for a pure grass. But then I looked and saw that's pretty much all it gets in terms of coverage. Plus no boosting beyond Acupressure, and no Leaf Blade? I was bummed, to be sure. But seeing some of these sets filled me with hope for Tsareena, especially the assault vest ideas. As for myself, I already came up with a choice scarf set posted before, so I wanted to share a tweaked version of the weakness policy set someone posted as well.
Tsareena @ Weakness Policy
Adamant Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Speed / 252 Atk
- Trop Kick
- Play Rough
- High Jump Kick
- Acrobatics
The idea here is, you can tank pretty much any non-boosted SE non-stab hit you will receive with Max HP Evs, then you get boosted and go to town. Fighting/Grass/Fairy/Flying is pretty darn good coverage, and obviously, after using the weakness policy, your acrobatics is now a base 110 move. The speed is obviously an issue, but if you're using a pokemon like Tsareena, you'll probably have some kind of speed control to mitigate the issue. You can surely play around with the EVs, if you like. For example 68 speed evs will outspeed neutral-natured uninvested base 80's, which isn't great, but will get you some outspeeds, and you can go from there with it, if you like. Just as an example of what you can take with max HP investment.
Garchomp's Poison Jab: 51.3 - 61.4% (that's with a lum berry, but even with a life orb, you aren't OHKO'ed)
As another idea, I wanted to toy with the idea of full support/utility Tsareena, since I'm fairly sure that it's the only pokemon that gets both rapid spin and aromatherapy.
Tsareena @ Leftovers
Jolly Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Speed / 4 Defense
- Aromatherapy
- Rapid Spin
- Trop Kick
- Light Screen/Toxic/Synthesis/U-Turn
The idea here is just full support like I said. It can do both cleric and spinner duties, while also lowering attack and potentially forcing switches with trop kick, with the last move just being whatever you might need for your team. Light Screen and Trop Kick go well together, I think, and you can never go wrong with toxic. Synthesis will definitely help sustainability. It's really up to you. The EVS here are just to maximize speed and overall bulk, but you can play around with these too by taking some out of speed and putting it into defenses to be more of a mixed tank. Personally, I would go with something like this if I wasn't worried about speed
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Defense / 252 Sp. Defense
Careful/Impish Nature
Again with trop kick, you're already lowering attack, so you will be deceptively bulky on the physical side, which is why it works with light screen, I think. But with full Sp.Defense investment along with it, you're going to be tanking a lot of things on both sides. Obviously, being a grass type tank isn't the best, so there are certain things you'll just want to stay away from altogether, but in regards to neutral hits or non-STAB super effective hits, here are just some things to consider, (And these are all without light screen)
252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tsareena: 75-90 (41.8 - 50.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Tsareena: 76-90 (42.4 - 50.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
4 SpA Celesteela Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tsareena: 66-78 (36.8 - 43.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Xurkitree Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tsareena: 68-82 (37.9 - 45.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Tapu Fini Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tsareena: 68-80 (37.9 - 44.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
In a lot of cases, you're going to be a 3HKO pokemon, which is why it might be worth to run synthesis, but at the same time, there isn't necessarily a ton you can do in return to a lot of these pokemon without running toxic, so really, it's a bit of a case of 4MSS, but I think one can make it work.
Overall, I'd say Tsareena is a pokemon with a lot of potential, even if it's not as a straight physical sweeper. Its movepool is limited in terms of coverage, but it has definite utility, and the stats to mostly back it up. I only wish it had just a little more, personally. Either a little more HP to really solidify that bulk, a little more attack to hit like a bus, more speed to make a choice scarf set really work, or some more coverage options so that certain types don't just wall you out entirely, but I can see it as a solid UU tier utility mon for sure. Being a bulkyish grass rapid spinner gives it enough of a niche alone.
