Pokemon Sage Analysis

Florresum: Florresum is a very threatening sweeper and special attacker thanks to its great STAB combo, access to Quiver Dance, and high power STAB moves that go along well with its offensive typing. Its movepool is pretty shallow and outside of your typical Grass- and Flying-types moves, it doesn't really get much coverage options to work with, however, Hurricane is very strong and Hidden Power Fire is really all it needs coverage wise to hit most of the metagame for at least neutral damage. Quiver Dance is obviously its biggest selling point, as it is able to boost its already stellar Speed stat to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame, making it very hard to revenge kill. Its slightly above average Special Attack stat is heavily made up for through boosting and STAB Hurricane.

While Giga Drain or Energy Ball seem like staples on most of its sets for recovery/power, Floressum has access to a VERY interesting move in Vibrant Leaf, which gives all of its moves +1 priority the following turn. This means that theoretically speaking, Florresum is able to have access to priority Hurricane, which is absolutely terrifying. Although Vibrant Leaf sounds less useful on a Pokemon like Florresum that's already very fast and hard to revenge kill after a boost, it's still a great albeit weaker Grass-type move to run that allows Florresum to potentially pick off priority users or Choice Scarf users that try to revenge kill it.

Florresum also has a few other options. Thanks to its blistering Speed stat and high powered STAB moves, a Choice Specs set seems very threatening, as it is able to fire off STAB Leaf Storms, Hurricanes, and can potentially clean up weakened teams with Petal Dance. It even has access to U-turn, so you can grab momentum on predicted switch-ins.

While Florresum is easily one of the most threatening sweepers in the metagame, it has a few crippling flaws, such as its pitiful bulk, which keeps it from being able to set up vs more offensive teams. It's also weak to Stealth Rock, limiting its switch in opportunities and often forcing you to run a hazard remover. It's also 4x weak to Ice Shard and not that physically bulky at all, so it's not too hard to revenge kill it with priority users.

Flairees: Flairees is an interesting Pokemon with a strong STAB combo and VERY powerful STAB moves to complement it. With access to Flare Blitz and Head Smash, very little is going to be able to switch into Flairees comfortably. Its base 120 Attack stat is more than enough to abuse its offensive capabilities, and its base 90 Speed stat, while not too amazing, is still respectable enough.

A Choiced set seems like the most obvious option for Flairees to run, both functioning different roles. With a Choice Band, practically nothing will want to switch into Flairees, as either one of its moves is going to leave a massive dent in anything. Choice Scarf lets it function as a potent revenge killer, as it remedies its subpar Speed stat and allows it to smash through weakened offensive teams with ease. While it lacks coverage moves outside of Earthquake, its STAB combo already hits so much for neutral damage that it doesn't really need much else. A Rock Polish set could also see some use, but it will be worn down quite easily and wont find many opportunities to set up. Lastly, Flairees could see use as an offensive Stealth Rock user for more offensively oriented teams.

Flairees is a very strong physical attacker with few switch-ins, but it has quite a few crippling flaws. For one thing, both of its STAB moves have a huge recoil drawback, and on top of that, Flairees' HP stat isn't that great, so after a single Flare Blitz or Head Smash it will already be heavily worn down. This keeps it from being able to run any sweeping sets reliably, such as Rock Polish, and on top of its Stealth Rock weakness, hazard vulnerability, mediocre Speed, and terrible defensive typing, there's not many opportunities for Flairees to come in freely and wreck havoc. All in all, Flairees is a solid Pokemon, but its flaws put quite a damper on its overall viability.

Aguanaut: Aguanaut seems to be a pretty straight forward Water/Fighting type Pokemon with the ability to functions as a strong sweeper. Its typing is godly offensively, and with access to good STAB moves in Close Combat and Waterfall, it can easily clean up weakened teams. Its Speed stat and average Attack stat is made up for with Dragon Dance, and a Life Orb Close Combat is going to be putting a huge dent into anything that doesn't resist it. Its physical bulk is actually quite impressive, so it could easily find opportunities to set up against weaker physical attacks. It also gets Ice Punch and Earthquake for good coverage if it ever were to need them, and Drain Punch can be used to help mitigate Life Orb recoil.

