Jorgen
World's Strongest Fairy
Figured I'd bring up this concept w.r.t. GSC, but then I realized it'd be relevant to all other gens so there ya go.
Across all the generations, what are some of the best Ys to capitalize off the opponent's active Xs? Ideally, the Ys switch into a very common X in the metagame, and can use the turn inevitably spent switching by the opponent to set up or attack. A couple easy ones I could think of off the bat to start discussion are below:
Across all the generations, what are some of the best Ys to capitalize off the opponent's active Xs? Ideally, the Ys switch into a very common X in the metagame, and can use the turn inevitably spent switching by the opponent to set up or attack. A couple easy ones I could think of off the bat to start discussion are below:
In RBY the best one is most certainly Snorlax for Chansey. Snorlax gets in for very little cost on an active Chansey, and then gets basically a free hit off. This matchup is complicated by Counter and made even better with Rest Snorlax. Lax is just so scary to everything in RBY, in addition to being tempted so heavily by an active Chansey, it's also the go-to switch in against sleeping mons and predicted switches to physically frail para'd mons.
In GSC, one of the better ones that has been forgotten is Tentacruel. In particular, it sets up on Cloyster, which is pretty much everywhere. It also sets up on Forretress pretty easily, covering both Spikers. Not to mention non-AA Vap, although Vap's less hyped than it once was. I recommend running a spinner alongside Druidcruel to ensure the foe's Spiker keeps coming back in. Cloyster's standard set can't touch Druidcruel; it can't be Toxic'd, and even Explosion risks merely taking out a Substitute (although HP Electric is more popular than it should be at the moment, which can complicate things by having a ~50% chance of breaking Tenta's subs). Meanwhile, +2 Sludge bombs hurt, and Hydro Pumps can at worst 3HKO most of the relevant things that aren't in turn 3HKOed by Sludge Bomb. Tentacruel was once famous, but lost its luster somewhere down the line, probably because it doesn't do a good job switching in to defend against anything, which is true. However, with Spikes being so important and both Spikers giving Tenta setup for days, it doesn't get worn down when constantly being a threat to sweep, unlike things like Marowak. Well worth a teamslot right now.