[OVERVIEW]
With the full ban on Baton Pass, Ninjask is a shell of what it was. Its incredibly crippling Stealth Rock weakness combined with low power and bad STAB moves make it an overall terrible choice. While it still has access to Speed Boost and Swords Dance, it is already the fastest Pokemon in the metagame even without increased speed, making this ability not useful enough to justify its presence on a team. One may think that its Bug / Flying typing may give it some niche, but Yanmega is a far superior option due to its much better defensive stats and its stronger power.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance + Power Herb
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Night Slash
move 4: Dig
item: Power Herb
ability: Speed Boost
nature: Adamant
evs: 184 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 68 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
This set is awful, but it may very well be the best option for Ninjask. Swords Dance boosts its weak Attack to a moderately acceptable level. X-Scissor is its best STAB move available. Night Slash hits Ghost-types like Gengar and, more importantly, Rotom-A for decent damage. Dig is a surprise move to catch grounded Steel-types like Jirachi, Magnezone, and, most notably, Heatran. After a Swords Dance, Dig should do significant damage to non-bulky Jirachi while OHKOing Heatran and Magnezone.
An Adamant nature and maximum Attack investment are both absolutely mandatory to mitigate Ninjask's poor power as much as possible. The Speed investment allows Ninjask to outspeed Dugtrio and Choice Scarf Tyranitar. Outspeeding Weavile is unnecessary, as Ninjask gets maimed by Ice Shard regardless. The rest of the EVs are put into HP to give Ninjask a greater chance of actually surviving an attacking move from any other OU Pokemon. 4 EVs are taken out of HP so it can survive Stealth Rock twice.
Save Ninjask as a late-game cleaner in hopes that you can actually get a KO with it. It can safely set up Swords Dance versus a Pokemon Choice locked into a Ground- or Fighting-type move, but otherwise it probably won't get a chance to do much.
If you must use Ninjask, Magnezone is a mandatory partner to trap pesky Steel-types like Skarmory and Bronzong that may get in the way of a Ninjask sweep. Starmie is also mandatory to provide Rapid Spin support so that Ninjask doesn't enter the field at 50% health.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Excal, 456373]]
- Quality checked by: [[Triangles, 118250], [DeepBlueC, 307789]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073]]
With the full ban on Baton Pass, Ninjask is a shell of what it was. Its incredibly crippling Stealth Rock weakness combined with low power and bad STAB moves make it an overall terrible choice. While it still has access to Speed Boost and Swords Dance, it is already the fastest Pokemon in the metagame even without increased speed, making this ability not useful enough to justify its presence on a team. One may think that its Bug / Flying typing may give it some niche, but Yanmega is a far superior option due to its much better defensive stats and its stronger power.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance + Power Herb
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Night Slash
move 4: Dig
item: Power Herb
ability: Speed Boost
nature: Adamant
evs: 184 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 68 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
This set is awful, but it may very well be the best option for Ninjask. Swords Dance boosts its weak Attack to a moderately acceptable level. X-Scissor is its best STAB move available. Night Slash hits Ghost-types like Gengar and, more importantly, Rotom-A for decent damage. Dig is a surprise move to catch grounded Steel-types like Jirachi, Magnezone, and, most notably, Heatran. After a Swords Dance, Dig should do significant damage to non-bulky Jirachi while OHKOing Heatran and Magnezone.
An Adamant nature and maximum Attack investment are both absolutely mandatory to mitigate Ninjask's poor power as much as possible. The Speed investment allows Ninjask to outspeed Dugtrio and Choice Scarf Tyranitar. Outspeeding Weavile is unnecessary, as Ninjask gets maimed by Ice Shard regardless. The rest of the EVs are put into HP to give Ninjask a greater chance of actually surviving an attacking move from any other OU Pokemon. 4 EVs are taken out of HP so it can survive Stealth Rock twice.
Save Ninjask as a late-game cleaner in hopes that you can actually get a KO with it. It can safely set up Swords Dance versus a Pokemon Choice locked into a Ground- or Fighting-type move, but otherwise it probably won't get a chance to do much.
If you must use Ninjask, Magnezone is a mandatory partner to trap pesky Steel-types like Skarmory and Bronzong that may get in the way of a Ninjask sweep. Starmie is also mandatory to provide Rapid Spin support so that Ninjask doesn't enter the field at 50% health.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Excal, 456373]]
- Quality checked by: [[Triangles, 118250], [DeepBlueC, 307789]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073]]
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