Yeah, Z-Electric Terrain > Z-Hypnosis is definitely the way to go on this thing. Z-Hypnosis sounds good on paper but in practice it's way too luck based, and gets blocked by 2/4 terrains which is not great with how popular Tapu Koko and Fini are the atm. Also, if you're looking for a Hidden Power to hit Alolanwak with, HP Ground is the best option imo. It actually has some utility outside of beating Marowak, since it breaks through opposing Electric types, like Magnzeone.
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Pokémon Xurkitree
- Thread starter Jukain
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I didn't realise Z-Electric Terrain boosted speed, that's really cool. I think if you have it with BP speed support for the likes of Scolipede, then Electrium-Z becomes a great either/or move - great for a Z-Thunderbolt if you've received boosts, but also great for a psuedo-Dragon Dance concerning your STAB if the the speed boosts went elsewhere. Where Hypnosis is shaky (still the 60% accuracy, even if you do always get the speed boost) you're getting something consistently useful with Electric Terrain and I think Xirkutree can do a lot with just two attacking moves given its crazy high SpAtk.
I feel like Xurkitree is pretty underrated right now. Sure, it fares poorly against offensive teams - however, what I would really use it for is incredible stallbreaking. Tail Glow is an incredible setup move - the standard Unaware users on stall, Quagsire and Clefable, get annihilated by Energy Ball and Thunderbolt respectively. It is a huge threat to stall staples such as Skarmory and Toxapex, meaning that it can easily find setup opportunities on these Pokemon. At +6, Magnet Modest Thunderbolt does 73 - 89% to Chansey, where as Chansey can't even Thunder Wave it back thanks to its nifty Electric typing. Probably the biggest flaw to Xurkitree is its incredible weakness to Dugtrio, but if you can eliminate Dugtrio then Xurkitree can easily annihilate stall teams.
No stall player is just going to go ahead and sac Dugtrio when you have Xurkitree in the back. If they're clever, they'll just keep it the entire game and only switch it in when Xurkitree comes in, leaving it with no kills at all if Dugtrio's sash is intact.
This is all really true and what i think stops Xurkitree from being really good in OU, if you really wanted to go that far then you could run Shed Shell to get away from Dugtrio
If this thing had just 12 more speed, I feel as though it would have been a top tier threat in OU, at least A rank. (Just take the 12 points out of its useless attack stat.)
Having a speed tier of 95 would allow it to outspeed Tapu Fini, Lando-T, and get a crucial speed tie with Tapu Lele (which after a Tail Glow it can OHKO).
But alas, we may never know.
Having a speed tier of 95 would allow it to outspeed Tapu Fini, Lando-T, and get a crucial speed tie with Tapu Lele (which after a Tail Glow it can OHKO).
But alas, we may never know.
Any thoughts on running a fast bulkier variant without any investment into SpA for a Tail Glow set? Timid with no investment still has more offensive pressence than a Timid max SpA Manaphy so I thought I just put it out there for discussion purposes.
For anyone wondering exactly how much more offensive presence an uninvested (or 4 EVs because the numbers work out better) Xurkitree has, it's equivalent to 125 Modest or 142 Timid.
And practically the same Special Attack as the unused Modest max SpA Hydreigon.
The thing is still its bulk - even with 252 HP EVs it's frailer than (going with the aforementioned Pokemon) an uninvested Hydreigon, so it's a matter of checking whether it can really survive anything particularly interesting.
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