[OVERVIEW]
+ Magic Bounce is a fantastic ability that makes him immune to Taunt, status moves, most phazing moves and Defog, giving him a niche over the superior Suicune and Raikou as a Calm Mind setter, and over Klefki as a dual screener.
+ Protects the field from entry hazards.
+ Solid Special Attack.
+ Good base Speed, making him a fast sweeper and an un-tauntable dual screen setter that can usually veil himself before being attacked.
+ decent movepool with good offensive coverage thanks to moves like Dazzling Gleam, Shadow Ball or Grass Knot, and decent supporting moves like Morning Sun, Yawn or Trick
- Poor defense and HP stats, leaving him vulnerable to prominent physical attackers like like Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Salamance or Talonflame.
- Little ability to answer to faster, hard hitting pokemon like Greninja and typical Choice Scarf users as Heracross or Landorus-T.
- Needs a couple of Calm Mind boosts to really come online, or faint due to his frailness.
- Can't score a KO on Aegislash also after a couple of Calm Mind, while being KOed by the combination of Shadow Ball plus Shadow Sneak.
- Psychic type suffers super effective damage from common Dark attacks
- Often hindered by bulkier pokemon as a Calm Mind sweeper and by Klefki as a dual screener.
[SET]
Name: Calm Mind Sweeper
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Dazzling Gleam / Shadow Ball
move 3: Psychic / Stored Power / Psyshock
move 4: Morning Sun
item: Leftovers
ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[Set Comments]
Moves
========
- Calm Mind is Espeon’s boosting move, increasing his already great special attack and his decent special defense.
- Dazzling Gleam is a solid choice to deal with Dark pokemon and hit harder Dragon pokemon. You can run Shadow Ball instead if you fear Mega Metagross or want a way to deal some damage to Aegislash, but this would leave you helpless versus Dark pokemon.
- Psychic is usually the preferred STAB option due to the physically defense oriented tier. Stored Power can also be a good option, considering that after two Calm Mind boosts it’s base power is higher that Psychic. You can run Psyshock instead if you fear special walls or the Calm Mind wars.
- Espeon’s signature move Morning Sun will help you to recover HP and can be crucial to survive in order to set up Calm Mind.
Set Details
========
- Magic Bounce makes Espeon a unique Calm Mind sweeper, along with Mega Sableye, letting you boost without the fear of being Roar’ed, Whirlwind’ed or statussed.
- The evs are pretty straightfoward: while Max Speed, along with a Timid nature, is there to speed tie with Gengar and Mega Metagross, and to hit or set up as fast as possible; max HP is to maximize Espeon's bulk. With 252 HP EVs you will resist Gengar's Shadow Ball 100% of the time, have a 31% to be OHKO'ed by Modest Hydreigon's Dark Pulse (25% if you put 4evs in SpD) and a 37,5% to be OHKO'ed by Jolly Garchomp's Outrage (31% if you put 4 Evs in Def), both pokemon that can run a Choice Scarf set, outspeeding Espeon.
- If you dont fear missing the speed ties with Gengar and Mega Metagross you can run a 196 speed evs instead to outspeed base 100's and Garchomp by 1 point, while adding 28 Evs to Defense being able to resist Jolly Garchomp's Outrage 93,7% of the time (44 EVs to be sure of surviving 100% of the time), and 36 Evs to Special Defense in order to resist Modest Hydreigon's Dark Pulse 87,5% of the time.
- Leftover is usually the preferred item, increasing Espeon's longevity with the help of Morning Sun.
Usage Tips
========
- Given his not-so-bad special defense stat, a good idea is to set up in front of special attackers which you can take hits from like Cresselia or Rotom, and heal back while boosting.
- You can also set up against a supporting pokemon like Chansey or Whimsicott, while being protected by Magic Bounce.Avoiding to switch in is a good way to keep Espeon as healty as possible.
- Comming in after a fainted teammate or when predicting a status move are both fine ideas to bring Espeon inside the battle.
- Keep in mind that you will usually need a few boosts to be able to sweep.
