[OVERVIEW]
- Decidueye is one of the most consistently dangerous Pokemon in NU, as its great STAB combination and good mixed offensive stats make it relatively unpredictable as well as difficult to switch into.
- Access to Swords Dance further bolsters Decidueye's offensive presence and allows it to place heavy pressure on defensive teams, with Low Sweep giving it unresisted coverage and allowing it to break through Pokemon that typically give Grass- and Ghost-types like Whimsicott, Vileplume, and Mismagius trouble, such as Incineroar, Guzzlord, and Braviary.
- Decidueye also boasts useful support in Defog and U-turn as well as a high Special Attack stat, allowing to serve as hazard control that can threaten common setters like Steelix, Diancie, and Palossand while also providing momentum for its team.
- Though Decidueye can struggle against offensive teams, this is mitigated by its good Special Defense allowing it to take on Pokemon like Whimsicott, its typing allowing it to exploit Pokemon such as Passimian locked into Close Combat, and physical sets making use of priority moves in Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak, both of which allow Decidueye to pick off weakened, faster threats like Heliolisk and Medicham, respectively.
- In spite of these attributes, however, Decidueye's matchup versus offensive teams is still lacking because of its poor physical bulk limiting setup opportunities and its meager Speed tier leaving it outsped by Pokemon like Sneasel, Vivillon, and Magmortar.
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Spirit Shackle
move 3: Leaf Blade
move 4: Low Sweep / Shadow Sneak / Sucker Punch
item: Decidium Z / Fightinium Z
ability: Overgrow
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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- Swords Dance doubles Decidueye's Attack stat, instantly turning it into a massive offensive threat and giving it an easier time plowing through bulkier teams.
- Spirit Shackle is Decidueye's main STAB move, is fairly powerful, and turns into the even stronger Sinister Arrow Raid when paired with Decidium Z. Spirit Shackle also traps the opposing Pokemon after being used, which can potentially give Decidueye setup opportunities against Pokemon like Blastoise.
- Leaf Blade is Decidueye's secondary STAB move and super effectively hits bulky Rock-, Ground-, and Water-types such as Diancie, Quagsire, and Blastoise that can handle Spirit Shackle.
- Low Sweep gives Decidueye the ability to threaten Incineroar and Guzzlord, which resist its STAB combination, as well as Pokemon like Alolan Sandslash without having to use Sinister Arrow Raid.
- Shadow Sneak is a STAB priority move that makes up for Decidueye's average Speed tier by allowing it to revenge kill weakened Pokemon like Medicham, Sigilyph, opposing Decidueye, and Will-O-Wisp Rotom. The move is relatively weak unboosted, however.
- Sucker Punch is another priority option that instead targets Heliolisk and Braviary before they can KO Decidueye with Dark Pulse and Brave Bird, respectively. Though the move does threaten a lot of the same Pokemon threatened by Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch is reliant on the opposing Pokemon attacking to work and can be less reliable as a result.
- Substitute is an alternative to these options that eases setup against Pokemon like Blastoise and lets Decidueye avoid being statused as well as Pursuit trapped by Sneasel, Absol, and Houndoom.
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- Maximum investment in Attack allows Decidueye to hit as hard as possible, while maximum investment in Speed in combination with a Jolly nature allow it to be as fast as possible, outpacing Pokemon like Incineroar and Modest Vanilluxe as well as Speed tying with Jolly Samurott.
- Decidium Z turns Spirit Shackle into Sinister Arrow Raid, which is quite powerful even unboosted and enables Decidueye to break through physically bulky Pokemon like Steelix, Golbat, Vileplume, and Ferroseed at +2.
- Alternatively, Fightinium Z can be used alongside Low Sweep to heavily damage Pokemon that resist Decidueye's STAB combination, most notably Incineroar, Braviary, and Guzzlord, as well as other Pokemon like Miltank.
- Colbur Berry is an alternative that can be used if you are already using a Z-Move on your team that allows Decidueye to stomach one Dark-type attack before dishing out a heavy hit in return.
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- Decidueye should primarily set up on Pokemon that it can force out, such as Slowbro, Rhydon, and Diancie, as this gives Decidueye an easier time with immediately applying pressure to the opposing team.
- Against teams with Incineroar, rather than set up as Incineroar switches in, Decidueye should chip away at it with either its STAB moves or Low Sweep, as this wears Incineroar down faster and limits its ability to switch into Decidueye's attacks.
- Try to preserve Decidueye when facing teams with Pursuit trappers that outspeed it, such as Sneasel and Houndoom, as they can very easily remove Decidueye after it KOes a foe and limit the amount of work it can put in against the opposing team; however, if a teammate needs a bulky Pokemon like Vileplume taken out to open the door for a late-game sweep, then Decidueye can be used to wallbreaker for the teammate instead.
