05-July-2010: Gardevoir

Technically 1 week later, some really having **** during the last few days reminding me the reason I hate people so much and why I have such a small amount of friends(one of which revived some really...dislikeable moment from elementary and middle school) kept me rather busy this last few days. I also apologize for the momentary lack of a vid, Elfar is working on it and should have it up soon, I`ll edit this post with it as soon as it is up.

(oniongravy64 was here)

Gardevoir certainly is a bit of and oddball when it comes to Psychic types, as usually, Psychic-types with such an amazing SpAttk complement their powerful offensive stat with a blazing fast Speed stat to make them absolute powerhouses. Gardevoir, while having the ability to hit as a truck, lacks the speed Psychich-type sweepers need to be succesful in a metagame as Pursuit thrilled as Gen IV OU, and thus cant take the "destroy everything on your way" Azelf takes. Instead, she focus on supporting the team and delivering the occasional hit needed to put certain things onto KO Range.
Of course, while her main ability is supporting, Gardevoir`s massive base 125 SpAttk should never be understimated, as with just a little paralysis support, she can become one of the most annoying things to take down, courtesy of her ability: Trace.

Supporter
Modest
Trace
Leftovers
248 HP/52 SpAttk/106SpDef/104 Spd

Will-O-Wisp
Wish
Psychich
Focus Blast/Thunderbolt/Shadow Ball

With frail physical defenses, an awful defensive typing and wiht Pursuit passing from Special to Physical,Gardevoir screams "Bait" everywhere. The EVs may seem a bit weird, but theres a good reason for that. 248 HP Evs make Gardevoir sit and 339 HP, allowing more switches into SR, Spikes and more turns of survival against simple Poison,with Modest and 104 Spd EVs, Gardevoir outspeeds all Adamant Tyranitars, with Jolly Tars being far less common since Latias went to Ubers, as the 2 sets that needed Jolly the most have either lost their main reason to be used (Choice Scarf) or are unable to carrt Pursuit and have a tough time with a metagame filled with Bullet Punch Scizor(Dragon Dance), the rest of the EVs were split between SpDef, to switch into neutral Un-stabbed Special hits better, and SpA, to give that extra punch
The main idea of the set is to lure in Physical attacker that would normally love to come in on Gardevoir(T-tar, Metagross, Salamence, Physical variants of Azelf, the omnipresent Scizor etc) and cripple them cripple them 85% of the time with WoW.
Depending on the opponents Pokemon, you either switch(U-turn users mainly), Wish (Pursuit users normally) or go for the simple option and get a good hit or 2 depending on what move you have as your third option(FB for Tyranitar, T-bolt for Gyarados and Shadow Ball for Azelf)

Double Screener
248Hp/154 SpDef/106 Spd
Calm
Light Clay

Light Screen
Reflect
Will-o-wisp
Psychic

Again, Gardevoir uses her luring abilities to bring out opponents Scizor/T-tar and Metagross, this time setting up screens to help its team-mates, while crippling potential physical threats. Even with no investment, Gardevoir seats at a rather comfortable 286 SpAttk, giving her enough of a punch to deal with weakened pokemons, such as Infernape and Machamp. The EVs, once again, are designed to let you seat at 339 HP, thus reducing residual damage, while being able to outspeed Adamant Tyranitar and crippling it before it can kill you with his powerful Crunch. You can take 30 EVs out of SpD and put them into Spd if you so wish to outspeed Max Spd Adamant Scizor, but it is rare for a Scizor to run more than 8, 12 or 16 Spd, except if it is a Sword Dance variant, which is relatively rare and will end up beating Gardevoir anyways.

Choice Specs
252 SpA/252Spd/4 HP
Timid/Modest
Choice Specs

Psychich
Shadow Ball
Focus Blast
Thunderbolt/HP Ice/Trick

Finally, here is Gardevoir most powerful set in terms of inmediate damage. Gardevoir has never been a slow Pokemon, nor a weak one, however, Psychich as a primary offensive typing and low defense made impossuble for her to get a sweep going in Gen III, the same aplies in Gen IV, as the increase in power and number in offensive moves, as well as the Physical/Special split make even tougher for Gardevoir to sweep, however, the addition on Focus Blast, Choice Specs and Trick to her repertorie make her a decent enough wall breaker to get her very own Choice set.
The EVs are now quite straighforwer, Timid is prefered to outspeed neutral Base 90s(mainly Lucario) while 252 SpA give you a good punch, no matter which nature you choose. The first 3 moves are pretty much mandatory, as Ghost/Fighting gives you absolute neutral coverage, and STAB is a neccesity in OU. The last move, however, depends on your needs, T-bolt is there in case you feel you need a decent check to non-DD`d Gyarados, HP Ice can help with rare variants of Mence, although in general he will probably outspeed and kill Gardevoir, so, in the end Trick is the prefered option, as it allows you to cripple SD Lucario, Machamp, Blissey, Snorlax and Bronzong between others

POTW is up(sorry about double post, it was needed for people come see there was an edit)

Just to let everyone know, the video's been put in, and I filled in for Shnoogle this week. Sorry in advance about the mic, as, initially, I was kind of confused, and, by the time I made it, I didn't have my normal mic, so I had to use the speakers, which made a lot of noise coming out.

Gir don't you have youtube?

SoulSilverHeartGold wrote:

Gir don't you have youtube?

Yes but the responsibility is divided between two people. Gir does the write-ups, and, usually, Shnoogle does the video. It takes long enough to do one, so it would be easiest to have two people do it.

Yay I am back

Thanks for filling in, Elfar! And you too, Gir