In-battle formes
Strategies
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Overview
Umbreon is one of the toughest walls to bring down thanks to its stellar defensive stats and access to Charm, which allows it to handle GSC's numerous Curse sweepers. It's also a solid Pursuit user despite being very weak offensively, since it doesn't fear much from Starmie and Dynamic Punch Gengar, unlike competing Dark-types Tyranitar and Houndoom. Umbreon can also make good use of the combination of Mean Look and Baton Pass, which is potentially very rewarding if the opponent fails to phaze it. However, with such poor offensive stats and its bare movepool, Umbreon is one of the most passive Pokemon in the tier and is left overly reliant on Toxic to do any sort of damage, which means it can't pose a threat to anything immune to poison except Gengar. Umbreon also despises status and has to use Rest in order to escape from poison and paralysis, and even though it is extremely sturdy, it can be overwhelmed much more easily when it is asleep.
Charm
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Set Description
Charm is one of the main reasons why Umbreon is so hard to break through. The purpose of this move is to stop Curse sweepers like Snorlax in their tracks. It can also be used to soften the blows of Explosion and other physical attacks from slower Pokemon like Exeggutor, Rhydon, and even Machamp—though in Machamp's case, Umbreon must beware of Cross Chop's high critical hit rate. Pursuit allows Umbreon to wear down Pokemon like Exeggutor, Gengar, and Misdreavus, none of which can hit it very hard without using Explosion, punishing them with hefty damage if they try to switch out. Rest is Umbreon's preferred recovery option, since it allows it to get rid of poison or paralysis, which both pose a severe threat to Umbreon and limit its effectiveness. Rest also notably enables Umbreon to check threats like Body Slam Snorlax more effectively. However, it puts Umbreon out of commission for two turns, making it more vulnerable to offensive pressure. Therefore, Sleep Talk is recommended so Umbreon keeps fulfilling its tasks when asleep. However, Toxic is also a great option to weaken the foe, force switches, and threaten non-Rest variants of Snorlax, Zapdos, and Tyranitar. In conjunction with Pursuit and Spikes support, Toxic can wear down opposing Pokemon quite quickly. Alongside Toxic, Umbreon's more flexible recovery option in Moonlight can be given consideration if Umbreon can avoid or be cured of status and the low amount of PP isn't problematic despite the fact that Umbreon is an entirely stall-based Pokemon.
Team Options
Outside of its defensive utility, the main reason to use Umbreon is its ability to reliably weaken any Psychic- and Ghost-type Pokemon with Pursuit, something greatly appreciated by Pokemon such as Machamp or mono-attacking Snorlax. Umbreon is also a good option for Spikes-based teams, since it's the only viable Pursuit user that fares well against what is arguably the best spinner available, Starmie. Even though Starmie takes fairly low damage from Umbreon's Pursuit and has plenty of Recover PP, constant residual damage from poison and the threat of Pursuit will eventually see it struggling to keep Spikes off the field. If Umbreon happens to pack Sleep Talk instead of Toxic, your Spikes setter should be able to inflict Starmie with poison so Umbreon can still heavily pressure it. Both Cloyster and Forretress can struggle against Gengar and Misdreavus, so once again Pursuit is a great help. However, keep in mind that Umbreon's Special Attack is so lackluster that Rest Misdreavus can stall it out. As Umbreon relies on Charm to handle boosting Snorlax, its worst nightmare is Belly Drum Snorlax. It is therefore a good idea to use it alongside Skarmory on more defensive teams, as Skarmory is much better suited to handling Belly Drum Snorlax, whereas Umbreon can stave off Snorlax variants that Skarmory struggles with, such as Fire move Curselax.
Mean Look + Baton Pass
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Set Description
With Mean Look and Baton Pass, Umbreon works as the bulkiest trap passer available. Charm remains very useful against physical attackers, and it pairs well with Mean Look to prevent the opposing Pokemon from escaping while its Attack stat keeps decreasing. Once you have used Mean Look and potentially Charm several times, use Baton Pass in order to bring in an appropriate counter to face the trapped Pokemon or a teammate that can safely set up on it and attempt to sweep. Confuse Ray is the best option Umbreon has against the omnipresent phazers that are the biggest thorn in this set's side and can be extremely frustrating for your opponent, especially when used in tandem with Mean Look. However, this strategy is unreliable since it's based on luck, and the odds of the opposing Pokemon hitting itself twice in a row may be too low to rely on. Rest remains Umbreon's preferred recovery move due to its ability to heal status ailments and to PP stall a trapped Pokemon. However, this variant isn't as stall based as the first, which means that Moonlight is still a solid option, especially when you can hardly afford to waste turns by allowing Umbreon to sleep with this set. Sand Attack is another option that can be spammed in order to lower the accuracy of the foe and is even more effective when used alongside Confuse Ray. It's also the best tool available in Umbreon's arsenal if it traps a special attacker. While Leftovers remains the preferred item option, Bright Powder can be considered to maximize your chances against opposing phazers.