Team Options
========
- "Fairy-types such as Mega Mawile, Whimsicott, and Sylveon are great partners for Espeon because they can switch into predicted Dragon-type moves and deal with Dark-types such as Hydreigon and Tyranitar. Mega Mawile can KO Mega Salamence with a powerful STAB Play Rough and remove Ferrothorn off the field with Fire Fang. Whimsicott can provide speed control with Stun Spore for Espeon."
- Fire-types such as Blaziken, Talonflame, and Heatran can threaten out Steel-types such as Mega Mawile and Aegislash. Specially defensive variants of Talonflame are a great way in handling Aegislash."
- Fighting-types such as Mega Lopunny and Conkeldurr can help against threats such as Mega Kangaskhan.
- Rotom-W can handle Talonflame and Greninja, while also providing will-O-wisp support to burn physical attackers and soften attacks deal to Espeon.
- Mega Kangaskhan is a great way of getting rid of some threats with its powerful STAB Double Edge. Also, it has access to Earthquake to punish Heatran and other Steel-types.
- Thunder Wave support from Thundurus and Klefki are also great because Espeon would be able to set up. Calm Mind a little easier given the foe is paralyzed on some turns. Klefki deserves a special mention because it can help set up dual screens for Espeon.
- Garchomp is a great partner for several Pokemon, and this is no exception. While providing Stealth Rock support, it can threaten Dragon-typer, Steel Types and deal a lot of damage to opposing team before Espeon comes in
- Stealth Rock support from Mamoswine, Tyranitar, or Hippowdon is very helpful in breaking Focus Sash Pokemon such as Breloom.
[SET]
Name: Triple Shield Support
move 1: Psychic / Psyshock
move 2: Reflect
move 3: Light Screen
move 4: Yawn / Dazzling Gleam
item: Light Clay
ability: Magic Bounce
nature: Timid
evs: 236 HP / 76 Def / 196 Spe
[Set Comments]
Moves
========
- Psychic is Espeon's strongest STAB, dealing decent damage to most pokemon that doesn't resist it. You can fire a couple of this when behind the proper screen. Psyshock can be used instead to hit harder calm mind users like Suicune and Raikou, or special walls like Chansey, but Psychic is usually a better choice in a meta physical defense oriented.
- Reflect is usually the first choice when setting up due to Espeon's poor defense. Behind this veil Espeon can survive almost every non-boosted physical hit, from Adamant max attack Mega Kangaskhan's Sucker punch and Double Edge to Adamant max attack Conkeldurr's Knock off, having a second round to set up the last screen, deal some damage or just Yawn/switch out.
- Light Screen increases Espeon's already decent special defense stat, while ofcourse shielding the team for eight turns too. Just like Reflect, behind the screen Espeon longevity highly increases. An example is positive nature max special attack Aegislash's Shadow Ball dealing a maximum of 80% damage or Timid max SpA Life Orb Greninja's Dark Pulse, dealing up to 73,5% damage.
- In a tier full of set up sweeper Yawn is usually the best choice for the last slot, preventing other mons to set up freely or trying to force a switch out to safely bring in another pokemon. Dazzling Gleam can be used to still do damage to Dark types.
Set Details
========
- Thanks to Magic Bounce Espeon is a fantastic candidate for a dual screen set, immune to Taunt and bouncing back Defog that would otherwise break the dual shields.
- 236 Hp and 76 Def Evs allow you to survive a LO Adamant Talonflame's Brave Bird 100% of the time before setting up Reflect, usually ko'ing in return with Psychic after recoil and life orb's damage or just being able to set up a screen.
- 196 Speed with a Timid nature is used to outspeed positive nature base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan and to outspeed positive nature non Choice Scarf variants of Garchomp.
- Light Clay is required to prolong the turns of Reflect and Light Screen.
Usage Tips
========
- It's usually a better idea to set up just one screen, depending on who you are against with, and then to attack, yawn to gain momentum or just switch out. Setting up both screens will often lead Espeon to faint.
- The main goal of this set is to set up screens for teammate sweepers, also if this means sacrificing Espeon it may be worth in order to give an easier time to a sweeper to come in and set up.