Outside of its STAB moves and Dragon Dance, it doesn't really have anything else to play with. A Choice Band set seems like it could be a pretty cool hole puncher, but it's pretty slow, so against faster teams it wont be doing that much. It's also not strong or fast enough to properly run a Choice Scarf. Still, while Aguanaut may suffer from low initial Speed and power, as well as being fairly predictable, it's still a potent sweeper with a very good STAB combo which allows it to distinguish itself from the other many Dragon Dancers in the tier.

Warquila: Warquila is like Pokemon Sage's version of Staraptor, although arguably not as good. It has a decent base 105 Attack stat and 100 Speed, and it has access to high powered STABs in Double-Edge and Brave Bird. It also has Drill Run to hit Steel- and Rock-types with, and much like every bird Pokemon it has U-turn to maintain momentum. While it wishes it had Reckless, Moxie is still a pretty cool ability which allows it to abuse its high powered STABs better as well as remedy its only slightly above average Attack stat.

Set wise, a Choice Scarf set seems pretty viable as it has good offensive stats to work with, and with Moxie it would be able to clean up weakened teams. Choice Band also seems pretty cool, seeing how very little outside of Steel- and Rock-types will want to switch into its STAB combo, and even then it can still hit them hard with Drill Run. U-turn is also a god send for Choice users, so it will constantly maintain momentum through out the match. Lastly, a simple all out attacker set with Sharp Beak seems like it could work out okay, as it would be able to freely switch up moves which can be especially useful now that you wont have to predict Rock or Steel-type switch-ins. Warquila has a pretty mediocre HP stat, so it's very easy to wear down when combined with recoil and a Stealth Rock weakness. It's also not very fast when lacking a Choice Scarf so it's easy to revenge kill, and it's not THAT strong either without a boosting item or a Moxie boost, as it lacks any other way to boost its Attack outside of Work Up or Hone Claws. Overall, while Warquila is by no means unviable, it just seems like it would have a hard time being fit onto most teams, although it does seem decent on more offensive teams, it still seems like it would be rather outclassed.

Capabara: Unviable in standard play

Avalynx: Otherwise a really mediocre Pokemon, Avalynx was gifted with the neat ability, Ice Slick, which doubles its Speed stat in Hail and allows it to function as a strong cleaner/revenge killer on Hail teams. Its base 95 Speed stat is already quite good, which keeps it from over relying on Hail and makes it practically the fastest Pokemon in the metagame when Hail is in effect.

While Avalynx has the potential to be a very scary sweeper in Hail, there's one thing that's keeping it from being a top tier threat, and that is its completely barren movepool. Outside of Icicle Crash, Crunch, Wild Charge, and Sucker Punch, Avalynx doesn't really get any coverage at all to work with. To further harshen the blow, it also lacks a good boosting move such as Swords Dance to muscle through Pokemon that normally might be able to tank its Ice hits. It also has absolutely nothing good to hit Steel-types with outside of Dig, which sucks because it loses you a ton of momentum. Avalynx can still be effective versus offensive teams, especially once Steel-types are taken care of, but because of how good Steel-types are and how Avalynx has nothing to hit them with, you're always going to be losing a ton of momentum. Unless Avalynx gets a few additions to its movepool such as something to hit Steel-types with, it doesn't seem like Avalynx will stand out among the few other Ice Slick Pokemon that reside in the metagame.

Buckston: Buckston is another Pokemon with a very unique ability. Brave Heart gives Buckston an Attack boost for each stat boost that the opposing Pokemon raises. For example, if your opponent's Aguanaut uses Dragon Dance, Buckston's Attack stat will raise by two stages. This basically means that Buckston will be able to severely punish anything that tries to use it as set up fodder, which is a pretty huge advantage. The only issue is that Buckston really doesn't have the stats to truly make use of this ability. Its Speed stat is pretty mediocre, siting only at 80, while its Attack stat is decent but still not immediately threatening and also lacks a good boosting move.

Its movepool isn't too bad; Double-Edge is a strong STAB move, and it also has access to Jump Kick for Rock- and Steel-types as well as Megahorn for bulky Grass-types. However, this does not make up for its poor Speed and lack of a boosting move. Even with a Choice Scarf, it's still not strong enough to properly revenge kill without a boost, and it's very difficult to fully make use of its ability because of how it only activates when a Pokemon tries to raise its stats while Buckston is in play, compared to if Buckston would get a free boost every time it was sent out on something that was already boosted. Because of this, Buckston has a very hard time keeping up with both the offensive and defensive side of the metagame.