Team Options
Umbreon can't reliably transfer Mean Look if there is at least one Pokemon able to phaze it on the opposing team, with the most common ones being Skarmory, Raikou, Suicune, Steelix, and Tyranitar. Thus, Pokemon that can lure them in like Lovely Kiss or all-out attacker Snorlax make good partners; keep in mind that the first three need to use Rest in order to heal themselves and that they will rarely carry both Sleep Talk and Roar on the same moveset. Forcing Skarmory, Raikou, or Suicune to use Rest is also a good way to prevent them from disturbing Umbreon. Sturdy sweepers like Curse Snorlax and Vaporeon make good teammates, since Umbreon can give them many opportunities to set up. Pokemon that naturally scare off most of the aforementioned phazers like Nidoking and Cloyster are good partners as well, as this Umbreon variant can also bring teammates in safely with a dry Baton Pass; the latter in particular can use them as an opportunity to set up Spikes. This strategy works especially well due to the huge threat of trap passing almost guaranteeing that the opponent will bring a phazer in when facing this Umbreon.
Other Options
Zap Cannon is an option alongside sweepers like Tentacruel, Charizard, and Marowak on teams relying on paralysis; otherwise, Toxic is usually the best option for such a stall-based Pokemon, and losing the surprise factor due to a miss can ruin this strategy. Toxic has some merits on the Mean Look Pass set, as it puts phazers like Raikou, Tyranitar, and Suicune on a timer and forces them to use Rest if they have it, but it's ineffective against Skarmory and Steelix and more situational than the options listed. Umbreon learns Growth and can Baton Pass it, and while it's still very weak even when boosted, it can live long enough thanks to its bulk, typing, and access to Moonlight. It can also dent Skarmory and Steelix with a +1 Hidden Power Fire, but other phazers like Raikou and Tyranitar make it completely useless. Umbreon also has access to both Curse and Substitute, but again, it can't stop phazers from ruining any strategy it might otherwise hope to pull off with these.
Checks and Counters
Phazers: The safest switch-ins to Umbreon at your disposal are phazers immune to Toxic like Skarmory and Steelix, though those that can cure themselves of poison via Rest like Raikou, Suicune, and Tyranitar are fine alternatives too.
Heracross: Heracross is one of Umbreon's biggest counters; all it needs is to avoid Charm on the switch in order to leave a big dent with Megahorn, and it carries Rest most of the time, so Toxic won't cripple it too much.
Explosion Users: Faster Explosion users like Cloyster and to a lesser extent Gengar can also threaten Umbreon if they can avoid Charm, but they are obviously less reliable answers, since they have to sacrifice themselves to weaken Umbreon.
Vaporeon: Most setup sweepers can't take advantage of Umbreon's passivity because of Charm, but there are some exceptions like Growth Vaporeon, which will boost its Special Attack in front of Umbreon fearlessly.
Boosting Pokemon with Substitute: Substitute users like Tentacruel and Kangaskhan can set up against Umbreon, since their Substitute blocks Charm and needs at least three hits of Pursuit to break.
Belly Drum Users: Belly Drum Snorlax is a massive threat to Umbreon since it relies on Charm to handle boosting Snorlax and can't reduce Snorlax's Attack fast enough to avoid getting KOed by its boosted STAB attacks. Other users of Belly Drum like Charizard, Clefable, and Quagsire are similarly threatening.
Status: A common way to bypass Umbreon is to use status, as a paralyzed one is much easier to break through for powerful attackers like Marowak and especially Machamp, whereas a poisoned one won't be able to stall out anything. Thus Umbreon will have no choice but to use Rest and try to stay healthy during the two turns it is asleep.
Pokemon with Rest or Toxic Immunity: Pokemon immune to Toxic or with Rest don't fear anything from Umbreon, although they can't necessarily do much in return. Nonetheless, the likes of Zapdos still have the upper hand against Umbreon, since they can simply force it to use Rest, trade PP with it, and potentially threaten it if their Thunder connects multiple times.
Credits
- Written by Wenderz
- Quality checked by Earthworm and FriendOfMrGolem120
- Grammar checked by Lumari and Mafeking