- Usually you will bring Espeon as a Lead, so you will be shielded by entry hazard while setting up the screens. Don't lead with it if you predict Greninja or a Mega Gengar as opposite leads, because they can ohko you before Espeon could do anything.
- Yawning the opponent and being ko'ed could be a good idea, so you can try to set up with your sweeper and take the momentum back.
Team Options
========
- Espeon fits well on offensive teams and pairs well with setup sweepers. Dragon Dance Mega Salamance or Quiver Dance Volcarona are both good partners, also due to the third shield, Magic bounce, that prevents entry hazards.
- Mega Kangaskhan is another good partner, covering Espeon's ghost weakness while checking fighting type, steel types with Earthquake and hitting hard with Double Edge.
- Azumarill appreciate the dual screen support too, so that he can easily set up Belly Drum while giving Espeon a handy switch in to Dark and Bug attacks.
- Blaziken is also a great choice not only setting up behind screens but also helping against Steel-types and Tyranitar.
- Mega Gyarados resist Ghost type moves and can set up with Dragon Dance.
- Dragonite can be extremely bulky with the combination of Multiscale plus the screens, while setting up Dragon Dances.
- In general strong hard hitting pokemon will all appreciate being behind the two veils, having in mind is a 3 versus 3 tier, so with an offensive strategy you will probably try to close the game while the screens are still active. Other good samples are Mega Heracross, Mega Mawile, Greninja or Sylveon.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
- Kee Berry is a good alternative over Leftovers for the Calm Mind set, helping to increase Espeon's frail defense.
- A Trick + Choice Scarf/Specs set can be used to hit hard and fast while still being able to annoy set up sweepers or trick room strategies.
- Grass knot can be considered if you want to deal superior damage to lead like Mamoswine or Swampert. Hidden Power Fire if you fear Ferrothorn or Mega Mawile.
- You can run a Timid nature with 252/252 Evs in speed and special attack with three attacks plus Substitute or Yawn, to lead and do as mush chip damage as you can while still guarding the team from entry hazards.
- A 252 hp 252 def Ev with a Bold nature can be used if you want to use Espeon as the ender of a baton pass chain, along with Stored Power.
[CHECKS AND COUNTERS]
========
**Faster Pokemon** While Talonflame threats the Calm Mind set, Greninja can beat both of Espeon’s sets. Mega Lopunny can be problematic with the combination of Fake out plus Return, and common choice scarf users such as Heracross and Landorus-T can easily check Espeon.
**Bulky set up Pokemon** Volcarona can Quiver Dance and hit hard Espeon with Bug Buzz, while becoming faster and then firing back before him. Mega Salamance can take an Espeon hit also after a Calm Mind and just Dragon Dance, Roost, and become very hard to stop if you dont have a specific counter. Azumarril is also a threat that can tank Espeon and set up Belly Drum, dealing huge damage to him with Play Rough and with Knock off even behind Reflect.
**Priority Users** Sucker Punch users such as Mega Kangaskhan or Mega Mawile can ohko the calm mind set and do heavy damage to the dual screen set. Dragonite and Lucario both can pressure Espeon and deal good damage with Extreme Speed, while also being able to set up. Adamant nature Mamoswine can revenge kill a weakened Espeon with Ice Shard max attack set if Espeon has no investment in bulk.
**Bulky Steel-types** Aegislash can easily threaten both of Espeon’s set, easily tanking Psychic moves, Dazzling Gleam, and even Shadow Ball or Hidden Power Fire after one or two calm mind boosts, KOing him back with the combination of Shadow Ball plus Shadow Sneak even at +2. A bulky set of Mega Mawile can almost freely sword dance and then punch holes through your team. Scizor and Ferrothorn can both be very hard to deal with if you dont run Hidden Power Fire.
**Bulky Dark-types** This part deserve a special mention for Tyranitar that can easily OHKO Espeon even behind Reflect, while tanking his Dazzling Gleam if Espeon doesn't have enough calm mind set up thanks to sand's special defense boost.
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