Setup and Setup Control in BH

By SuperSkylake. Released: 2019/11/14.
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Art by Kaiju Bunny

Art by Kaiju Bunny.

Introduction

In the Balanced Hackmons metagame, Pokémon can run any move, ability, and item they want, barring those that are banned. It is not difficult to infer that many Pokémon would elect to run setup moves to become more threatening. With a myriad of possibilities from which to choose, the decision becomes a matter of which setup moves to use and which Pokémon perform these roles the best. In this article, learn about the best ways to set up and what to do if you're on the receiving end of a foe's impending sweep. I will give both general advice on how to play with and against setup and specific advice on how to best use and confront unique sets.

For other set ideas, check out the BH set dump.

General Tips for Designing Setup Sweepers

Imposter-proofing

This is the most important point to remember when developing a moveset for your setup sweeper. You need to think about how you would confront your own Pokémon, but with a far greater amount of HP and holding either an Eviolite or Choice Scarf. Taking advantage of status, held items, type-based resistances and immunities, and type immunity abilities are all possibilities of Imposter-proofing that you will see examples of. By far the most common method to make a sweeper able to beat an Imposter without its teammates' help, i.e., self-Imposter-proofing, is via held items.

Selecting an Item

The choice of item is crucial when designing a setup sweeper. Following are several choices of items that are commonly seen on sweepers, as well as the merits of each.

Dealing with Walls and Revenge Killers

Many setup sweepers make room to run at least one of Sunsteel Strike, Photon Geyser, and Moongeist Beam. These moves have the benefit of ignoring abilities that would otherwise trouble setup, such as Unaware, Fur Coat on physical walls, and Sturdy on Shedinja. Since defensive Pokémon often rely heavily on their items, Knock Off support is often crucial to preventing them from walling your sweepers. Wallbreakers and entry hazards can also soften them up, bringing them in range of a 2HKO later in the game.

The bane of many setup sweepers in standard tiering is priority. Due to the prevalence of Aerilate and Pixilate Fake Out + Extreme Speed (often shortened to FakeSpeed), this trait is most common on Pokémon that are weak to Fairy or Flying. Thanks to being able to invest full EVs into every stat, sweepers in BH are surprisingly resilient. Even so, many setup sweepers elect to run a priority-blocking ability such as Dazzling. Prankster moves would also be quite troublesome without these abilities, but since so many sweepers use them and Dark-types are inherently immune to Prankster-boosted moves, most Prankster users rely only on Haze. Haze bypasses these immunities because it does not actually target a Pokémon, and it also has high PP, which means it can usually stall out any single setup move.

Common Setup Sets

Physical Setup

Physical setup sweepers can easily steamroll a team once physical walls and Prankster users have been defeated or weakened. Unfortunately, most of them have to contend with the ubiquity of physical walls such as Zygarde-C, Giratina, and Registeel, which are tailored to control them. The ability Fur Coat doubles a Pokémon's Defense, making it much harder to break with physical attacks.

Shift Gear

Shift Gear is often selected for bulky long-term sweepers, which may get multiple opportunities to set up during a match. The +2 Speed increase allows the user to easily work past Shell Smash sweepers that might be able to survive a hit thanks to Focus Sash and outspeed them on the next turn by setting up twice. Dragon Dance is an alternative to Shift Gear that is used because it has double the PP and is thus much harder to PP stall.

Regigigas

Regigigas's Poison Heal set exemplifies the basic virtues of a bulky setup sweeper. After its Toxic Orb has activated, it can hit non-Ghosts with a 140-BP STAB Facade, is immune to status, and threatens to put switch-ins to sleep via Spore or Lovely Kiss, the latter of which can get around Safety Goggles and Grass-types but has poor accuracy. After a single Shift Gear, Regigigas outspeeds the entire metagame, up to Choice Scarf Pokémon with base 130 Speed. It is also self Imposter proof, as the Imposter can only hit it back with a 70-BP Facade, while Regigigas can put it to sleep and continue setting up while the Imposter user naps away. Knock Off removes items from switch-ins, such as Safety Goggles, Eviolite, and Shedinja's Protective Pads, and hits Giratina for super effective damage. Spectral Thief has a bit more power and can let Regigigas beat other Poison Heal sweepers such as Mega Tyranitar and Xerneas reliably. Finally, with its 110/110/110 defensive stats, Regigigas cannot be felled by -ate Speed users without significant chip damage, which is difficult to rack up thanks to Poison Heal.

