RU Specially Defensive Empoleon

[FlamPoke]

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Surf
move 2: Roost
move 3: Stealth Rock / Flip Turn
move 4: Knock Off / Roar / Ice Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Competitive
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
tera type: Fairy / Ghost

[SET COMMENTS]

Specially defensive Empoleon is among the best utility Pokemon in the metagame for its capacity to counter most special attackers, establish entry hazards, remove items, and phaze setup attempts. Roost allows Empoleon to remain healthy enough to switch in against the strong special attackers like Basculegion-F, Gardevoir, and Gengar multiple times throughout a game. Flip Turn can be used to gain switch momentum after switching into an attack, allowing teammates to position into whatever enters the field against Empoleon. Knock Off provides excellent utility in the form of item removal, namely Heavy-Duty Boots, allowing entry hazard damage to rack up as Empoleon forces multiple switches by absorbing attacks. Roar provides similar utility in accruing entry hazard damage while stopping setup attempts from the likes of Calm Mind Cresselia, Slowbro, and Reuniclus. Ice Beam gives Empoleon coverage to hit the Grass- and Dragon-types in the tier like Chesnaught, Cyclizar, Noivern, and Salamence. Leftovers ensures Empoleon can recover off damage taken from entry hazards and switching into special attackers. Competitive gives Empoleon a needed Special Attack boost when activated by Moonblast drops from Fezandipiti and Gardevoir, Intimidate from Krookodile and Salamence, and Defog from Galarian Weezing and Noivern, making even bulky utility sets capable of outputting good damage. Being a Defog deterrent gives Empoleon an advantage in maintaining hazards, as the notable Defog users often struggle to deal with its coverage, especially after a boost from Competitive. A Calm nature with full investment in HP and Special Defense makes Empoleon seemingly impervious to damage from special attacks. Tera Fairy flips the critical weakness to Fighting into a resistance, allowing it to not be as threatened by the likes of Chesnaught, Mienshao, Slither Wing, and Terrakion, while also flipping the Ground and Electric weaknesses into neutrality, making Krookodile and Thundurus much less imposing. Tera Ghost similarly helps with the litany of Fighting-types prevalent in the metagame and gives Empoleon a valuable immunity to Rapid Spin attempts from the primary form of removal in Cyclizar.

Empoleon is a staple on balance and bulky offense teams needing to shore up their matchups into the strong special attackers in the tier, a stalwart Steel-type that can establish entry hazards, and another form of item removal or phazing. With access to Roost, Empoleon has instant and reliable recovery, unlike other Steel-types like Jirachi and Hisuian Goodra. Choice Scarf Basculegion-F, Gardevoir, and Gengar pose many problems for Fighting-type breakers like Galarian Zapdos, Okidogi, and Mienshao, making Empoleon an excellent choice to support them through defensive switch-ins and subsequent pivots with Flip Turn. Physically defensive teammates that can absorb Fighting- and Ground-type attacks from Krookodile, Slither Wing, and Terrakion like Galarian Weezing, Amoonguss, and Chesnaught are excellent in creating cores that can cause issues for opposing teams, accumulating entry hazard damage and whittling teams down. Chesnaught benefits from Empoleon handling the main forms of removal in the metagame, such as Cyclizar with Ice Beam and Noivern and Galarian Weezing due to Competitive, forming a strong defensive pairing that can remove Heavy-Duty Boots with Knock Off and rack up hazard chip. Slower teammates such as Conkeldurr and Crawdaunt that appreciate Empoleon's ability to sponge special attacks and safely pivot into them can assist in removing items and breaking teams through forcing multiple switches and hitting very hard into Empoleon checks like Cyclizar, Hisuian Goodra, and Jirachi. The combination of Water and Steel gives Empoleon favorable matchups into rain abusers like Basculegion-F and Kingdra, making physically defensive teammates like Amoonguss, Bellibolt, and Chesnaught, which also functions as a Knock Off absorber for Empoleon, valuable for their ability to switch into Barraskewda. Empoleon can gradually get worn down by hazard chip itself, making teammates that can pivot and maintain hazard control like Cyclizar and Noivern excellent partners.

