Overview
Absol’s monstrous attack stat and access to powerful offensive utility moves such as Knock Off, Pursuit, and Sucker Punch, alongside Swords Dance and a very wide coverage movepool, make it a fearsome wallbreaker and sweeper in the current metagame. Absol notably has the strongest Knock Off and Pursuit in the tier, letting it threaten things other Knock Off users wouldn’t be able to, such as Alomomola and Colbur Berry Slowking, while Sucker Punch threatens to OHKO many offensive Pokémon that might switch into it after a Swords Dance. However, Absol is somewhat held back by its poor bulk and weakness to all forms of status, making setting up somewhat difficult and limiting the amount of times it can properly switch in, as well as its middling speed tier making it very reliant on winning Sucker Punch reads to make progress against offensive teams. Lastly, Absol always wants Knock Off and Sucker Punch, making it difficult for it to take full advantage of its wide pool. These factors combine to make Absol a very dangerous, but somewhat inconsistent threat in the current RarelyUsed metagame.
Swords Dance
Absol @ Life Orb / Dread Plate / Lum Berry
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Tail / Superpower
Moves
Swords dance boosts Absol’s attack stat to truly unbelievable levels, allowing it to OHKO most of the tier that doesn’t resist its STAB moves. Knock Off is Absol’s strongest STAB move, with extra offensive utility and zero drawbacks. Sucker Punch allows Absol to fight back against and KO faster Pokémon which would otherwise end your sweep attempt early. Iron Tail is Absol`s strongest hit against Fairy-type Pokémon in the tier, hitting Granbull, Diancie, and Mega Audino for super-effective damage. Superpower compromises a neutral hit on the latter two while also hitting Steelix and Scrafty super effectively, both of whom can stop a sweep if their HP is full enough.
Set Details
252 Attack EVs and an Adamant nature allows Absol to hit as hard as possible, as its other stats besides attack largely don’t matter. A Jolly nature can be used to outspeed certain Pokémon that would otherwise outspeed you, such as Exploud and Magneton, but most Pokémon Absol would outspeed from doing this fear Sucker Punch anyways. Life Orb boosts Absol’s already fearsome power significantly, while Dread Plate offers a smaller boost to only Dark-type moves but gives Absol some much-needed longevity. Lum Berry can also be used at the cost of even more power to ease setup opportunities against Pokémon such as Slowking or Jellicent. Super Luck is Absol’s preferred Ability, boosting its chances for a critical hit to roughly 1 in 8. Justified can also be used to leverage Absol’s valuable Knock Off resistance and make up the difference in power from losing an item, but Absol is generally too fragile for this to be a viable option.
Usage Tips
Swords Dance Absol should be saved exclusively for the late game, as Absol is too fragile to set up more than once over the course of the game. You will often need to spread Paralysis or Sleep throughout a game to ease setup opportunities further. Absol is strong enough to OHKO certain bulky psychic and ghost-type Pokemon through their Colbur Berry with minimal chip damage, so waiting until they’ve taken a round of stealth rock damage or been forced to take a U-Turn is extremely valuable.
Team Options
As Absol is slower than most of the tier’s Fighting-type Pokémon, sturdy checks and revenge killers are essentially mandatory with it, such as Slowking and Granbull for checks and Fletchinder and Delphox for revenge killers. Absol also greatly appreciates hazard support to further limit its possible switch-ins, with stealth rock users such as Aerodactyl and Registeel and Spikes users such as Mega Glalie being good options. Absol also appreciates being paired with U-Turn or Volt Switch users to give it free entrance to the field. Flygon is a particularly good partner for this, as it naturally invites in bulky Water-types weak to Knock Off such as Slowking or Jellicent. Heal Bell support such as Granbull or Diancie is also appreciated, but not strictly necessary.
All-Out Attacker
Absol @ Life Orb
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit / Superpower
- Iron Tail / Superpower / Play Rough
Moves
Knock Off and Sucker Punch are Absol’s strongest moves and pack extra utility. Absol has the strongest Pursuit in the tier, although its mediocre speed can occasionally make taking advantage of this a gamble against faster Psychic-types such as Sigilyph and Meloetta. Iron Tail and Superpower remain Absol’s best coverage options for the tier’s various Dark resists, although Play Rough can also be used to lure in and KO Fighting and Dark-type switchins at the cost of not being able to hit Fairy-Type Pokémon.
Set Details
252 Attack and Speed EVs allow Absol to maximize the only stats it cares about, and a Life Orb boosts Absol’s damage even further. A Jolly nature is used on this set to maximize the amount of Pokémon Absol can trap with Pursuit, most notably allowing you to outspeed and KO Hoopa whether it switches or not.
Usage Tips
The All-Out Attacker set is generally better in the early-to-mid game as a revenge killer and wallbreaker to scare out and cripple Psychic-types. It's best to not reveal Pursuit until you absolutely have to, as the swords dance set is more common, so opponents are less likely to expect it when they attempt to switch out. As Absol has next to zero defensive utility, it’s important to bring it in safely via double switching or pivoting moves as much as possible rather than attempting to stomach a hit with it.
Team Options
When using this set, it’s best to pair it up with other Pokémon that appreciate Absol’s ability to threaten bulky Psychic-type Pokémon with a strong Pursuit or Knock Off, such as Medicham or Virizion. Regardless of set, Absol mandates extensive answers to Fighting-type Pokémon, both in defensive answers such as Uxie or Diancie and revenge killers such as Fletchinder, Aerodactyl, or Sigilyph. Hazards are also greatly appreciated due to the amount of switches Absol forces, so using Pokémon like Registeel, Uxie, or Mega Glalie to set hazards make for good partners, with Uxie having the benefit of being able to bring it in safely with a fairly slow U-Turn.
Other Options
Absol can run a Choice Scarf set to patch up its mediocre speed and make Pursuit trapping even easier, but it is largely outclassed by Houndoom in this role due to Houndoom’s higher speed stat and access to Unnerve to ignore Colbur Berries, and it strongly dislikes being unable to switch moves. Absol can run Substitute on either set to punish the switches it forces, but giving up a coverage move is generally not worth it. Absol can also run Taunt to try and stop passive forms of status
Checks & Counters
Fighting-Types: Absol is slower than the majority of Fighting-types in the tier, most of whom are capable of switching in and forcing it out, although certain fighting types such as Gallade and Medicham fear Sucker Punch anyways. Hitmonlee and the rare Gurdurr in particular don’t fear Sucker Punch due to their own access to Mach Punch.
Status: If Absol gets hit with any Status Condition, it is essentially useless for the remainder of the game. In particular, this makes Pokémon such as Slowking, Alomomola, and Registeel, who it would otherwise be able to set up in front of without fear, somewhat risky for Absol to attempt to use Swords Dance against if it’s not holding or has already expended its Lum Berry.
Fairy-Types: While Absol has coverage moves for them, being forced to rely on the inaccurate Iron Tail to continue a sweep against Pokémon such as Diancie, Mega Audino, and Granbull, or a neutral Superpower against the former two, making using Absol against teams with those Pokémon particularly risky.