Penglacier: Yet another Rock-type Pokemon, Penglacier is built very much like an offensive tank. With two very strong offensive STAB moves and its ability, Permafrost, which gives it a 50% defense boost while in Hail, as well as access to Icicle Crash and Head Smash, it sounds like Penglacier could potentially be a very good addition to a Hail team. Unfortunately, its typing is very bad defensively, which almost completely cancels out its stellar bulk. It's also slow, with only a base 65 Speed stat. While it does have access to Stealth Rock, finding a good time to set them up is going to be a real challenge for Penglacier.

A Rock Polish set can be decently effective and it can most likely set up on physical attackers in the Hail, but even then, it's weak to so many attacks that it would still be difficult to set up. With Hail teams already being hard pressed due to their bad defensive typing overall, Penglacier only adds onto this weakness heavily, and thus isn't worth it on most teams.

Burrmudail: Being only one of two fully evolved Pokemon with access to Ice Slick, Burrmudail is a great addition to a Hail team when looking for an offensive cleaner. Its STAB combination of Blizzard and Hurricane makes it very difficult to switch into, and with a base 120 Speed stat, even with a Modest nature nothing is going to outspeed Burrmudail as long as Hail is in effect, and it's still very fast without it.

However much like Avalynx, it still lacks useful coverage options to hit Steel-types with, forcing it to run Hidden Power Ground or Fire, but at least it has that going for it. Its Special Attack stat is pretty good when using a Modest nature, but without hazard support Burrmudail wont be able to do much to bulkier teams, especially if they run Steel-types. It also lacks a useful boosting move which would otherwise help it muscle through bulkier teams. On top of that, its massive Stealth Rock weakness and poor bulk makes it very difficult to get it in safely, as well as being easy to revenge kill with strong priority. Much like many other Ice-types, it only further worsens the defensive synergy that Hail often has. On the bright side, Burrmudail is still very effective versus more offensive teams when you do manage to get it in safely, and outside of priority is it practically impossible to revenge kill unless you can live a hit from it. It also has access to the coveted Healing Wish, which allows you to fully heal up a Pokemon when Burrmudail is no longer going to be effective.

Koberus: Koberus is a very dangerous offensive threat. Dark/Fire is a deadly offensive combination that is only further heightened by Koberus' base 115 Attack stat and access to two great abilities in Hustle and Guts. While Guts makes Koberus a huge problem for defensive teams, being immune to burn makes it less useful. Hustle is the overall more threatening ability, trading accuracy for awesome power and incredible wallbreaking potential.

Thankfully Koberus even has a great movepool to take advantage of all of its attributes; Flare Blitz, Crunch, Earthquake, Pursuit, and even Sucker Punch for priority. Its Speed stat is pretty good too, as it sits at the common base 100 benchmark, and thanks to Sucker Punch it can pick off faster threats, frailer threats. While the rest of its movepool is pretty shallow outside of Earthquake, it does have access to Stealth Rock, but it doesn't have too much room for it, so it would only be good on teams that desperately need to fit it somewhere. Because of how strong it is, it's an amazing Pursuit trapper, and it will deal a TON of damage against anything that tries to switch out on it; Koberus forces so many switches anyway Pursuit will be very useful on most of its sets. An all out attacking set seem like the best set, as it will be able to switch between its STAB moves, Pursuit trapper, and spam Sucker Punch when needed. Choice Band is good if you want extreme wallbreaking power, while a Choice Scarf makes it a very strong revenge killer, albeit unreliable.

While Koberus is a very strong offensive threat and shouldn't be taken lightly, it has plenty of flaws. A Stealth Rock weakness is one, and with a Life Orb it will be worn down very easily, which might force you to forgo it for something like Charcoal or Blackglasses. It's also not THAT fast, and it has pretty pitiful bulk in general, so it's quite easy to revenge kill. Despite all this, Koberus is an insanely strong wallbreaker and provides an immense amount of support for offensive teams, so as long as you actually hit, Koberus should never fail to impress.

Kobalt: Kobalt is no where as near as terrifying as its counterpart, Koberus, but it's still a solid Pokemon nevertheless. Steel/Dark is an interesting typing, while it doesn't do too much for it offensively it's kind of good defensively, although its Dark-typing takes away some useful resistances such as Bug- and now has a 4x weakness to Fighting. While Koberus is strictly used as an offensive powerhouse, Kobalt functions as more of an offensive tank. It has too useful abilities in Unaware and Solid Rock; Unaware allows it to soft check sweepers while Solid Rock mitigates some of its weaknesses a bit, which can help it out a lot defensively.

