[OVERVIEW]
Entei's main function in GSC is to break through the opposing team's defenses with its powerful sun-boosted Fire Blast and complementary Solar Beam. Unlike its more powerful Fire-type competitor Moltres, Entei is quite bulky, has no Electric weakness, and has base 100 Speed, which makes it possible for it to defeat Zapdos and Raikou, two of the best Pokemon in the tier. Unfortunately, even with sun up, Entei fails to land the crucial guaranteed 3HKO on Snorlax that Moltres can achieve. Additionally, Moltres's immunity to Ground gives it a chance to defeat Nidoking and allows it to destroy most Steelix sets, whereas Entei struggles to switch in.
[SET]
name: Sunny Day
move 1: Sunny Day
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Solar Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Fighting
item: Leftovers
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Sunny Day boosts the power of Fire Blast and allows Solar Beam to charge instantly while weakening Water-type attacks and lowering the accuracy of Thunder to 50%, giving Entei the advantage against Zapdos and Raikou. Fire Blast hits common threats like Exeggutor, Steelix, Forretress, and Jynx. Solar Beam beats Pokemon like Rhydon, Golem, and Quagsire that would otherwise wall Entei while usually 3HKOing Water-types, which gives it a better matchup against them than Moltres. Hidden Power Fighting has a very high chance of 2HKOing Tyranitar and a decent chance of 4HKOing Snorlax, which means if the latter is forced to Rest without a Curse boost and doesn't have Sleep Talk, it can't safely burn sleep turns against Entei because it risks eventually being taken out by a critical hit.
Team Options
========
Exeggutor is a good partner for its Ground and Water resistances and lack of weakness to Rock. Exeggutor can also spread status and use Explosion on threats Entei dislikes such as Snorlax and Water-types. Spikes support is very useful for Entei, as it helps compensate for its somewhat underwhelming damage output; thus, Cloyster and Forretress are valuable teammates. Raikou and Snorlax are helpful if Entei is against a Water- or Electric-type without sun up, as they are bulky enough to switch into many Water- or Electric-type Pokemon and take them down with STAB or coverage attacks. Machamp, especially Fire Blast variants, forms a good offensive core with Entei, as sun helps Machamp with many of its typical checks such as Zapdos, Suicune, Starmie without Psychic, Heracross, and Skarmory, and Machamp can also check Snorlax and Tyranitar and lure in Pokemon like Skarmory and Exeggutor so Entei can set up sun. Nidoking can lure in Entei's checks such as Zapdos, Snorlax, and Water-types and put them to sleep with Lovely Kiss or take away their Leftovers with Thief so they become less reliable in checking Entei; most notably, Snorlax has a harder time checking Entei if it has been put to sleep or has its Leftovers taken away. Nidoking is also a solid check to Tyranitar if it's not running Earthquake or much less common coverage moves like Surf and Ice Beam. Other Fire-types like Charizard, Houndoom, and Moltres greatly appreciate Entei's ability to set up sun, since it boosts their Fire-type STAB moves, and Entei can help overwhelm checks they have in common.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A RestTalk set with Rest / Sleep Talk / Sunny Day / Fire Blast can function as a durable attacker that performs as an excellent answer to Gengar, Exeggutor, and Jynx due to not fearing status from them, and it can separate itself from Moltres with its better bulk and Electric neutrality, letting Entei have a better time against Electric-types. However, Moltres still mostly outclasses this set due to its significantly higher Special Attack which lets it 3HKO Snorlax under sun, as well its Ground immunity which gives it immunity to Spikes and allows it to handle Ground-types better. Additionally, this set's lack of coverage makes Fire-resistant Pokemon like Tyranitar, Vaporeon, and Rhydon significantly more dangerous.
Roar can replace Hidden Power Fighting to allow Entei to gradually wear down its counters with Spikes support, and it is especially useful if the opponent has many Fire-weak Pokemon on the same team. Unfortunately, Roar has poor synergy with Sunny Day, and the removal of Hidden Power Fighting makes it more difficult to take down Tyranitar, Snorlax, and Houndoom. Entei's Fire typing also lacks useful resistances and gives it weaknesses to common types in Ground and Water, so it's not a very good user of Roar despite its good bulk. Entei can use Charcoal to usually 3HKO Snorlax with sun-boosted Fire Blast, but losing Leftovers recovery means Entei becomes less durable; notably, it is 2HKOed by Zapdos's Thunder after Spikes.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Snorlax**: Snorlax's incredible HP and great Special Defense leave Entei incapable of doing any significant damage even under sun, while Curse can make Hidden Power Fighting too weak to threaten Snorlax. Snorlax can also take Entei down with Earthquake or STAB-boosted Double-Edge.
**Dragonite**: Dragonite's great bulk and resistance to all of Entei's coverage moves leave Entei completely incapable of getting past it, and Dragonite can paralyze Entei with Thunder Wave to try to defeat it.
**Water-types**: With the notable exception of Cloyster, Water-types such as Vaporeon, Suicune, Thunder Wave Starmie, and Tentacruel pose serious threats to Entei. Vaporeon can heal any damage taken with Rest and use Entei as setup fodder. However, Entei can still possibly take down Vaporeon with Solar Beam, especially if Vaporeon switches in on Sunny Day and is asleep. Tentacruel is similar to Vaporeon in that it is able to use Entei as setup fodder, but it is especially notable in that it is neutral to Solar Beam and resists Hidden Power Fighting, which leaves Entei completely incapable of doing anything to it. Starmie can paralyze Entei with Thunder Wave and stall out sun turns with Recover. If sun has not been set up, Quagsire can threaten Entei with its STAB-boosted Earthquake.
**Ground-types**: Marowak and Nidoking can switch in on Sunny Day, survive a sun-boosted Fire Blast, and threaten to maim Entei with Earthquake. Specifically, Marowak has a high chance to OHKO it, and Nidoking can 2HKO it. Nidoking is notable in that it has Lovely Kiss to put Entei to sleep, letting it easily beat Entei. If sun has not been set up or Entei does not have Solar Beam, Rhydon and Golem will crush it, since they resist Fire Blast and take little from Hidden Power Fighting. If sun has been set up, however, Solar Beam easily dispatches the two.
**Bulky Status Spreaders**: Bulky Pokemon with status-inducing moves such as Blissey, Suicune, Umbreon, and Porygon2 can easily stall out both Entei and Sunny Day. Specifically, Blissey, Umbreon, and Suicune can use Toxic against Entei and then heal off damage, although Suicune and Blissey are likely to be 3HKOed by Solar Beam and Hidden Power Fighting, so they aren't completely consistent. Moonlight Umbreon is notable in that its recovery move is strengthened by Sunny Day, which makes it easier for it to wall Entei. Porygon2 can use Thunder Wave to paralyze Entei and stall it out with Recover.
**Charizard and Moltres**: Charizard and Moltres resist Fire Blast along with all of Entei's coverage. Charizard can take Entei down with Earthquake, and Moltres outdamages Entei and often runs RestTalk. These Pokemon can also take advantage of sun if Entei sets it up.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Oldamar999, 453750]]
- Quality checked by: [[Earthworm, 15210], [FriendOfMrGolem120, 424525]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
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