In-battle formes
| Type | |
|---|---|
| Abilities | |
| Tier |
| HP: | 72 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack: | 95 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defense: | 67 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sp. Atk: | 103 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sp. Def: | 71 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Speed: | 122 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Formes
- Base
- Bond
Overview
Greninja
Thanks to Greninja's great Speed, diverse movepool, and access to Protean, it's one of the premier offensive threats in the CAP metagame, being capable of pressuring offensive and bulky teams alike. This also gives it the freedom to pick its checks and counters. It also has access to Spikes, and thanks to its wide movepool, it's capable of pressuring Tornadus-T, the most common Defogger in the metagame, only adding to the overall pressure it exerts. However, Greninja is really frail and easy to wear down between entry hazards and Life Orb recoil. In addition to this, Greninja suffers from mild four-moveslot syndrome, as it can't always fit all the coverage it wants. Despite its great Speed, it's still outsped by offensive Pokemon like Mega Alakazam and Tapu Koko as well as Choice Scarf users like Kitsunoh and Volkraken, so it can be picked off quite easily.
Ash-Greninja
Ash-Greninja's decent offensive typing coupled with high Special Attack and Speed lets it take on many common Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Mega Crucibelle, Colossoil, and Mega Latios. It also has access to Water Shuriken, which lets it threaten faster Pokemon as well as Trick Room teams and is a decent STAB move post-Battle Bond, and Spikes. It's rather weak before transformation, however, meaning it needs to KO something to become threatening and may experience trouble breaking past Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Krilowatt early-game. Additionally, the prevalance of bulky Grass- and Water-types such as Jumbao, Tangrowth, Arghonaut, and Toxapex can make it hard for Greninja to get a KO. Greninja is also frail, which may make it hard to switch into play.
Protean Attacker
| Move 1 |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move 2 | |||||||||
| Move 3 |
| ||||||||
| Move 4 |
| Item | |
|---|---|
| Ability | |
| Nature |
|
| EVs |
|
Moves
Hydro Pump allows Greninja to hit Pokemon such as Equilibra, Kitsunoh, and Heatran. Ice Beam is a good option to pressure Tornadus-T, the most common Defogger, which will often want to keep Spikes off the field. Additionally, it nets good damage against Grass-, Ground-, and Dragon-types like Tangrowth, Necturna, Jumbao, Mega Garchomp, and Pajantom. Extrasensory allows Greninja to pressure Arghonaut and Toxapex, which can otherwise win entry hazard wars against Greninja quite easily. However, Gunk Shot can be run to handle Jumbao better. Additionally, Gunk Shot hits Tapu Lele and Tangrowth harder than any other move. Alternatively, Dark Pulse is an option on Metronome variants to punish slower Calm Mind users like Reuniclus and Mega Latias, which may attempt to boost past Greninja by increasing their Special Defense otherwise.
Set Details
A Hasty nature is used to outspeed Tornadus-T, and it is preferred over a Naive nature to switch into Heatran a little better. Life Orb increases Greninja's overall damage output, allowing it to net massive damage on Pokemon like Celesteela, Arghonaut, and Toxapex, but it comes at the cost of being worn down quickly. Expert Belt is an alternative option that can be run to increase Greninja's damage output against Pokemon like Heatran, Arghonaut, and Toxapex without taking recoil damage. Metronome is an option to gradually build up damage against Calm Mind users like Reuniclus and Mega Latias with Dark Pulse. It also means Toxapex and Arghonaut can't possibly try and stall Extrasensory Greninja out with Life Orb recoil. With this item, you will want maximum Special Attack investment.
Usage Tips
To make optimal use out of Greninja, you should attempt to set Spikes or pressure checks like Arghonaut, Toxapex, and Jumbao whenever it forces a switch. However, be wary of attacking too often, because Life Orb recoil will quickly rack up in tandem with damage from entry hazards. Although its bulk is quite poor, Greninja can be used to switch into Heatran once or twice to check it. However, generally speaking, you should not bring Greninja directly into play. Instead, try and bring it in on predicted switches and with VoltTurn support. If Greninja is running Fightinium Z, be careful of using it immediately, because your opponent might scout for it.
Team Options
Psychic-types like Mega Alakazam and Tapu Lele benefit greatly from Greninja's presence; they massively appreciate Spikes because of the amount of switches they force. If Greninja is not running Extrasensory itself, these Pokemon become even more important to take advantage of Arghonaut and Toxapex. For similar reasons, setup sweepers like Magearna, Necturna, and Mega Mawile also benefit greatly from Greninja's presence. Because Greninja is so frail, it's often optimal to pair it with VoltTurn users like Krilowatt and Tornadus-T to bring it into play safely. Special wallbreakers such as Volkraken, Magearna, and Mega Latios also capitalize on Greninja's ability to weaken Chansey, the best blanket check to special attackers in general.
