Anything Goes Analysis Megathread

dhelmise

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READY for first QC check

QC 0/3
GP 0/1




Overview

* Due to having access to Prankster before Mega Evolution and Magic Bounce afterwards, Mega Sableye is a mandatory choice for a team that relies on stall.
* Magic Bounce can be utilized to stop hazards and status from afflicting Sableye's own team.
* Before Mega Evolution, Sableye can be used as emergency check to physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp with priority from Prankster such as Swords Dance Arceus and Mega Rayquaza, thanks to its typing that provides immunity to Extreme Speed.
* Even after Mega Evolution, thanks to the significant increase of bulk, Sableye is able to check majority of the physical attackers with Foul Play.
* Decrease in viability of Darkrai and Klefki has ended the era of status absorber sets, making Sableye much more important niche in terms of dealing with them.
* A very unique typing of Ghost and Dark along with sophisticated defense stats allow Sableye to check threats such as Arceus-Ghost and Mega Gengar.
* Although it posesses good bulk after Mega Evolution, Sableye is easily forced out by Fairy-types.
* It's low Speed is disappointing, especially after Mega Evolution, and it will make the team lose significant amount of momentum.

[Standard Support]
Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Fake Out / Protect
- Foul Play
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover

Set Comments

Moves

* Fake out is the safest way for Sableye to Mega Evolve and acquire Magic Bounce. It can also be a way to break potential Focus Sash from the likes of Deoxys-A.
* Protect can be used to safely Mega Evolve against Tapu Lele or Ghost types such as Lunala, but it may grant opponent a free turn to set up on Sableye.
* Foul Play keeps Sableye from becoming a setup fodder for physical attackers, and this allows Sableye to check physical attackers that are immune to Will-O-Wisp when they attempt to set up. It also generally does heavy damage to Swords Dance Arceus, Mega Rayquaza, and other physical attackers. This move is also Sableye's main way of doing damage.
* Will-O-Wisp is another fantastic utility move that Sableye can equip, and it can be used to check aforementioned physical attackers.
* Recover is mandatory in the set in order to keep Sableye healthy and constantly check physical attackers as well as stalling out foes' team.

Set Details

* 248 HP will leave Sableye with odd HP, meaning it will take minimized damage from entry hazards, or other proportional damage.
* Maximized EV investment on Defense along with Impish nature is needed for Sableye to take physical hits to the best of its ability.
* The rest of the EV's are put into Special Defense to allow Sableye to have a little better time taking special hits.
* Sablenite is needed for Sableye to become Mega Sableye, gaining Magic Bounce to keep its team away from majority of status moves and entry hazards while gaining significant bulk.

Usage Tips

* When one decides to Mega Evolve Mega Sableye, Fake Out must be used to do this successfully so Sableye can Mega Evolve and gain Magic Bounce while not taking any damage. However, if there are threats such as Normal Arceus variants with Swords Dance or Mega Rayquaza, one might consider postponing the Mega Evolution to check them with Will-O-Wisp, due to Sableye's typing that allows it to evade Extreme Speed that outspeeds its pre-Mega-Evolution ability Prankster.
* Against strong hazard setters, such as Primal Groudon and Arceus forms, Sableye may be switched in as a pivot, but it should not stay in too long because Sableye normally loses 1v1 match-up against them and leaving Sableye unhealthy and prone to majority of the foes in the metagame due to its underwhelming speed that does not let Sableye to Recover first in most circumstances.
* If foe's team seem to be defense-oriented or is reliant to damage from entry hazards, it is recommended to lead with Sableye to offer its team a Magic Bounce support for the entire game and keep opponent a pressure about their hazard moves being bounced back to their side.
* Although there are not much ways to status Sableye after Mega Evolution due to Magic Bounce, it is vitally important to keep it away from status, especially burn, that can be caused by Lava Plume from defensive Primal Groudon variants or Sacred Fire from Ho-oh, as the burn will force Sableye to use Recover more often and halve its damage from Foul Play.