Kobalt has the same Attack stat as Koberus, although it's much bulkier physically but lacks the good Speed stat Koberus has, making it still fairly easy to revenge kill. Its movepool is practically identical to Koberus, although it now has the addition of Iron Head to its movepool, which gives it a strong STAB Steel-type move to work with. It also still has access to Pursuit, and due to its superior defensive typing and bulk, it's arguably a better user of the move. Sucker Punch is very useful, especially on a slow, strong Pokemon such as Kobalt, which otherwise struggles a lot versus offensive teams. A bulky offensive Solid Rock set with Leftovers seems like one of its better options, as it is a pretty good Stealth Rock setter and can still pack quite a punch offensively and pivoting into attacks. Type reducing berries such as Colbur or Shuca berry could work good as well, as they work pretty well with Solid Rock. Kolbur may be slow, have quite a few common weaknesses, and lack the sheer wallbreaking potential of its Koberus, but it's still a very solid offensive tank that can also function as a Stealth Rock setter and or Pursuit trapper as well.

Gigaard: Gigaard is a Gigalith clone with an added Normal-type STAB and a better ability in Solid Rock. Although Gigalith sees little to no use competitively because of competition from other Rock-types, Gigaard is unique so it manages to separate itself from the crowd. Its bulk is quite impressive all around, as 104/99/75 is nothing to scoff at. Solid Rock also helps negate is crippling Fighting-type weakness as well as its other common weaknesses to Water-, Ground-, Grass-, and Steel.

Gigaard seems primarily fit for the offensive Stealth Rock role, as its high bulk and Attack stat prevent it from being OHKOed easily and it can deal a lot of damage in the process. Although its Speed stat is bad, it's still not THAT bad, thus allowing it to invest a bit in Speed and still outspeed a few things. Its movepool is pretty amazing, as it can learn practically all of the elemental special moves such as Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, and Blizzard, although its Special Attack is way too low to abuse it. Its physical movepool is pretty barren, but Stone Edge, Return or Double-Edge, and Earthquake hit most of the meta for neutral damage anyway. It also gets access to Swords Dance, which allows it to tear massive holes into bulky teams. Gigaard's main flaws are its low Speed, common weaknesses, and predictability, but otherwise it's a pretty solid Stealth Rock user, as well as a good bulky hole puncher.

Cowatti: Cowatti has a decent Special Attack, Speed, and a good boosting move in Overdrive, which is basically a special variation of Dragon Dance, but outside of Thunderbolt, Hidden Power, and Signal Beam, Cowatti literally has no coverage moves to work worth, and thus isn't good enough to be used on a serious team over other Electric-types.

Snogre: Snogre is a strong wallbreaker with a massive base 130 Attack stat, okay bulk, and mediocre Speed. It has two decent abilities in Permafrost and Sheer Force; Permafrost gives it more set up opportunities on Hail teams, while Sheer Force gives it extremely powerful Icicle Crashes. Snogre has very little offensive coverage outside of Icicle Crash and Earthquake, but that's all it really needs to break through walls. Priority Ice Shard is Snogre's biggest advantage over other boosting wallbreakers, as it allows Snogre to pick off weakened sweepers as well as clean up frail offensive teams. Swords Dance is the crux of most of its sets, as it is able to boost its Attack to terrifying levels as well as making Ice Shard a strong cleaning option.

Snogre may be very strong and have access to priority, but it's still not without its flaws. Pure Ice-typing is very bad defensively, and if you're choosing to run Snogre outside of Hail, it's pretty frail, and has a harder time setting up. It's also weak to Stealth Rock, and because it's so slow, it can easily be out prioritized by other priority users. Despite these shortcomings, Snogre remains a very dangerous wallbreaker with the ability to function as a late game cleaner as well as a revenge killer thanks to its strong priority.

Orangutao: Orangutao has almost everything it needs to be a very solid offensive tank. It has an insanely large movepool, reliable recovery, as well as an ability which basically gives it free Leftovers recovery every time it doesn't use an attacking move, meaning every time it uses something like Recover, it will gain an extra bit of health, which gives it insane longevity. So, what's keeping it from being a top tier threat? Well, lets just say that it literally has the exact same stat distribution of Glalie, with 80 all around. Because of this, it is unable to hit hard enough, isn't fast enough to keep up with most of the offensive metagame, and lacks the bulk to tank hits consecutively, which keeps it from being able to abuse its ability to the fullest. It's also a Normal-type, which means it lack any sort of resistances and has a weakness to a very common offensive typing. So all in all, Orangutao is a huge waste of potential, and it's a damn shame, because with the right stats it really could be great.