Physically bulky Pokémon that are immune to status moves can counter this set. Poison Heal Giratina, Magic Bounce Dialga. and Magic Bounce Registeel all have enough bulk to survive +1 Knock Off and Facade and can use Core Enforcer or Entrainment to force Regigigas out. Unaware Zygarde-C with Safety Goggles can use the turn Regigigas removes its item to trap and KO it with Anchor Shot and Entrainment. However, Regigigas can run Avalanche to avoid the ability-nullifying effects of Core Enforcer and hit Zygarde-C very hard. Other physical Poison Heal sweepers can also be used, but none besides the nearly identical Slaking have STAB Facade and an immunity to Spectral Thief. Mega Tyranitar can take on Poison Heal Regigigas with a moveset of Shift Gear, Diamond Storm, Sacred Fire or Will-O-Wisp, and Knock Off while removing items and burning defensive Pokémon, but it has seven type weaknesses. Mega Gyarados is also an option with a set of Shift Gear, Knock Off, Crabhammer or Sunsteel Strike, and Will-O-Wisp, but is not much better than Mega Tyranitar even though it has fewer type weaknesses. Xerneas can run a physical Poison Heal set consisting of Shift Gear, Thousand Arrows, Play Rough, and Will-O-Wisp that can 2HKO specially defensive Steel-types that would normally switch into it, but it is otherwise far inferior to the Quiver Dance set discussed later.

Groudon Groudon Primal

After Primal Reversion, Primal Groudon becomes a notoriously vicious bulky sweeper. Thanks to its monstrous base Defense stat of 160, it can take strong physical hits, such as Facade from Poison Heal Regigigas, and retaliate with a scorching V-create. An excellent Ground / Fire typing bestows a resistance to Pixilate FakeSpeed, and the Desolate Land ability means that Water-type attacks won't be stopping it. Even without a boost, V-create destroys almost all Pokémon that do not resist it. Of the few that do, many such as Mega Slowbro, Flash Fire Steel-types, and Primal Kyogre fear Electric Terrain-boosted Bolt Strike or Precipice Blades. After a Shift Gear boost, Groudon becomes fast enough to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame, though some Choice Scarf users such as Mega Mewtwo Y outspeed it. Synthesis restores two-thirds of Groudon's HP in harsh sunlight, allowing it to come in several times.

The main downside of this set is its vulnerability to Imposter; it is important to pair Shift Gear Groudon with a sturdy wall such as Prankster Giratina to avoid being counterswept. Any Zygarde-C set can easily handle this set as well, and Sturdy Shedinja walls the set indefinitely too. Primal Groudon can replace V-create with Sacred Fire to stand a fighting chance against Sturdy Shedinja by threatening to burn it on the switch, but V-create's sheer power will be sorely missed.

Shell Smash

Quick and devastatingly powerful, physical Shell Smash sweepers are hard to stop once they get going but are usually totally helpless if they are stopped. Shell Smash sweepers are best utilized late-game when their checks, such as Fur Coat and Prankster Haze users, have been removed or weakened. Dark-types are the most common Shell Smash sweepers, because they are naturally immune to Prankster Encore, Topsy Turvy, and Heart Swap, all of which could prevent them from sweeping. Dark-types also have STAB on Power Trip, which is boosted to at least 140 Base Power after a Shell Smash and faces no immunities unlike the similar Stored Power.

Tyranitar

Mega Tyranitar is the most powerful of the Power Trip sweepers. After Shell Smash, Power Trip reaches a Base Power of 140 (260 when running Simple). Sunsteel Strike takes care of Shedinja and Unaware Mega Audino, while Close Combat 2HKOes Prankster Registeel and Mega Gyarados. On Unburden sets, Imprison ensures that Mega Tyranitar will shut down every Imposter user, as it can always outspeed the Imposter and seal all of its moves. The ability you choose will determine what checks and counters your set. Unburden sets win against Imposter but lose to priority and most Fur Coat users. Dazzling sets win against priority users but must preserve their Focus Sash to check Imposter users. Simple sets are just as weak to Imposter as the Dazzling set and equally weak to priority as the Unburden set, but they can easily brute force their way past Fur Coat and Unaware walls that the other two struggle against because of the sheer power of Power Trip or the power of +4 Sunsteel Strike.

Other Dark-types, such as Yveltal, Mega Gyarados, and Hoopa-U, can run similar sets, but their coverage moves are not used much besides to hit Sturdy Shedinja, and none of them have Mega Tyranitar's bulk. Another niche option is forme changers, such as Simple Absol with an Absolite or Simple Necrozma-DM with an Ultranecrozium Z. This brand of sweeper is Imposter proof as long as it has not changed forme and the Imposter is not using a Choice Scarf, because Mega Evolving will grant it a Speed boost that guarantees that it can move before its Imposter. Unfortunately, this is very easy to detect at Team Preview, and any player worth their salt will ensure that they keep their Prankster Haze user or Choice Scarf Imposter healthy. Regigigas can also run a Shell Smash set, but it has the added benefit of immunity to Spectral Thief and STAB Extreme Speed to outspeed opposing priority, both courtesy of its Normal typing.