[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/flampoke.654091/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sneakyplanner.598717/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rarelyme.513635/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/

 

[FlamPoke]

Ready for QC1

 

[Sneakyplanner]

blue=add, red=remove, purple=comment

qc1

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Surf
move 2: Roost
move 3: Stealth Rock / Flip Turn
move 4: Knock Off / Roar / Ice Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Competitive
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
tera type: Fairy / Ghost

[SET COMMENTS]

Specially Defensive Empoleon is among the best utility Pokemon in the metagame with the capacity to counter most special attackers, establish entry hazards, remove items, and phaze setup attempts. Roost allows Empoleon to remain healthy enough to switch-in against the strong special attackers like Basculegion-F, Gardevoir, Gengar, and Volcanion I don't think volc should be mentioned when the set just can't touch it at all unless you're using one of 3 slashed moves. multiple times throughout a game. Flip Turn can be used to gain switch momentum after switching into an attack, allowing teammates to position into whatever enters the field against Empoleon. Knock Off provides excellent utility in the form of item removal, allowing entry hazard damage to rack up as Empoleon forces multiple switches by absorbing attacks. You need to mention boots in order to explain why it's able to rack up hazard damage. Roar provides similar utility in accruing entry hazard damage while stopping setup attempts from the likes of Calm Mind Cresselia, Slowbro, and Reuniclus. Ice Beam gives Empoleon coverage to hit the Grass- and Dragon-types in the tier like Chesnaught, Cyclizar, Noivern, and Salamence. I think mentioning cyclizar should also note that since it's the best rapid spinner in the tier, ice beam hitting it super effectively is important. Leftovers assures Empoleon can recover off damage taken from entry hazards and switching into special attackers. Competitive gives Empoleon a needed Special Attack boost when activated by Moonblast drops from Fezandipiti and Gardevoir, Intimidate from Krookodile and Salamence, and Defog from Galarian Weezing and Noivern, making even bulky utility sets capable of outputting good damage. Mention how being a defog deterrent makes it a good hazard setter. A Calm nature with full investment in HP and Special Defense makes Empoleon seemingly impervious corrected spelling mistake to damage from special attacks. Tera Fairy flips the critical weakness to Fighting into a resistance, allowing it to not be as threatened by the likes of Chesnaught, Mienshao, Slither Wing, and Terrakion, while also converting the Ground and Electric weaknesses into neutral I think this could be phrased better. Maybe instead of saying "converted into neutrality" say it removes those weaknesses, making Krookodile and Thundurus much less imposing. Tera Ghost similarly helps with the litany of Fighting-types prevalent in the metagame, makes Thundurus and Tera Electric Blastoise much easier to check, and gives valuable immunity to Rapid Spin attempts from the primary form of removal in Cyclizar.

Empoleon is a staple on balance and bulky offense teams needing to shore up their matchups into the strong special attackers in the tier, provides a stalwart Steel-type that can establish entry hazards, and gives another form of item removal and phazing. Mention how its access to reliable recovery unlike the other steels makes it easier to splash onto a team. Choice Scarf Basculegion-F, Gardevoir, and Gengar pose many problems for Fighting-type breakers like Galarian Zapdos, Okidogi, and Mienshao, making Empoleon an excellent choice to support them through defensive switch-ins and subsequent pivots with Flip Turn. Physically defensive teammates that can absorb Fighting- and Ground-type attacks from Krookodile, Slither Wing, and Terrakion like Amoonguss and Chesnaught are excellent in creating cores that can cause issues for offensive structures, accumulating entry hazard damage and whittling teams down. Personal opinion: empoleon being a hazard setter that beats defoggers with competitive and cyclizar with ice beam makes it a very nice hazard stack duo with chesnaught, I think that's worth mentioning. Slower teammates that appreciate Empoleons ability to sponge special attacks and safely pivot into them like Conkeldurr and Crawdaunt I feel like this sentence is a bit poorly worded, makes it sound like conk and craw are the source of these special attacks. Maybe mention them at the start: "slower teammates such as conkeldurr and crawdaunt..." can assist in removing items and breaking teams through forcing multiple switches and hitting very hard into Empoleon checks like Cyclizar, Hisuian Goodra, and Jirachi. This one sentence should be broken up into two. State why conk likes empoleon and then start a new sentence saying why conk covers empoleon's weaknesses. The combination of Water and Steel gives Empoleon favorable matchups into rain abusers like Basculegion-F and Kingdra, making physically defensive teammates like Amoonguss, Bellibolt, and Chesnaught valuable for their ability to switch into Barraskewda and Gyarados. Empoleon appreciates using Tera Ghost in conjuction with a Spikes setter like Chesnaught and Gligar against common balance teams that rely on Cyclizar to remove entry hazards as it can reliably switch-in to any of its attacks, prevent Rapid Spin removal, and maintain those hazards to wear down the opponent while having excellent longevity. This was already covered in the tera section and I don't think it needs repeating.