Caranox: Caranox is a stereotypical Bug-type Pokemon with limited options to work with. It has fairly decent Attack as well as a two strong STAB moves in X-Scissor and Gunk Shot, but it's pretty frail and only has base 70 Speed, so it's very easy to revenge kill. Thankfully it has access to Swords Dance which allows it to actually hit pretty hard after a boost, but it lacks anyway to hit Rock- and Steel-types with, so it's not that great of a wallbreaker. Poison Point is also a pretty subpar ability, especially with Caranox's piss poor bulk. So all in all, you're better off using something else.

Carajoule: While Caranox is just another Bug-type Pokemon, Carajoule is truly something special. Bug/Electric is a pretty rare typing but also quite the good one. Much like Caranox, Carajoule's movepool is pretty shallow, and outside of its STAB moves it has very little coverage moves. However, it does have one thing that every special attacker wishes it had, and that's the coveted Tail Glow. With Tail Glow, Carajoule is able to boost its already great Special Attack to astronomical levels, allowing it to bust massive holes into bulkier teams. While it's not the fastest Pokemon around, base 90 Speed isn't too shabby, letting it outspeed most of the defensive side of the metagame.

Carajoule also has access to the move Overdrive, which allows it to actually pose a threat against offensive teams, otherwise it would be pretty easy to revenge kill. Because Bug Buzz and Thunderbolt are really all it needs, it could very easily run both Tail Glow and Overdrive on the same set, giving Carajoule the freedom to both sweep or wallbreak. The biggest problem with Carajoule is its piss poor bulk; 60/50/71 is absolutely terrible, and against most teams it will really struggle to find a free turn to set up. Its Stealth Rock weakness only hinders it more, and on top of all that, it's pretty easy to revenge kill with most Choice Scarf users as well as priority. With that being said, if Carajoule is able to find a time to set up, it will no doubt cause the opponent huge problems.

Caracrust: Caracrust is a very mediocre Pokemon. Its good defensive stats are almost completely negated by its base 60 HP, it has no support moves to take advantage of its okay bulk, and its Attack stat is so underwhelming that it's still too passive to do anything. On top of that, outside of Earthquake and Stone Edge, it has practically no other useful attacking moves. It doesn't even have a good physical Bug-type STAB to use other than the weak 65 base power Steamroller. Even though it has access to Spikes, it's still not worth using Caracrust at all, as it's just another terrible Bug-type.

Musbushel: Musbushel has good Speed, and that's about it. Its offensive stats are very underwhelming, and outside of Grass- and Normal-type moves it doesn't really have any useful coverage options. Its support movepool is pretty good, but it's too frail to abuse it properly. Just another cute subpar Normal-type.

Berratel: Berratel is your standard physical Dark-type with a decent movepool and Attack stat, okay bulk, and subpar Speed. Both of its abilities are pretty useless, although Gluttony can be useful when used in conjunction with stat raising berries. On top of a strong Dark-type STAB in Crunch, Berratel also has access to all the elemental punches which gives it pretty good coverage, albeit not the strongest. Swords Dance is really nice to juice up its Attack stat, and because of its good coverage it has the potential to be a solid wallbreaker with Life Orb. A Salac Berry sweeping set also seems like a good possibility, as Berratel is bulky enough to set up on weaker attacks, easily knocking it into Gluttony range and allowing it to tear through offensive teams. Berratel faces stiff competition from other Dark-types, but its really solid coverage and access to Swords Dance lets it carve itself a niche.

Montegrew: There are so many Pokemon in this metagame that suffer from the case of "shitty coverage syndrome", and Montegrew is a perfect example of that. It has a decently high base 102 Attack stat, but its combination of horrible bulk and a mediocre base 81 Speed stat doesn't really make up for it at all. Power Whip is a very strong physical STAB move that works very well in conjunction with Swords Dance and Drain Punch for coverage, but it's so easy to revenge kill and practically impossible to set up. It's also a sitting duck against any Flying-type, as it only has Smack Down to hit them with, which is very weak. Overall, Montegrew is just another slow hard hitter with terrible coverage that has little place on a serious team.