BellyBurden

Belly Drum is the proverbial "all-in" move of Pokémon, as a sweeper usually has a single chance to KO as many Pokémon as possible before going down in a blaze of glory. In Balanced Hackmons, the combination of Belly Drum + Unburden (shortened to BellyBurden) ensures that these Pokémon outspeed the entire unboosted metagame as well as every Imposter user after the Sitrus Berry is consumed. Unfortunately, BellyBurden Pokémon are often powerless against the ubiquitous Haze. They have absolutely no defensive utility because switching into an attack or entry hazards could prematurely activate their Sitrus Berry, which would prevent them from setting up. They are also extremely vulnerable to Spectral Thief, which can terminate a sweep before it even starts.

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane

Necrozma-DM is probably the best BellyBurden user available due to its excellent physical stats. Its Speed stat is just enough to outspeed Deoxys-S after the Unburden boost, and it gets STAB on Sunsteel Strike, ensuring that Unaware users and Sturdy Shedinja are helpless to stop it. Defensively, its Steel typing and great Defense stat allow it to easily shrug off Triage Oblivion Wings and FakeSpeed from most users and continue sweeping. Icicle Crash is mainly used to hit Zygarde-C, while Power Trip can maul Primal Kyogre and Aegislash. Precipice Blades is mainly used to force a trade against Prankster Registeel and other Steel-types. To ensure that it is Imposter proof, run 20 Defense EVs to secure the OHKO when using Power Trip or 220 to OHKO with Precipice Blades (and hope you don't miss.)

If you want a more offensive BellyBurden sweeper that functions similarly, try Belly Drum Kartana with Sunsteel Strike, Icicle Crash and Sacred Fire. Kartana is a good deal faster than Necrozma-DM, but it has much lower bulk and can be KOed by Triage Oblivion Wing from 75% HP.

Mewtwo Mega X

Though it's far less common than Necrozma-DM, Mega Mewtwo X's BellyBurden set does have a few advantages that give it a unique niche. Its STAB Mach Punch means that Prankster Registeel is outsped and KOed before it can Haze away the boost, while Spectral Thief does respectable damage to another common physical wall in Giratina as well as to opposing Mega Mewtwo formes. Photon Geyser still vaporizes Primal Kyogre, Shedinja, and Mega Audino. Unfortunately, it is weak to FakeSpeed users, and the rise of Prankster Giratina does it no favors. The 84 Defense EVs are, once again, to ensure that an Imposter is OHKOed by +6 Spectral Thief.

Mewtwo has a second Belly Drum set, running Refrigerate and Extreme Speed. This set can easily KO Giratina and Zygarde-C after they switch in to try to Haze it, but the drawback is that it will always have to switch out if an Imposter user comes in freely. An Unaware or a Spectral Thief user with a Focus Sash is necessary to Imposter-proof the set as well, because +6 Extreme Speed does huge amounts of damage to even bulky Pokémon that resist it like Aegislash.

Special Setup

Thanks to the wider type distribution of powerful special attacks, specially based setup sweepers tend to be more offensively versatile than their physical counterparts. Special attackers are also blessed with the move Judgment, which with a Plate becomes a 120-Base Power move that gives type coverage that most Imposters will not be able to use (Multi-Attack is far inferior, as it is only 90 BP). Assault Vest users are often the go-to switch-ins against special attackers, and along with the ability Regenerator, these walls can switch into those threats continually without losing much momentum. Special attackers are also stymied by the presence of certain walls, such as Fur Coat Chansey, and immunity abilities such as Flash Fire, which can render half or more of their moves useless.

Quiver Dance

Quiver Dance users boost a bit more slowly than Shift Gear sweepers, often requiring two boosts to be fast enough to outspeed unboosted threats. This should not deter you from picking them, as they are extremely strong with a doubled Special Attack and are almost impregnable with special attacks after boosting.

Xerneas

Similar to Regigigas for physical Poison Heal sweepers, Xerneas possesses a great combination of traits for a special Poison Heal sweeper. A mono-Fairy typing is excellent in the metagame, granting an immunity to Core Enforcer and a resistance to Dark and Fighting, which give it plenty of opportunities to safely get on the field. After a single Quiver Dance boost, Xerneas can outspeed up to base 150 Speed Pokémon and hit them hard with Moonblast. The third move slot is meant to maximize Xerneas's efficacy against threats that can take multiple Moonblasts. Earth Power targets Primal Groudon, most Steel-types including Registeel and Aegislash, and Poison-types including Mega Venusaur and Mega Gengar. Magma Storm is another option that can also catch Sturdy Shedinja on the switch and trap Imposter Chansey long enough that repeated Moonblasts will KO it, but the prevalence of Flash Fire on Steel-types makes it less consistent. Nuzzle is great on paralysis and entry hazard spam teams, as Xerneas forces many switches and nothing enjoys being paralyzed. The fourth moveslot is meant to secure Xerneas against Imposter users. Spikes is excellent to keep the pressure against forced switches, of which Xerneas forces many. Taunt disables bulky Pokémon from recovering and also prevents Imposter users from boosting, but if an Imposter gets a safe switch or switches in on an attacking move, Xerneas must risk the Speed tie.