[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/flampoke.654091/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sneakyplanner.598717/

Grammar checked by:

 

[FlamPoke]

HUGE thanks Sneaky, ready for QC2

 

[Rarelyme]

qc 2/2

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Surf
move 2: Roost
move 3: Stealth Rock / Flip Turn
move 4: Knock Off / Roar / Ice Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Competitive
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
tera type: Fairy / Ghost

[SET COMMENTS]

Specially Defensive Empoleon is among the best utility Pokemon in the metagame with the capacity to counter most special attackers, establish entry hazards, remove items, and phaze setup attempts. Roost allows Empoleon to remain healthy enough to switch-in against the strong special attackers like Basculegion-F, Gardevoir, and Gengar multiple times throughout a game. Flip Turn can be used to gain switch momentum after switching into an attack, allowing teammates to position into whatever enters the field against Empoleon. Knock Off provides excellent utility in the form of item removal, namely Heavy-Duty Boots, allowing entry hazard damage to rack up as Empoleon forces multiple switches by absorbing attacks. Roar provides similar utility in accruing entry hazard damage while stopping setup attempts from the likes of Calm Mind Cresselia, Slowbro, and Reuniclus. Ice Beam gives Empoleon coverage to hit the Grass- and Dragon-types in the tier like Chesnaught, Cyclizar, Noivern, and Salamence. Leftovers assures Empoleon can recover off damage taken from entry hazards and switching into special attackers. Competitive gives Empoleon a needed Special Attack boost when activated by Moonblast drops from Fezandipiti and Gardevoir, Intimidate from Krookodile and Salamence, and Defog from Galarian Weezing and Noivern, making even bulky utility sets capable of outputting good damage. Being a Defog deterrent gives Empoleon an advantage in maintaining hazards as the notable Defog users often struggle to deal with its coverage, especially after a boost from Competitive. A Calm nature with full investment in HP and Special Defense makes Empoleon seemingly impervious to damage from special attacks. Tera Fairy flips the critical weakness to Fighting into a resistance, allowing it to not be as threatened by the likes of Chesnaught, Mienshao, Slither Wing, and Terrakion, while also flipping the Ground and Electric weaknesses into neutral, making Krookodile and Thundurus much less imposing. Tera Ghost similarly helps with the litany of Fighting-types prevalent in the metagame, makes Thundurus and Tera Electric Blastoise much easier to check, and gives valuable immunity to Rapid Spin attempts from the primary form of removal in Cyclizar.

Empoleon is a staple on balance and bulky offense teams needing to shore up their matchups into the strong special attackers in the tier, provides a stalwart Steel-type that can establish entry hazards, and gives another form of item removal and phazing. With access to Roost, Empoleon has instant and reliably recovery, unlike other Steel-types like Jirachi and Registeel Hisuian Goodra. Choice Scarf Basculegion-F, Gardevoir, and Gengar pose many problems for Fighting-type breakers like Galarian Zapdos, Okidogi, and Mienshao, making Empoleon an excellent choice to support them through defensive switch-ins and subsequent pivots with Flip Turn. Physically defensive teammates that can absorb Fighting- and Ground-type attacks from Krookodile, Slither Wing, and Terrakion like Galarian Weezing, Amoonguss and Chesnaught are excellent in creating cores that can cause issues for offensive structures opposing teams, accumulating entry hazard damage and whittling teams down. Chesnaught benefits from Empoleon handling the main forms of removal in the metagame, such as Cyclizar with Ice Beam and Noivern due to Competitive add a gweezing mention, forming a strong defensive pairing that can remove Heavy-Duty Boots with Knock Off and rack up hazard chip. Slower teammates such as Conkeldurr and Crawdaunt that appreciate Empoleons ability to sponge special attacks and safely pivot into them can assist in removing items and breaking teams through forcing multiple switches and hitting very hard into Empoleon checks like Cyclizar, Hisuian Goodra, and Jirachi. The combination of Water and Steel gives Empoleon favorable matchups into rain abusers like Basculegion-F and Kingdra, making physically defensive teammates like Amoonguss, Bellibolt, and Chesnaught valuable for their ability to switch into Barraskewda and Gyarados. add something about empo being weak to hazard stack so mention teammates that can remove them, also add Knock Off absorber when you say that Chesnaught is a good partner

Solid work

 

[FlamPoke]

Thanks Rarely, ready for GP GP Team

 