Capulilly: Capulilly is very similar to Montegrew, except instead of being strong and frail, it's weak and bulky, as well as even slower. However, because of its very solid special bulk, access to two decent boosting moves in Calm Mind and Nasty Plot, and a little bit more coverage to work with, Capulilly could actually find itself on a balance team in need of an extra win con. It's still pretty weak unboosted, and mono Grass is a pretty terrible typing defensively, its bulk is good enough where invested it could tank plenty of hits and set up on them. It has Focus Blast to hit Steel-types with, as well as Sludge Bomb for Grass-types if you really plan to use Capulilly as a more aggressive attacker. It still lacks any sort of way to hit Flying-types, so it would have to opt for Hidden Power Rock. Natural Cure is a pretty useful ability as well so it's harder to stall out, and Synthesis gives it reliable recovery. Capulilly is still a pretty subpar Pokemon, but by no means completely worthless.

Dreamdery: Dreamdery is a very interesting Pokemon. It has access to the Prankster ability as well as an amazing support movepool; Thunder Wave, Lovely Kiss, Taunt, Heal Bell, Dual Screens, and Cotton Spore. It even has Nasty Plot, as well as a priority Psychic-type move called Psybolt. While its coverage offensively prevents it from being able to threaten much, it support movepool is so good that it would rarely ever be deadweight against any team. Priority Thunder Wave is amazing versus offensive teams as well as checking dangerous boosting sweepers, while priority Sleep is just so amazing in general, as Dreamdery is able to heavily neutralize something at any given time. Taunt and Heal Bell are both great against bulkier teams, and with Dual Screens it makes for a great lead/anti-lead on offense. Unfortunately it has no reliable means of recovery, so keeping it alive may be difficult especially with its subpar physical bulk and vulnerability to all hazards, but when used effectively, Dreamdery can be an amazing team supporter that can effectively fit very well on multiple team archetypes.

Macabra: Macabra is strong with base 115 Attack, as well as a really cool ability in Psych Out, which is basically a Special Intimidate. It even has Swords Dance to further heighten its Attack stat, and Pursuit to trap weakened Psychic-types. So what could possibly ruin Macabra's chances at being a top tier threat? Yep, its movepool of course. Outside of Dark- and Ghost-type coverage, Macabra literally has nothing to work with. Drain Punch is its only decently reliable Fighting STAB, but it desperately wishes it had something like Earthquake or Superpower to hit Steel-types with, or U-turn to pivot in and out of switch-ins after a Psych Out. With better coverage, it would have made for the perfect Choice Scarf user, but as of now it's limited to a role as a decent Pursuit trapper, and not much else.

Mosshroom: Mosshroom is one of the bulkiest Pokemon in the metagame; 145/90/90 bulk is absolutely insane, and its Grass/Poison typing is very solid defensively too. While its offenses are far from good, all of its usefulness resides in its massive bulk, access to the best move in the game, Spore, Toxic Spikes, and insane walling capabilities. It even has reliable recovery in the form of Synthesis, so it's very difficult to wear down, and an immunity to Toxic only further heightens its durability. Hydration is also a very solid ability to have on a defensive Pokemon like Mosshroom, especially with the old rain mechanics, and with rain support it can run Rest as much more effective recovery option. Outside of rain, Effect Spore is still a decent ability to punish physical attackers, but with rain being such a good playstyle, Hydration is the better ability overall, as it can shrug off burns better.

A physically defensive or specially defensive set are both equally viable due to its amazing mixed bulk, although a spread which takes advantage of both of its defenses would probably be better. Mosshroom is most likely better used on defensive teams that can take advantage of Mosshroom's incredible walling abilities, as well as being able to set up Toxic Spikes. Because of its extreme passive nature outside of Spore, it wouldn't fit very well on more offensive teams, but it could still fit great on balance teams. All in all, Mosshroom is easily one of the better defensive Pokemon in the metagame, and it is sure to find its way onto most defensive teams and many balance teams as well.