Xerneas is strong, but it does have several checks. Specific Steel-types can handle it depending on the coverage it runs: Flash Fire Steel-types can switch into those with Fire coverage, while Celesteela can deal with Earth Power variants. Toxic Orb Magic Guard Ho-Oh is another excellent check, as it can trap and 4HKO Xerneas with Anchor Shot, cannot be statused because of already being poisoned, and is resistant or immune to common coverage moves. It must, however, be at high health to take on variants with Taunt. Another option is to fodder something to sleep, then use Spectral Thief to steal any Quiver Dance boosts with a special wall, such as Primal Kyogre. Xerneas has several other options, as it really only needs Quiver Dance and Moonblast to be effective. These include Thunderbolt to defeat Ho-Oh and Flash Fire Celesteela and Secret Sword for Fur Coat Chansey. It can also set up Stealth Rock or use Knock Off to remove items such as Assault Vest.

Kyogre

By running a pseudo-Double Dance set, Primal Kyogre can be threatening for both offensive and defensive teams. It possesses far greater power than Xerneas at the expense of longevity, as Kyogre is not immune to Core Enforcer. To demonstrate the power of Primal Kyogre, a +3 full-power Water Spout can take off more than 50% of Fur Coat Chansey's HP. Scald is a safer move and better for longer games, thanks to its higher PP and chance to burn. The threat of burns will deter some Imposter users, as long as your own Kyogre has high health. All three of the moves in the second slot can hit Giratina hard but will change the matchup against other checks. Moonblast hits Unaware Mega Gyarados and Yveltal and has a useful 30% chance to drop Special Attack, and it also has the most PP. Ice Beam dispatches Zygarde-C, easily outdamaging its recovery, which is something Moonblast cannot do without expending a lot of PP, and also 2HKOes Primal Groudon after a boost. Moongeist Beam can surprise Unaware walls such as Primal Kyogre, deal super effective damage to RegenVest Mega Slowbro, and KO Sturdy Shedinja. You can opt for Leech Seed over Tail Glow, which makes the Imposter matchup much safer and also hurts Sturdy Shedinja. It's strongly advised to run a special wall that can take on an Imposter that transforms into Primal Kyogre, such as Unaware Chansey, Unaware Primal Kyogre, or Sturdy Shedinja, because Kyogre can easily lose to an Imposter if boosted sufficiently and weakened.

Prankster Encore users such as Registeel can lock Kyogre into its setup move, allowing a safe switch to a Spectral Thief user. Assault Vest users, such as Dialga, can take a boosted Water Spout and retaliate with Core Enforcer or Spectral Thief. To combat these foes, Primal Kyogre can run Knock Off in its final moveslot to remove Assault Vests and Leftovers from its checks, and hit them with Scald so that they are forced to take chip damage every time they come in to check it.

Tail Glow

Tail Glow is often used on Pokémon that are already fast enough, either because of a high base Speed or access to priority. The single free turn necessary to set up a Tail Glow is worth it because the boost grants more than double the power behind special attacks.

Charizard Mega Y

Now that Mega Rayquaza is banned, Mega Charizard Y has taken its place as the most powerful Triage Tail Glow user. With some useful resistances, such as to Steel, Fire, and Fighting, Mega Charizard Y can come in on a resisted hit if Stealth Rock is off the field. Triage elevates its draining moves to +3 priority, outprioritizing Prankster Haze and even Pixilate or Refrigerate Extreme Speed that could otherwise stop it. Moongeist Beam takes care of Sturdy Shedinja and can heavily damage some Unaware Pokémon, but it does not provide much else in the way of coverage, so it's better to just keep Stealth Rock up to deter Shedinja and use another wallbreaker to take care of common Unaware users that would otherwise require significant chip damage to be in range of Moongeist Beam. Taunt and Spore can confound passive Pokémon trying to force Charizard out, such as Fur Coat or Unaware Chansey and Unaware Mega Audino. Secret Sword OHKOes Dialga and Mega Tyranitar after a Tail Glow and deals 85% minimum to most Primal Kyogre sets. Blue Flare is another coverage move for a powerful STAB attack but generally brings few benefits compared to the standard set.

Unaware walls that resist Moongeist Beam, such as Yveltal, Arceus, and Mega Audino, can wall the standard set, which does not run any extremely powerful moves (Blue Flare can catch them by surprise, but is uncommon). Dazzling users such as Mega Gengar and Mega Mewtwo Y can offensively check it after a sacrifice or safe switch, but they require an intact Focus Sash to beat Substitute variants. Prankster Steel-types such as Registeel are not 2HKOed by unboosted Secret Sword, allowing them to Haze the Tail Glow boost away, though taking +3 Oblivion Wings will almost run them out of PP on their recovery move, and Blue Flare can easily surprise them. Sand Stream Mega Aerodactyl can switch into Tail Glow and tank a +3 Oblivion Wing, threatening the fire lizard out with Diamond Storm. Imposter-proof the set by running one of the aforementioned checks and adjusting coverage moves accordingly.