Team Options

* Majority of the Flying-types, such as Ho-oh, Yvetal, and Lugia, appreciates Sableye's ability to keep Stealth Rock away which would take significant portion of their health on switch-in otherwise.
* Support party members such as Chansey and Ferrothorn can absorb almost any damage from Fairy-type moves, while Sableye absorbs Fighting moves for them. Especially for Ferrothorn, it can set hazards to the opposing team which helps wearing them while Sableye constantly forces a switch.
* Sableye struggles with most Primal Groudon variants, so one might consider having appropriate switch-in for Primal Groudon such as support Arceus forms or Giratina-O to take hits and wear it down.
* Due to the fact that Sableye is easily forced out by Fairy-types, most notably Xerneas, a special wall that can take Xerneas' attacks are mandatory, since Xerneas can freely use Geomancy and promptly start sweeping. Blissey, Toxapex with Wacan Berry, or other walls are necessary to keep Fairy-types from threatening Sableye's team.

Other Options

* Knock Off can be used to annoy the common switch-ins for Sableye such as Ho-oh, or Xerneas, but majority of the threats in the tier, such as Primal Groudon and Kyogre, all Arceus forms cannot have their items removed and this became even more harder to fit in Sableye's moveset due to the Z-crystals which essentially allows everyone to have their item unable to be removed.
* Toxic is another status move that can surprise usual switch-ins for Sableye that can absorb Will-O-Wisp or have type advantage, and it can put Sableye's checks on timer and wear them down significantly faster than Will-O-Wisp. But this makes Sableye unable to check its usual checks however, such as Swords Dance Arceus, Mega Rayquaza, and others.
* Metal Burst and Counter can surprise the usual checks for Sableye, but this requires the user to play mind games to achieve success, and most foes against Sableye attempt to set up against Sableye to win the match-up. In addition, Counter is illegal to be paired with Prankster, and this significantly hinders Sableye's viability before Mega Evolution.
* Taunt is an interesting option to keep away Sableye's team away from status against Deoxys-S with Skill Swap. Using Taunt before Mega Evolution with Prankster will not force one to play mind games with the opposing Deoxys-S, but Sableye is too slow to utilize this move after Mega Evolution.

Checks and Counters

* Fairy-types: Majority of the Fairy types can easily neglect damage from Will-O-Wisp or resisted Foul Play, and force out Sableye, severely dent or KO it, or even set up on it. Clefable is one of the worst opponent that Sableye can face, as it barely takes any damage from Foul Play, completely neglects damage from Will-O-Wisp, and force it out to set Stealth Rock or to spread status. Xerneas can also neglect any damage taken from Sableye, but it must watch out for Knock Off on switch in if it has Power Herb or a rare Toxic.

* Special Attackers: Most special attackers such as Calm Mind Arceus, Yvetal, or Primal Kyogre do not care about what Sableye does and set up on Sableye and overwhelm it with heavy damage. Yvetal can severely dent Sableye with Dark Pulse and heal off majority of the damage taken from Oblivion Wing.

* Fire-types: Most Fire-types can switch into Sableye with ease because of their immunity to Will-O-Wisp. Especially the likes of Primal Groudon and Ho-oh can leave a burn on Sableye with their STAB moves, namely Lava Plume and Sacred Fire, that have nasty chances to burn and hinder Sableye's role for the rest of the match. However, they must watch out for Toxic which limits the time that they can switch into and force out Sableye, and they also do not like to take subsequent damage from Foul Play.
I'm going to reject this even though I'm not on the QC team. It's pretty obvious that you don't play a metagame or, if you do, use a Pokemon in said metagame when you have to repeatedly ask the OM room and OM discord about a Pokemon's role in said metagame to help you write your analysis. I also witnessed you say something along the lines of "hey AG QC can you please help me write my analysis", which is simply not acceptable. I hope you understand and wish that you continue to contribute, but please only work on analyses for Pokemon in metagames that you know about. This is not meant to be malicious in any way as well. Thank you.
 

dhelmise

everything is embarrassing
is a Site Content Manageris a Battle Simulator Administratoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Programmeris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
Social Media Head
I'm going to let anyone in this thread who reserved something but hasn't started it re-reserve it in the new thread. Otherwise, the stuff in here that hasn't been started yet is up for grabs.
 

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