Lumishroom: Lumishroom is practically identical to its counterpart Mosshroom, except with just a very slight difference in stat distribution and typing. While Mosshroom excels at walling Water-types, Lumishroom is definitely the best answer to Flying-type spam thanks to its Electric-typing. Electric/Poison is a very good defensive typing in general, being only weak to Psychic and Ground-type move (although a 4x weaknesses is a bit unfortunate). It's movepool is also an exact clone of Mosshroom's, except with the addition of Electric-type moves to its movepool such as Magnet Rise, Thunderbolt, and Thunder Wave. It even has Volt Switch, which is absolutely incredible for a defensive Pokemon, as it will prevent Lumishroom from losing too much momentum due to its lack of power. It also has Moonlight for semi-reliable coverage, and Volt Absorb which deters the use of Electric-type moves such as Volt Switch. Much like Mosshroom, Lumishroom looks like a very solid option for a lot of defensive teams due to its incredibly useful defensive typing and utility.

Perishroom: While both of its counterparts excel at walling, Perishroom is kinda stuck in the middle. It has a great HP stat, but only 55/60 defenses, meaning that it's still not that bulky. It has 100 in both offenses and strong STAB moves such as Terrorize and Sludge Bomb, but it's so slow that it will almost always take damage before it can get a hit off. Its defensive typing is also pretty terrible with only one resistance in Grass and four common weaknesses. It still has access to Spore as well as enough bulk to withstand most non super effective attacks, but its Speed is definitely its biggest letdown, and because of its bad stat distribution and typing, it doesn't seem like there would be much of a reason to use Perishroom.

Volcoalder: Volcoalder is an offensive tank with a very threatening STAB combination. Fire/Rock, while having its flaws defensively, has very little switch-ins outside of bulky Water- or Ground-types, as a STAB Fire Blast or Power Gem coming off of a base 115 Special Attack stat is really going to sting. Solid Rock is also a great ability for a Pokemon like Volcoalder that suffers from common weaknesses, and while it may not completely solve these issues, it at least makes it a lot less vulnerable. Its physical bulk is solid, making it a great switch into strong physical attackers that lack Ground-type coverage (which is surprisingly a lot), and on top of being an offensive pivot, it can set up Stealth Rock to further pressure its switch-ins.

Set wise, an offensive Stealth Rock set sounds the most appropriate, as it is able to set up rocks on the switches it forces and deal a lot of damage with its STAB moves in the process. On top of Fire Blast and Power Gem, it could also run Thunderbolt to smack Water-types on the switch-in, or Magma Storm to rack up extra damage on the switch as well as potentially trapping and eliminating said switch-in. Choice Specs would turn Volcoalder into a terrifying wallbreaker, however its common weaknesses and Stealth Rock weakness prevents it from coming in frequently. It's also very slow, so Volcoalder depends a lot on its bulk in order to stay alive. Despite it shortcomings, Volcoalder seems like a very solid offensive threat.

Jaguile: Jaguile is the definition of a cleaner. Its base 100 Speed is pretty good, as well as its Attack stat which lets it hit hard right off the bat. The real reason why Jaguile has the potential to be so terrifying, is because of its access to Swords Dance + ExtremeSpeed, which allows it to completely steamroll through offensive teams. It also has access to Crunch for coverage against Ghost-types, which is very useful. Adrenaline is a cool ability which gives it a free 50% boost in Speed once its HP falls below 50%, which allows it to comfortably run an Adamant nature and still not rely so much entirely on ExtremeSpeed.

Much like so many Normal-types in the tier, Fighting-type coverage seems to be hard to come by these days, and Jaguile has absolutely nothing to hit Steel- or Rock-types with. This prevents it from being able to threaten most teams pretty early on, and it wont normally be able to comfortably find many chances to set up because of its terrible bulk and defensive typing. Jaguile needs quite a bit of team support to sweep, but with the proper support, it's practically an easy win button against frail offensive teams.

Cerebrulb: Cerebrulb is one of the few Electric-types that was gifted with Overdrive, which turns Cerebrulb from a slow, hard hitter into a fast and powerful sweeper. Its Electric/Psychic STAB combination is a bit odd and doesn't really do that much for it, but it still gives it two powerful STAB moves in Thunderbolt and Psychic to sweep with. Cerebrulb also has good coverage in the form of Focus Blast, Energy Ball, and Shadow Ball, so it's able to hit most of the metagame for at least neutral damage. Its ability, Levitate, also gives it a very useful immunity to Ground-type attacks, and can give it many more opportunities to set up.