Arceus

Soundproof Arceus has both offensive and defensive utility. Its Normal typing means it only has a single weakness, to Fighting-type moves, and is immune to Spectral Thief, a common method for Assault Vest users to check special setup Pokémon. After a Tail Glow, STAB Boomburst severely damages any Pokémon that does not possess a resistance or immunity to the move. Moongeist Beam takes care of Sturdy Shedinja and some Unaware walls, but the difference in power is huge if you mispredict. The set is self Imposter proof because Arceus is a Normal-type and immune to Boomburst because of Soundproof. By running Normalium Z, Arceus can KO opposing Soundproof Pokémon such as Mega Audino as well as hit its Imposter instead of just PP stalling it out. With Rocky Helmet, Arceus can wear down and soft check some -ate FakeSpeed users such as Mega Diancie. Leftovers is an option that gives Arceus general longevity, though Shore Up's recovery is usually sufficient, as it is the most reliable 50% healing move available and even gets a boost when sand is up.

Specially bulky walls, such as Chansey, Prankster Registeel, and Prankster Giratina, give this set trouble, as they can easily take a boosted hit and use Topsy-Turvy or Haze to remove the boosts. Faster Pokémon such as Mega Mewtwo X and Y can revenge kill Arceus with Fighting-type attacks. Quiver Dance is another option over Tail Glow, though it makes Arceus's attacks much weaker, and the extra Speed is really only useful to KO some offensive Pokémon after some chip damage. A higher-risk, higher-reward variant of this set runs Speed Boost instead of Soundproof, which prevents faster Pokémon such as Mega Mewtwo forms from outspeeding Arceus but leaves it far more vulnerable to Imposter users.

Dialga

Dialga serves as both a solid defensive wall and a capable Tail Glow user. Magic Bounce allows it to switch into Poison Heal Regigigas, Poison Heal Mega Audino, and many other defensive Pokémon because it can reflects hazards and status moves with Magic Bounce and resists U-turn and Facade. Doom Desire has the near-unique property of hitting two turns after use, which can severely limit your opponent's options. With Steelium Z, it turns into a powerful Corkscrew Crash, which can surprise Pokémon such as Poison Heal Xerneas. After a Tail Glow boost, Doom Desire becomes far deadlier, OHKOing most targets neutral to the move. If you opt for Tinted Lens as Dialga's ability, you can even land OHKOs on some Steel-types, such as Registeel and Necrozma-DM, with +3 Doom Desire. Steelium Z should always be used with Tinted Lens to allow Dialga to KO Normalize Mega Gengar with the Z-Move. Core Enforcer gives Dialga a solid move for immediate damage, and even unboosted it hits plenty hard. Alternatively, King's Shield allows Dialga to scout Choice-locked foes and stall for a bit of extra recovery. The final option is Dragon Tail, which, with some luck, can wreck your opponent's entire strategy if the wrong Pokémon gets forced in just as Doom Desire hits.

Substitute Fairy-types, Sturdy Shedinja, and bulky Unaware walls such as Primal Kyogre can counter or Imposter-proof this set. Faster offensive Pokémon such as Mega Mewtwo X force it out, but the opponent must be careful to not let an important Pokémon get hit by Doom Desire. It's also important to remember that Doom Desire has only 8 PP, which is not nearly enough to break a well-played stall team.

Mixed Setup

Mixed setup sets can hit hard with both physical and special attacks at the same time, frustrating the efforts of biased walls to stop them. Unfortunately, this also means that great care must be taken to Imposter-proof them, often requiring the use of a substandard set or the loss of offensive prowess.

Contrary

Note: Contrary is now banned; this section has been preserved for historical purposes.

Thanks to the wide and varied distribution of powerful attacks that have negative secondary effects, Contrary sweepers had a wealth of choice for their attacks. Attacks such as Fleur Cannon and Psycho Boost let the Contrary Pokémon boost and do damage at the same time, while V-create and Dragon Ascent could stimy attempts to revenge kill them. There is no surefire counter to every Contrary set, making set scouting vital for successful counterplay.

Mewtwo Mega Y

This set was one of the hardest sets to deal with for defensive teams. Psycho Boost could 2HKO almost everything that takes neutral damage, including Unaware walls like Primal Kyogre. Overheat and V-create let it break through Assault Vest Steel-types such as Registeel and Necrozma-DM, and both move choices had their merits, as V-create could make Mega Mewtwo Y almost impervious to an easy revenge kill, while Overheat did significantly higher damage and boosted Mega Mewtwo Y's Special Attack even further. Fleur Cannon took out Mega Tyranitar, Unaware Yveltal, and Giratina, but it also made the set extremely hard to Imposter-proof. By trading a good deal of power for Pixie Plate and Judgment, players could use Unaware Dark-types such as Mega Gyarados and Mega Tyranitar to easily Imposter-proof their set and support the team as well. Moongeist Beam took care of Sturdy Shedinja and hit opposing Mega Mewtwo Y for a KO at +2, while a sleep move could unexpectedly shut down the opponent's check.