Choice Specs
| Move 1 |
| ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move 2 |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Move 3 |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Move 4 |
| Item | |
|---|---|
| Ability | |
| Nature |
|
| EVs |
|
Moves
Surf is a solid alternative to Hydro Pump if its perfect accuracy is desired. However, it does miss out on crucial KOs against Pokemon such as Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele. Water Shuriken is a strong, reliable priority STAB move once Battle Bond has been activated and lets Ash-Greninja threaten weakened sweepers such as Hawlucha and Kartana. Spikes pressures defensive answers such as Jumbao, Tangrowth, Arghonaut, and Toxapex. Ice Beam can be used to pressure bulky Jumbao, but leaves Ash-Greninja hopelessly walled by the aforementioned bulky Water-types. It also provides no team support whatsoever, unlike Spikes. Toxic can be run instead of Spikes to cripple common switch-ins like Arghonaut, Jumbao, and Tangrowth, but Spikes provides more support overall.
Set Details
Choice Specs enhances Greninja's otherwise rather mediocre Special Attack and lets it KO an opposing Pokemon and subsequently transform more easily.
Usage Tips
Play aggressively with Greninja pre-transformation to weaken targets in order to activate Battle Bond. If running Spikes, use it if there is a Water-resistant Pokemon such as Jumbao, Tangrowth, Arghonaut, or Toxapex present. Once multiple layers of Spikes are set, use Dark Pulse to consistently put pressure on these Pokemon. Water Shuriken is inconsistent pre-transformation, so try to use it minimally before transforming. Greninja is too frail to bring in on direct attacks; you should instead try to bring it into play with VoltTurn support or on a predicted switch.
Team Options
Tapu Koko, Krilowatt, and Kartana appreciate the support Ash-Greninja provides with Spikes and can pressure bulky Water-types. Additionally, the former two can get Ash-Greninja in with U-turn or Volt Switch. Stealth Rock setters such as Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Heatran can aid Ash-Greninja in pressuring bulky Grass- and Water-types. Other strong wallbreakers such as Tapu Lele and Mega Alakazam can put additional pressure on bulky Grass- and Water-types and benefit from Spikes. Pokemon that can take advantage of Grass-types, like Tornadus-T and Aurumoth are excellent partners, as Ash-Greninja will struggle to deal with Grass-types on a consistent basis. Pelipper can set rain for Greninja on rain teams, which makes its Hydro Pump and Water Shuriken ridiculously strong, and can safely bring Greninja in with a slow U-turn.
Lead
| Move 1 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move 2 | |||||||||||
| Move 3 | |||||||||||
| Move 4 |
|
| Item | |
|---|---|
| Ability | |
| Nature |
|
| EVs |
|
Moves
Taunt is run to prevent Greninja from becoming setup bait for Pokemon like Aurumoth and Magearna. Additionally, it prevents Defog from Pokemon that Greninja can't really touch, like Rotom-W. Ice Beam is particularly important for this set to put offensive pressure on Defog users like Tornadus-T and Zapdos. It also pressures Ground- and Grass-types like Landorus-T, Garchomp, Jumbao, and Necturna. Toxic Spikes is the preferred fourth move to wear down bulkier foes like Arghonaut and Tangrowth for Greninja's teammates. Alternatively, Hidden Power Fire can be run to deal with Ferrothorn and Magearna.
Set Details
A Focus Sash is mandatory to guarantee that Greninja gets to set up entry hazards at the start of a match.
Usage Tips
Because Greninja is a lead for hyper offensive teams, it's pretty straightforward to use. However, against Pokemon like Mega Sableye and dual screens Tapu Koko, consider not leading with Greninja, because they can prevent it from setting entry hazards. Greninja should aim to set multiple layers of Spikes and Toxic Spikes and pressure Defog users like Tornadus-T to keep them up early-game. If the majority of the opposition is grounded, one layer of Spikes is often enough to pressure these teams. After that, if the opposition does not have a Poison-type like Toxapex or Amoonguss, Greninja should often prioritize setting up Toxic Spikes.
Team Options
Greninja should primarily be used on hyper offensive builds that can force many switches and thus make optimal use of Spikes. Greninja pairs particularly well with other leads that can set Stealth Rock like Landorus-T and Excadrill to form an entry hazard stacking core on these type teams. This set excels with teammates that make use of Spikes. Thus, setup sweepers like Magearna, Necturna, and Hawlucha are optimal on these kind of teams because they can force many switches and benefit greatly from Spikes damage.