While Overdrive + 3 attacks with Life Orb or Lum Berry seems like the most effective set, a Choice Scarf also seems like a good fit as well. Cerebrulb has lower Speed but high Special Attack along with good coverage and Volt Switch for momentum, so it has all the tools of a good revenge killer. Sub Calm Mind also seems like a pretty solid option on bulkier teams because of its already stellar special bulk, or even Calm Mind 3 Attacks with Psybolt for priority. The only major issues with Cerebrulb is its abysmal physical bulk, which prevents it from setting up on physical attackers, and it's very vulnerable to priority or revenge killing due to its lower Speed. Overall Cerebrulb is an all around fantastic offensive sweeper that is capable of fulfilling different roles depending on the team.

Scovalope: Scovalope is a very fast offensive attacker with the ability to tear massive holes into both offensive and even defensive teams when given the chance. Its blazing 120 Speed stat combined with its respectable 94/94 offensive stats and powerful Grass/Fire STAB combination makes it quite the force to be reckoned with. It even has access to both Nasty Plot as well as Swords Dance, allowing it to hit from both sides of the spectrum and surprise whatever decides to switch into it. On the physical side its movepool is pretty good; Leaf Blade and Flare Blitz are both very strong STAB moves, while Rock Slide provides good coverage against opposing Fire-types. On the special side, Fire Blast is nice due to the lack of recoil, as well as Giga Drain or Energy Ball for Grass-type STAB, but Hidden Power Ground or Rock is its best option to hit Fire-types. Chlorophyll makes it very hard to revenge kill with sun support, and it also heavily increases the damage output of its Fire-type attacks.

Swords Dance or Nasty Plot 3 Attacks seems like the best options to run on Scovalope, and a lot of it all depends on what you want to hit harder. Both have pretty much the exact same amount of damage output; the physical set is more reliable but has massive recoil along with Flare Blitz, while the special set is worn down less easily but its best STAB move can miss. Alternatively, a Choice Specs set could work, as a Specs Sun boosted Fire Blast is extremely hard to switch into, and outside of sun, it's still a decent cleaner. Scovalope does have terrible bulk and is a bit weak before setting up (which it has a hard time doing). Outside of that, it's a very effective Pokemon that can terrorize all sorts of teams.

Hurricanine: Hurricanine's stats are pretty good offensively, and its Water/Electric STAB combination is very threatening. On top of that, Hurricanine also has access to good coverage moves, such as Hurricane, Ice Beam, and Weather Ball. However, Hurricanine's 90 base Speed is a bit of an issue against offensive teams, and its subpar bulk makes it pretty easy to revenge kill, on top of the fact that it lacks a good boosting move.

The creators of Pokemon Sage decided to bless Hurricanine with one of the best abilities in the game, Drizzle, which turns Hurricanine from just another average offensive Pokemon, into an incredible team supporter. Unlike Politoed in BW, Hurricanine is actually a very solid Pokemon on its own with high powered STAB moves, good Speed, and access to Volt Switch which allows it to maintain momentum while keeping up rain. With the combination of Thunder, Hydro Pump, and Hurricane, Hurricanine has incredibly strong coverage that easily make up for its lack of a boosting move, seeing as how all of them are base 120 in power, while Hydro Pump is even stronger in the rain. Weather Ball is also an option if you want a stronger, more reliable Water-type move to use in the rain, but outside of rain it's no longer Water-type, so Surf would be a better, more consistent option if you hate Hydro Pump's accuracy. It also has Ice Beam, which a more consistent option for hitting Grass-types, albeit a lot weaker.

Hurricanine can run a number of sets depending on whether or not you want it to act as more of a team supporter or independent, but all of its sets are usually offensive in some way. An all out attacking set consisting of Hydro Pump/Thunder/Volt Switch/Hurricane or Ice Beam is practically impossible to switch into safely just because of how its coverage is practically perfect as well as all being very strong. This set is best used as a wallbreaker against bulkier teams. Choice Specs is also an amazing hole puncher, seeing how nothing is going to want to take a Choice Specs rain boosted Hydro Pump, or perfectly accurate Thunders and Hurricanes. Lastly, a Choice Scarf set would make for a great revenge killer, as it patches up Hurricanine's average Speed stat and takes advantage of its stellar coverage. Scarf Hydro Pump can also clean up weakened teams, especially offensive ones. While Hurricanine may have a few flaws, mainly its bulk and lack of reliable recovery, it's still an amazing Pokemon offensively and as a team supporter thanks to its Drizzle ability.