There was no guaranteed check to this set, though Choice Scarf Imposter users, Flash Fire Steel-types, RegenVest users, and Prankster Destiny Bond users were good initial responses to scout. Mega Mewtwo Y could opt for Expert Belt to hit harder with super effective moves without losing HP due to Life Orb recoil or run Leftovers for more overall longevity, which worked well alongside V-create's Defense boosts. By running Wide Lens, it could avoid missing its moves, as the 90% accuracy of the special moves could let it down occasionally. Encore was another option to lock a switch-in into its recovery move, which usually forced another KO. Other specially attacking Pokémon with STAB on at least one high-powered Special Attack drop moves, such as Mega Sceptile and Kyurem-W, could run a similar set. Mega Rayquaza also ran a potent mixed Contrary set consisting of Draco Meteor, Superpower, V-create, and either Sunsteel Strike or Spore, which could easily cripple checks to its other sets but was difficult to Imposter-proof reliably.

Shell Smash

Mixed Shell Smash sweepers have powerful mixed attacking sets, and they usually either run Dazzling as an ability or have enough natural bulk to avoid being taken out by priority. If they do not have a self-Imposter-proof set, they can often Imposter-proof themselves with a Focus Sash, letting them set up one time more than an Imposter if the Sash remains unbroken. However, they are usually very weak to common Prankster users, such as Registeel and Giratina.

Gengar Mega

This set is the most famous example of an Imposter-proof setup sweeper. Though Mega Gengar is a special attacker, it functions pretty much the same way as a mixed attacker would, thanks to the move Secret Sword, which hits opposing Pokémon on their Defense stat. After a Shell Smash, Mega Gengar can easily sweep through a weakened team with a 120-BP STAB Judgment, with Secret Sword to deal with most Pokémon that resist Ghost, including Mega Tyranitar and Mega Gyarados. Dazzling protects Mega Gengar from priority, such as Prankster Encore from Registeel, which would force it out, or Bullet Punch from Kartana, which could revenge kill it. Mold Breaker lets it ignore Unaware, allowing it to easily switch into Sturdy Shedinja and Pursuit trap it. Sludge Wave is the most powerful Poison STAB move available, dealing heavy damage to Mega Audino, one of the few Pokémon that can comfortably take +2 Judgment and Secret Sword. One of the biggest draws to using Mega Gengar is that this set is completely Imposter proof, as most Imposter users do not run a Plate item, making their Judgment Normal type. This gives the Gengar user a free turn to set up or attack as the Imposter switches out, which is great considering Mega Gengar's high power.

Unfortunately, this set is still not quite strong enough to take out some Assault Vest users such as Dialga, Primal Kyogre, and Yveltal. Dazzling sets lose to Sturdy Shedinja and Unaware users, while Mold Breaker sets can't stand priority. Mega Gengar can run Adaptability to land a 2HKO on Yveltal and a guaranteed KO on Mega Audino with unboosted Sludge Wave. The Dazzling set can also run a Focus Sash and Moongeist Beam to beat Sturdy Shedinja, but it requires entry hazards to be cleared so that its Focus Sash remains unbroken for Imposter-proofing. Another option is Ice Beam, which will severely damage Zygarde-C even without boosts.

Gengar Mega

This is another notable Spooky Plate Mega Gengar set. Entrainment turns almost all attacking moves into Normal-type, which Gengar is immune to, and secures a free turn to set up with Quiver Dance or Shell Smash. Most teams come prepared for this by either running a Magic Bounce user to bounce the Entrainment back or a Revelation Dance user. Revelation Dance retains the user's primary typing even through Normalize, and common Pokémon that run it include Yveltal, Dialga, and Primal Kyogre, all of which can beat the set with it. Other less common Normalize counters include Fur Coat Chansey, which can use Topsy-Turvy to undo any boosts Mega Gengar tries to set up; Z-Moves, which also ignore Normalize; and Comatose, which cannot be removed.

Gengar Mega

The final common Mega Gengar set is the Lightning Rod set. Thanks to its blazing Speed of base 130, Mega Gengar can outspeed most walls and even many unboosted offensive Pokémon, which lets it stop any moves from directly targeting it with Electrify. This set acts as a lure for moves that could stop its other sets, such as Zygarde-C's Tectonic Rage and Assault Vest users' Revelation Dance, which can ultimately cause the opposing team to buckle as it is forced to take a boosted hit on the switch. Sturdy Shedinja, priority users, and Speed-boosting Pokémon that have enough bulk to stomach a boosted hit such as Primal Kyogre can keep this set in check.