[Tbolt]

GP 1/1

add remove comment

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Surf
move 2: Roost
move 3: Stealth Rock / Flip Turn
move 4: Knock Off / Roar / Ice Beam
item: Leftovers
ability: Competitive
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
tera type: Fairy / Ghost

[SET COMMENTS]

Specially defensive Empoleon is among the best utility Pokemon in the metagame with the for its capacity to counter most special attackers, establish entry hazards, remove items, and phaze setup attempts. Roost allows Empoleon to remain healthy enough to switch-in switch in against the strong special attackers like Basculegion-F, Gardevoir, and Gengar multiple times throughout a game. Flip Turn can be used to gain switch momentum after switching into an attack, allowing teammates to position into whatever enters the field against Empoleon. Knock Off provides excellent utility in the form of item removal, namely Heavy-Duty Boots, allowing entry hazard damage to rack up as Empoleon forces multiple switches by absorbing attacks. Roar provides similar utility in accruing entry hazard damage while stopping setup attempts from the likes of Calm Mind Cresselia, Slowbro, and Reuniclus. Ice Beam gives Empoleon coverage to hit the Grass- and Dragon-types in the tier like Chesnaught, Cyclizar, Noivern, and Salamence. Leftovers assures ensures Empoleon can recover off damage taken from entry hazards and switching into special attackers. Competitive gives Empoleon a needed Special Attack boost when activated by Moonblast drops from Fezandipiti and Gardevoir, Intimidate from Krookodile and Salamence, and Defog from Galarian Weezing and Noivern, making even bulky utility sets capable of outputting good damage. Being a Defog deterrent gives Empoleon an advantage in maintaining hazards, (AC) as the notable Defog users often struggle to deal with its coverage, especially after a boost from Competitive. A Calm nature with full investment in HP and Special Defense makes Empoleon seemingly impervious to damage from special attacks. Tera Fairy flips the critical weakness to Fighting into a resistance, allowing it to not be as threatened by the likes of Chesnaught, Mienshao, Slither Wing, and Terrakion, while also flipping the Ground and Electric weaknesses into neutral neutrality, making Krookodile and Thundurus much less imposing. Tera Ghost similarly helps with the litany of Fighting-types prevalent in the metagame and gives Empoleon a valuable immunity to Rapid Spin attempts from the primary form of removal in Cyclizar.

Empoleon is a staple on balance and bulky offense teams needing to shore up their matchups into the strong special attackers in the tier, provides a stalwart Steel-type that can establish entry hazards, and gives another form of item removal and or phazing. (Consulted in Discord DMs; apparently Knock and Roar don't get used together.) With access to Roost, Empoleon has instant and reliably reliable recovery, unlike other Steel-types like Jirachi and Hisuian Goodra. Choice Scarf Basculegion-F, Gardevoir, and Gengar pose many problems for Fighting-type breakers like Galarian Zapdos, Okidogi, and Mienshao, making Empoleon an excellent choice to support them through defensive switch-ins and subsequent pivots with Flip Turn. Physically defensive teammates that can absorb Fighting- and Ground-type attacks from Krookodile, Slither Wing, and Terrakion like Galarian Weezing, Amoonguss, and Chesnaught are excellent in creating cores that can cause issues for opposing teams, accumulating entry hazard damage and whittling teams down. Chesnaught benefits from Empoleon handling the main forms of removal in the metagame, such as Cyclizar with Ice Beam and Noivern and Galarian Weezing due to Competitive, forming a strong defensive pairing that can remove Heavy-Duty Boots with Knock Off and rack up hazard chip. Slower teammates such as Conkeldurr and Crawdaunt that appreciate Empoleons Empoleon's ability to sponge special attacks and safely pivot into them can assist in removing items and breaking teams through forcing multiple switches and hitting very hard into Empoleon checks like Cyclizar, Hisuian Goodra, and Jirachi. The combination of Water and Steel gives Empoleon favorable matchups into rain abusers like Basculegion-F and Kingdra, making physically defensive teammates like Amoonguss, Bellibolt, and Chesnaught, who which also functions as a Knock Off absorber for Empoleon, valuable for their ability to switch into Barraskewda. Empoleon can gradually get worn down by hazard chip itself, making teammates who that can pivot and maintain hazard control like Cyclizar and Noivern excellent partners.

[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/flampoke.654091/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sneakyplanner.598717/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rarelyme.513635/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/

GP Team done

 

[FlamPoke]

Ready for upload, thanks Tbolt and the qc team!