And then it gets to the point where everyone is fed up with having to babysit their rocks. I've heard Stealth Rock is exactly the same btw, but I don't mind ever since I found out about aiming mark.
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Sturdy
- Thread starter jumpluff
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pessimistic or not supermarth this change is undoubtedly an improvement on what the old Sturdy did (nothing). I don't think it will be in any way metagame defining, and if it is the metagame will likely adapt fast, a simple shift in the popular leads should suffice. HP Fire Specs Abomasnow anyone??
Sturdy has really amazing potential on lead Skarmory and Forretress, and I think the best use for it is with Cutsap berry, because theoretically it would be possible to get up 2 layers or a layer and a spin or stealth rock and a layer...but this strategy is easily thwarted with if it's like Focus Sash and only works at full health. If it's not like Focus Sash and blocks any attack that would KO regardless of health once, that would make cutsap/sturdy suicide leads one of the best suicide lead options in the game. And there's always the possibility of choice scarf sturdy spiking; a guaranteed two layers against all other non-scarfed leads (or one layer if the opponent taunts I guess).
There's a better item to use with FEAR strategies and that's Aiming Mark. It allows you to actually hit Ghosts with Endeavor and as long as you are decently fast and have a priority move, you'll get off atleast one kill even if they have a Ghost. Cutsap Berry will only make you move first the next turn and priority stills screws it up so you would still need something like Quick Attack to take out Scizor and you wouldn't be able to get another Endeavor off anyway.
Do we know if this works as Focus Sash, or a 100% chance Focus Band yet? I hope it is like Focus Band, if it is killing pokemon with Sturdy and holding Leftovers is just almost impossible.
A 100% Focus Band would make a Pokemon invincible against every direct attack in the game. Forcing everyone to use passive damage to kill Sturdy Pokemon would be ridiculous, so I think it's a safe bet that it's not a 100% Focus Band lol.
i would certainly run both spikes and stealth rock on a set like this, as well as brave bird and taunt. custap skarmory is actually looking quite promising.
In response to the possibility that sturdy is a 100% focus band: It wouldn't make sense unless it only worked once (like Focus Band), so although it does get a 100% free turn, it could then be KOed the next turn by a direct attack, although it would be awesome if Sturdy actually is the opposite of Magic Guard.
Being a rock type, he'll likely have access to stealth rocks. He already has aqua jet so I
can only hope he get's fake out as a breed move like Blastoise does. With 108 attack he
could shut down Azelf, Infernape and plenty other frail leads. Give him Lum Berry or
maybe a Liechi berry and he'd have a great chance to take out any lead.
He looks very badass too, so that'd be a bonus!
Being a rock type, he'll likely have access to stealth rocks. He already has aqua jet so I
can only hope he get's fake out as a breed move like Blastoise does. With 108 attack he
could shut down Azelf, Infernape and plenty other frail leads. Give him Lum Berry or
maybe a Liechi berry and he'd have a great chance to take out any lead.
Sturdy Metal Burst + Endeavour + Custap berry Aggron looks very interesting... killing a pokemon and the next pokemon would be 1 HP.
Stealth Rocks is not a TM this generation, so unless he receives it via breeding, it is unlikely.
Being a rock type, he'll likely have access to stealth rocks. He already has aqua jet so I
can only hope he get's fake out as a breed move like Blastoise does. With 108 attack he
could shut down Azelf, Infernape and plenty other frail leads. Give him Lum Berry or
maybe a Liechi berry and he'd have a great chance to take out any lead.
Eh. Either way, Fake Out and STAB Aqua Jet coming off of 108 attack is gonna put a dent in quite a bit of stuff, especially if he's packing a liechi berry, you would always be able to do quite a bit of damage.
Lead infernape also only does around 3-4% with fake out, and only around 65%-75% with Close Combat, meaning Liechi Berry would be triggered and Abarooga would be able to tear infernape apart with Aqua Jet. (That's right, Infernape's Fake Out, followed by a Close Combat AND a Mach Punch won't kill Abarooga with only 72 HP Ev's and max defense, leaving Abarooga with 180 Attack EV's giving him around 300)
Lead infernape also only does around 3-4% with fake out, and only around 65%-75% with Close Combat, meaning Liechi Berry would be triggered and Abarooga would be able to tear infernape apart with Aqua Jet. (That's right, Infernape's Fake Out, followed by a Close Combat AND a Mach Punch won't kill Abarooga with only 72 HP Ev's and max defense, leaving Abarooga with 180 Attack EV's giving him around 300)
I think Sturdy should be looked at as gravy: it's good, but it's extra.
The biggest boon is that the vast majority of Pokemon likely to use Sturdy all have entry hazards from 4th Gen or are likely to have them this Gen. This lets them set it up from full health. Many of them also resist Stealth Rock, and therefore if they have Leftovers (assuming Lefties still exist), they can come in after a KO and survive any onslaught.
One usful strategy might be finally putting those defense berries to good use with Rest. If you're at full health and know the opponent can OHKO, You take the hit and use Rest. Your defensive berry activates, allowing you to survive the attack twice, allowing you to stall quite effectively.
The biggest boon is that the vast majority of Pokemon likely to use Sturdy all have entry hazards from 4th Gen or are likely to have them this Gen. This lets them set it up from full health. Many of them also resist Stealth Rock, and therefore if they have Leftovers (assuming Lefties still exist), they can come in after a KO and survive any onslaught.
One usful strategy might be finally putting those defense berries to good use with Rest. If you're at full health and know the opponent can OHKO, You take the hit and use Rest. Your defensive berry activates, allowing you to survive the attack twice, allowing you to stall quite effectively.
When I saw the new mons, the one with Sturdy that stood out to me was Gigaiasu(#526) as well. His stat spread is good enough that he isn't going to get OHKOd very much(85/135/130/60/70/25), but even with the TM of the former move being removed, his well-designed level-up movepool gives him two quintessential suicide lead attacks: Explosion and Stealth Rock. It might turn out he needs to wait until turn 3 or 4 to suicide instead of turn 2 because of his bulk, but his Explosions are gonna wreck shit and he can do some serious damage without it. Like Six mentioned, Custap is the way to go here too, and if the opponent decides to get cute and switch to a Ghost after the Custap telegraphs the explosion, there aren't too many of them who want to eat a STAB 135 base attack Stone Edge - especially if the candleabra ends up being as popular as the hype makes it look like it'll be. I don't know the game well enough to anticipate the fourth slot, but I imagine it'll be EQ to deal with Steels... though with Skarmory kind of being the obvious safe switch-in, something else will probably end up being more appropriate, though I definitely wouldn't carry Sandstorm even if I was worried about weather with the suicide thing - he's largely out at the wrong point in the match to give much benefit manipulating the weather.
Definitely seems like it'll be fun to try out.
Definitely seems like it'll be fun to try out.
Use Berry Juice.
You basically Endeavor, Sturdy protects Phanpy, Berry Juice then restores it to full HP. Then Ice Shard. FEAR still fails against what it always fails against, but you can use it twice :D
Correct me if I'm wrong, but we don't actually know if Sturdy works repeatedly yet. It seems possible that it would only work before the pokemon takes any damage (ie from the initial 100% HP).
It would still make a great ability for lead sets, and (especially if that anti-immunity item works with rapid spin) could have great later game utility.
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