Groudon Groudon

One of the most terrifying Shell Smash sweepers is Primal Groudon. The above set can OHKO almost every Pokémon in the metagame after a turn of setup, with the exception of a few specific Pokémon such as Sturdy Shedinja. The drawback is that it struggles with Flying- and Ice-type priority, and any extra damage it takes can bring it into their range. For example, after setup, Primal Groudon takes about 60% from Fake Out + Extreme Speed from Kyurem-B and about 75% from Mega Charizard Y's Life Orb Triage Oblivion Wing. Another big problem is Imposter-proofing, as there is no way for this set to defeat its Imposter. Sturdy Shedinja or a Focus Sash Pokémon can force the Imposter user out, and Prankster users can Haze away the boost or use Destiny Bond on the predicted attack to force a trade. A few Pokémon can utilize their typing to Imposter-proof certain variants of the set. Flash Fire Celesteela can handle sets running Precipice Blades in the second moveslot, while Flash Fire Ferrothorn with Topsy-Turvy works for sets without that move.

Mewtwo Mega X

After Prankster users have been defeated, this set becomes nearly unstoppable. By running Stored Power, Mega Mewtwo X gets a 140-BP STAB move, which is usually enough to bust through even Unaware walls. For Dark-type walls, Close Combat takes care of most of them. Photon Geyser can defeat Sturdy Shedinja, and Moongeist Beam dispatches some niche Unaware users, such as Cresselia and Mega Slowbro, that could otherwise take the set on. Spectral Thief allows Mega Mewtwo X to act as an emergency check to an opposing setup sweeper, such as an Imposter that has transformed into one of your other sweepers. The move also powers up Mega Mewtwo X even further if its Imposter confronts it while its Focus Sash is intact, no matter whether the Imposter goes first or not, as Mewtwo will end up with +4 to all its offensive stats while the Imposter will be dead. Dazzling keeps it safe from priority moves, such as FakeSpeed from Mega Diancie and Oblivion Wing from Triage Mega Charizard Y.

To keep this set at bay, keep your setup checks, such as Prankster Giratina, alive, and try to maintain entry hazards or other residual damage sources to break the Focus Sash and allow an Imposter user to have a chance of revenge killing it. Mega Mewtwo Y can run a similar set, taking advantage of an even higher Special Attack stat to pack an even greater punch behind its Stored Power, but it misses out somewhat on the secondary STAB.

Setup Checks and Counters

With the myriad of setup options available, it is important to know what options are available to keep your opponent's setup under control.

Imposter

Chansey

The most common and powerful setup check, by far, is Imposter. By copying all of an opposing Pokémon's stats, stat stage changes, ability, and moves while maintaining Chansey's base 250 HP and the Eviolite's 50% boosts to both defenses, this set can win 1v1 against many setup Pokémon. If this is the case, the setup user is compelled to switch out if they want to preserve the life of their setup user. Unfortunately, every good team prepares thoroughly for Imposter, making it only reliable for forcing a switch much of the time. There are a variety of self-Imposterproof sets, meaning that the Pokémon have adjusted themselves in such a way that they win 1v1 against Imposter by taking advantage of properties the Imposter can't copy, usually via a held item or a status effect, such as poisoning. Eviolite should be run to switch in more easily against dangerous sets and also to take advantage of defensive Pokémon better, while Choice Scarf helps check sweepers that have already set up more effectively, as you will not have to worry as much about Speed ties.

You may be wondering, why not use Choice Scarf Blissey? Objectively, Blissey is the best Choice Scarf Imposter, but running Chansey keeps your opponent in the dark about what item it might be carrying. Another reason to run Choice Scarf Chansey is that you may be able to Trick its Choice Scarf onto an opposing Chansey and take its Eviolite, which can help against more defensive teams.

Another Imposter option is Light Ball Pikachu, but it requires a massive amount of team support, such as several paralysis spreaders, to function reliably, and is much less useful against defensive teams than Chansey. However, teams that do not rely on immunities to Imposter-proof will often be at a serious disadvantage against an Imposter Pikachu. If they normally deal 20% damage or more to their Imposter-proofer, the Light Ball boost will increase that damage to 40% or more.

Prankster

Giratina Registeel

Prankster Haze is one of the most reliable setup checks, as nothing can prevent it from working and it has more PP than any setup move. Registeel and Giratina are both effective Prankster users thanks to their bulk and numerous resistances that let them switch into many attacks. 248 HP EVs minimize Stealth Rock and Leech Seed damage taken, and minimized Speed IVs give the user the best chance of moving after its foe, allowing it to suppress annoying abilities such as Dazzling and Poison Heal with Core Enforcer or safely bring in another Pokémon with U-turn. Some players even go so far as to set their Prankster to level 99 to be slower than opposing level 100 Pokémon for the pivot advantage. Unless the opponent uses a priority attacking move, the Prankster user can use Destiny Bond to force a trade if you deem the situation to be desperate enough. U-turn has great synergy with Destiny Bond, as it usually moves at the end of the next turn. This leaves Destiny Bond activated until the U-turn occurs, meaning the opponent cannot attack with impunity. In addition, U-turn breaks the Focus Sash that many setup users use, allowing something like an Imposter to be brought in to finish them.