- Versus bulkier teams, Decidueye should save its Z-Move until its needed to break through physically bulky Pokemon like Steelix, Vileplume, and Golbat that would otherwise be able to take an attack from Decidueye at +2 and either KO or cripple it. Offensive teams can struggle with taking Decidueye's attacks even if it doesn't set up, meaning that it should prioritize using its STAB moves against them.
- Refrain from directly switching into unresisted attacks, as Decidueye lacks recovery and doing so limits Decidueye's ability to reliably set up against and break through teams.
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- Pairing Decidueye with Dark checks like Diancie, Hariyama, and Passimian is imperative, as faster Dark-types like Sneasel can easily revenge kill Decidueye, while bulkier ones can be difficult to immediately break through. Defensive variants of Diancie can set Stealth Rock, which gives Decidueye an easier time breaking through teams, as well as provide cleric support with Heal Bell, while offensive variants can break through Pokemon like Golbat; Hariyama can threaten many of Decidueye's checks with Knock Off while serving as a great check to Vanilluxe; and Passimian can pivot out of unfavorable matchups with U-turn and safely bring Decidueye into play while similarly threatening checks with Knock Off.
- Entry hazard setters like Steelix, Rhydon, and Garbodor are also important to have, as the chip damage they can provide is necessary for guaranteeing certain KOs, such as on defensive Incineroar with +1 All-Out Pummeling, Guzzlord with +2 All-Out Pummeling, and Golbat as well as Weezing with +2 Sinister Arrow Raid. Entry hazards also break opposing Steelix's Sturdy, preventing it from serving as an emergency check to +2 Decidueye. Rhydon can check Incineroar as well as Delphox, while Garbodor can check Fighting-types and sponge Knock Off for Decidueye. Mesprit is a more offensive Stealth Rock user that serve as a secondary Fighting check and provide Healing Wish support to give Decidueye another chance at breaking.
- Pivots such as Passimian, Heliolisk, and Xatu are handy due to their ability to safely bring Decidueye into play. Defensive pivots like Slowbro and Steelix are also important, since these Pokemon can take on many Pokemon that attempt to revenge kill Decidueye, like Braviary.
- Special wallbreakers such as Heliolisk and Magmortar can plow through many of Decidueye's defensive checks, which gives it an easier time breaking through teams and potentially sweeping late-game.
- Late-game cleaners like Choice Scarf Delphox and Choice Scarf Passimian find finishing teams off late-game much easier because of the amount of pressure Decidueye places on common defensive cores. Both of these Pokemon can also act as revenge killers against threats like Sneasel.
name: Specially Offensive
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Shadow Ball / Defog
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Roost
item: Grassium Z
ability: Overgrow
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Leaf Storm is Decidueye's most powerful STAB move and threatens to hit Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types such as Slowbro, Piloswine, and Rhydon super effectively.
- Shadow Ball is Decidueye's secondary STAB move and enables it to target Grass-resistant Pokemon like Klinklang, Xatu, Garbodor, and Dhelmise.
- Defog allows Decidueye to clear the field of entry hazards, with its positive matchup against many
- U-turn
- Roost
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- max max + timid
- grass z
- overgrow
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Other Options
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- Swords Dance Decidueye can opt for an alternative EV spread consisting of 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe can be used to slightly increase Decidueye's bulk while still allowing it to outspeed Incineroar, Miltank, Xatu, and Adamant Samurott.
- A Choice Band set consisting of Spirit Shackle / Leaf Blade / U-turn / Low Sweep, Shadow Sneak, or Sucker Punch can be used to turn Decidueye into a powerful wallbreaker that isn't reliant on setting up, though all of its moves are relatively easy to exploit and its only decent Speed tier hinders it.
- Choice Scarf can be used to patch up Decidueye's average Speed and turn it into a revenge killer, though Decidueye is weak unboosted and still outsped by common Choice Scarf users like Passimian and Braviary.
- A specially offensive set utilizing Nasty Plot is an option that still allows Decidueye to threaten defensive teams while not fearing being burned by Scald as much, but these sets are slightly less powerful and have a harder time against offensive teams.
- A specially defensive set with Defog can be used on more defensive teams, though other bulky Defog users like Golbat are more consistent because of their lesser weaknesses and greater bulk.
- Finally, Life Orb is an option that can be used if Decidueye's team already has a Z-Move in use, but the recoil makes revenge killing Decidueye easier and gives it a harder time breaking through defensive teams.
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**Dark-types**: Incineroar and Guzzlord resist Decidueye's STAB combination and can easily switch into it if it lacks Low Sweep, threatening to KO it with their respective STAB moves. Sneasel outspeeds Decidueye and threatens to OHKO it with both Icicle Crash and Knock Off as well as Pursuit trap it, though Sneasel can't switch in. Dark-type coverage from the likes of Passimian and Heliolisk is also annoying for Decidueye, as it limits its ability to take these Pokemon on.
**Faster Pokemon**: Common offensive Pokemon like Timid Vanilluxe as well as Braviary and Houndoom can easily outspeed and KO Decidueye, though the former two need to be wary of a boosted Sucker Punch from physical sets.
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