Other Options
Greninja
Because of Greninja's wide movepool, it has a wide variety of moves that it can plausibly run. Groundium Z can be run alongside Dig to reliably overwhelm Pokemon like Magearna and Toxapex, but it leaves Greninja unable to really wear down Ferrothorn and completely walled by Celesteela. Additionally, Dig is incredibly easy to play around considering the popularity of Flying-types and Levitate users. Another option for a Z-Crystal would be Waterium Z with Hydro Pump, which allows Greninja to OHKO Pokemon like Mega Medicham and Mega Mawile. U-turn can be used to ease prediction and gain momentum in unfavorable matchups, but Greninja would usually rather break down walls on its own. Instead of Spikes, Toxic Spikes can be run to allow Greninja's teammates to pressure Pokemon like Tangrowth and Arghonaut more, but Spikes are often harder to deal with for the opponent and are generally much more useful on most builds.
Ash-Greninja
U-turn can be used to pivot, scout your opponent's answers to Greninja, and avoid having to trade Spikes with Arghonaut. However, it provides very little utility when compared to Spikes. Gunk Shot can be used to pressure Jumbao and Tapu Bulu, but its inaccuracy makes it a generally inferior option to Ice Beam.
Checks and Counters
Greninja
Set-dependent Switch-ins: Thanks to its wide movepool, Greninja has no true counters. However, it also cannot fit all of its moves on one set, so there will always be counters to certain sets. Arghonaut and Toxapex can wall any variant of Greninja that's lacking Extrasensory.
Faster Offensive Pokemon: Because Greninja is extremely frail, it's extremely susceptible to faster offensive Pokemon like Mega Alakazam, Tapu Koko, and Weavile. Mega Alakazam is particularly dangerous because it's able to Trace Greninja's Protean, which turns it into an absolutely menacing wallbreaker that is almost impossible to deal with defensively. Additionally, common Choice Scarf users like Kitsunoh, Volkraken, and Jumbao can easily pressure Greninja.
Priority: Because of Greninja's frailty, priority users like Mega Medicham, Mega Pinsir, and Mega Mawile can quickly neuter Greninja.
Mega Sableye: Mega Sableye manages to prevent Greninja from setting up Spikes, and it can live most attacks that Greninja can throw at it with relative ease. Additionally, it can cripple non-Z-Move sets with Knock Off.
Ash-Greninja
Chansey: Thanks to Chansey's enormous bulk, it can easily take all of Ash-Greninja's attacks.
Bulky Water-types: Bulky Water-types such as Arghonaut, Toxapex, and Gastrodon deter Greninja from mindlessly using Hydro Pump. These Pokemon can easily take Dark Pulse as well thanks to their bulk or typing. Toxapex and Gastrodon are, however, susceptible to multiple layers of Spikes. Krilowatt can take Dark Pulse twice and isn't fazed by Spikes, but it lacks reliable recovery and is thus prone to getting worn down over time.
Bulky Grass-types: Greninja can't mindlessly use its Water-type STAB moves as long as Grass-types are around. Jumbao resists both of Greninja's STAB moves and can easily KO it in return. It should be wary of the rare Ice Beam and even rarer Gunk Shot, though. Assault Vest Tangrowth takes very little damage from Dark Pulse and isn't 2HKOed by Ice Beam. Mega Venusaur also takes little damage from anything Greninja can throw at it, but it is susceptible to Spikes and Dark Pulse and won't last long due to Synthesis's lackluster PP. Ferrothorn can switch into Greninja but lacks reliable recovery and is prone to getting overwhelmed.
Mollux: Mollux is immune to Hydro Pump and doesn't take much damage from Greninja's Dark Pulse, but it's worn down quickly by both Stealth Rock and Spikes, which can put it in 2HKO range.
Faster Pokemon: Faster Pokemon such as Mega Alakazam and Mega Lopunny threaten Greninja with their respective coverage and STAB moves but are susceptible to Water Shuriken once weakened. Choice Scarf users such as Kartana, Kitsunoh, Greninja, and Volkraken threaten Greninja but have to be wary of Water Shuriken, too. Tapu Koko outspeeds Greninja but is outsped by Ash-Greninja.
Strong Priority Moves: Pokemon like Mega Pinsir and Mega Medicham threaten Greninja with their respective priority moves, although a healthy Greninja can take at least one. Caribolt can KO Greninja with Quick Attack after prior chip damage. It also discourages Greninja from using Hydro Pump thanks to its typing.