Unfortunately, depending on the setup sweeper, a priority move can outspeed Prankster Haze, and some players are not afraid to continue attempting to set up even after being Hazed several times, leading to annoying mind games. Encore can sometimes help with this, as locking the foe into the setup move will usually compel it to switch out to prevent you from using the boost to your advantage via Imposter or Spectral Thief. Parting Shot is an option for Prankster Registeel that lowers the offensive stats of the target as it switches out, letting the switch-in survive more easily, but it is oddly not seen much on Giratina. Unfortunately, Dark-types and Dazzling users are quite prevalent, and these targeted status moves do not work against them.

Spectral Thief

Kyogre Primal

Spectral Thief steals any positive stat boosts from the target and applies them to the user before dealing damage, and it is especially useful on Assault Vest users, whose higher special bulk can let them survive a boosted attack. Primal Kyogre is an excellent Assault Vest user, with exemplary special bulk letting it survive some of the most brutal attacks in the metagame such as Xerneas's +2 Moonblast. Revelation Dance is a useful STAB attack, allowing it to 2HKO Normalize Mega Gengar thanks to Revelation Dance ignoring Normalize's type changing. Rapid Spin is also useful to keep entry hazards off your side of the field, with Core Enforcer deterring Giratina from switching in to block the move. Nuzzle is an option to spread paralysis to support other team members.

Spectral Thief can swiftly turn an otherwise game-ending sweep around. If the foe gains a defensive boost, such as from Quiver Dance, the Spectral Thief user can often win 1v1 if it can safely steal the boosts, even without recovery. The downsides to Spectral Thief are that the user has to be able to survive the initial hit and that it is unusable against Normal-types such as Poison Heal Regigigas. On offensive teams, some Pokémon run Spectral Thief alongside Focus Sash to ensure they survive the boosted hit, then sweep with the stolen boosts. These Pokémon are usually weak to priority moves or entry hazards, however, often making them fairly unreliable sweepers. Still, it may be the only way for these teams to prevent being swept without losing momentum because they can often force a one-for-one trade, which can allow the offensive team to regain control of the battle afterward.

Unaware

Zygarde-C

Unaware users struggle in this generation thanks to the prevalence of ability-ignoring moves (Sunsteel Strike, Photon Geyser, and Moongeist Beam) and moves that power up with stat boosts (Stored Power and Power Trip). Zygarde-C has such immense physical bulk that it can stomach most of these moves at least once, letting it check many physically based sweepers, including Shell Smash Tyranitar and Poison Heal Regigigas. It also works as a check to other physical breakers, such as Kartana and Mega Tyranitar. Thanks to Thousand Waves, it is also Imposter proof, preventing Imposter users from using it to freely recover. Unfortunately, it often falls flat against special attackers, but it is still one of the better Unaware users available. Topsy-Turvy may seem counterintuitive on an Unaware user because Unaware will cause the dropped stats to work like normal, but it does have utility in checking Normalize Mega Gengar. Another anti-Normalize option is running Groundium Z with Thousand Waves, as Tectonic Rage is a guaranteed KO against Mega Gengar. However, do not use that as your only way to check Normalize Mega Gengar, as it only works once.

Arceus

This Unaware set is effective at checking Tail Glow boosters, including Triage Mega Charizard Y. With Anchor Shot and Entrainment, it also works as a soft check to special Poison Heal users like Primal Kyogre and Xerneas and non-Choiced -ate sets such as Mega Diancie and Kyurem-B by trapping them and removing their ability. It uses the same style of Imposter-proofing as Zygarde-C, trapping and PP stalling the Imposter. Unfortunately, Arceus's Normal typing does not give it any useful resistances except an immunity to Moongeist Beam, though it also lacks exploitable Special weaknesses.

Sturdy Shedinja

Shedinja

One of the most well-known sets in BH is Sturdy Shedinja. Due to its hard-coded HP stat of 1, Sturdy Shedinja has the unique property of being unable to be worn down throughout a game. This means that against Pokémon with no moves to hit it, it can switch in freely and pivot out, conserving momentum. Of course, most of the setup sets mentioned here have ways of hitting Sturdy Shedinja, and an Imposter user is strongly recommended to allow you to scout the opponent's moveset to know which Pokémon Shedinja can safely exploit. It is also rendered impotent by entry hazards, necessitating heavy hazard control, usually in the form of a Magic Bounce user and a Defog or Pixilate Rapid Spin user. However, Shedinja can put in work during almost every game by simply existing, as freely letting it in means a loss of momentum and possibly even an unsavory helping of Stealth Rock for its opponent.

You're all set!

As you can see, there are many varieties of setup sweepers and many ways to try to stop them. There are setup strategies we did not discuss here, such as Triage + Swords Dance and Sniper + Focus Energy, as they are fairly niche and easy to play around once the jig is up. Get out there, build a team with a few setup sweepers, sweep your opponent, and ALWAYS remember to make your sweepers and setup checks Imposter proof. Though it is exciting and rewarding to set up a game-ending sweep, it is even more embarrassing to lose a game due to an Imposter's countersweep.

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