Quality Control Choice Specs Greninja (QC 1/2)

[Scavet]

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Surf / Hydro Pump
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Ice Beam / Sludge Wave
move 4: Spikes / U-turn
item: Choice Specs
ability: Protean
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Water

[SET COMMENTS]

With his wide coverage, Choice Specs Greninja is sure to hit at least neutrally all the metagame, which, combined with his excellent ability Protean, allows it to become a scary wallbreaker while being able to outspeed common offensive pokemons such as Latios or Ogerpon-C. Surf is the best option to deal strong damages and avoid Hydro Pump's unfortunate misses and lack of PP. However, it lacks raw power, so Hydro Pump could also be an option to inflict more damage, as it can also OHKO Defensive Excadrill and 2HKO Defensive Tyranitar and Tinkaton, even if Surf deals with these Pokemon with hazards anyway. Ice Beam is able to hit Tornadus-T, Mandibuzz, Zapdos, and Ogerpon-C super effectively, whereas Sludge Wave may surprise common switch-ins like Azumarill or Keldeo and give him a resistance to Fighting which helps him resist Secret Sword and 2HKO keldeo in return. Spikes is a good move as Greninja naturally find some good opportunities to set up a layer or two thanks to the switches he naturally forces, that chip the opposite team in the long term and punish switch ins, helping Greninja or his teammates to clean more easily. U-Turn is an alternative that grants him some momentum, allowing him to act like a pivot on Pokemons that can wall it such as Empoleon being one of the best counters to Greninja, Gastrodon or Toxapex. Tera Water is preferred to boost the power of his Water move, granting him a guarantee OHKO on Scizor together with Cobalion and a 2HKO on Keldeo, although it shall not tera outside of an emergency since it loses the boost of Protean.

Due to Greninja being very frail and his incapacity to switch in easily, it fits well in balanced teams that can afford slow VoltTurn support to bring Greninja safely on the spot, and it also provides some defensive answers for Greninja to rely on. Teammates such as Zapdos, Mandibuzz and Slowking are thus very appreciated, with the first two being an answer to Azumarill, as Zapdos can pivot into it and Mandibuzz can check Belly Drum Azumarill which can be threatening if Greninja is lacking Sludge Wave or locked in one of his STABs, and Slowking can be useful to pressure Toxapex and Gastrodon with Future Sight. Excadrill is a helpful partner that can help Greninja by crushing common Water resists like Slowking, Rotom-W, etc. allowing Greninja to spam Surf. Also, Excadrill is capable of removing hazards which can be a little overwhelming for Greninja. In the same way, Knock Off helps Greninja by removing crucial items such as Assault Vest on opposite Tornadus-T or leftovers on Tinkaton and Kommo-o. Examples of users would be Tornadus-T or Tinkaton. Since Greninja causes a lot of switches, hazards setters like the afromentioned Tinkaton, Cobalion or Kommo-o are helpful, with all three of them being a check to the powerful Lokix. Lastly, offensive teammates such as Calm Mind Latios or Iron Crown like to face a team weakened by Greninja's powerful moves to clean, while others as Ogerpon-C or Lokix have the potential to overwhelm their shared checks with Choice Specs Greninja, examples of these being Kommo-o, Tinkaton, Empoleon, etc.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scavet.566724/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/twilight.344575/

Grammar checked by:

(this is my first time writing an analysis so please be merciful ^^)

 

[Twilight]

Scavet, post: 10071861, member: 566724

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf swap
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Sludge Wave / Ice Beam swap
move 4: U-turn / Spikes swap
item: Choice Specs
ability: Protean
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Water

[SET COMMENTS]

With his wide coverage, Choice Specs Greninja is sure to hit at least neutrally all the metagame, which, combined with his excellent talent ability Protean, allows it to become a scary wallbreaker while being able to outspeed common offensive pokemons such as Latios or Ogerpon-C. Hydro Pump is the best option to deal the most damage, but Surf could also be an option to avoid unfortunate misses and Hydro Pump's lack of PP. Swap this to list Surf as the primary option. It's reliable and strong enough. Hydro is beneficial in a few scenarios. However, it lacks raw power and fails to OHKO Defensive Excadrill and to 2HKO Defensive Tyranitar and Tinkaton. You can move the examples when talking about Hydro reasoning, but you should note Surf hits these benchmarks with hazards anyway. Ice Beam is able to hit Tornadus-T, Mandibuzz, Zapdos, and Ogerpon-C super effectively, whereas Sludge Wave may surprise common switch-ins like Azumarill or Keldeo and give him a resistance to Fighting, Bug and Grass-types which may be useful in some situations. Solely focus on Keld here as you can resist Secret Sword and 2HKO it. U-turn grants him some momentum, allowing him to act like a pivot. Can you state some Pokemon it would typically want to pivot out against Spikes is an alternative to chip the opposite team, allowing Greninja to clean more easily. Swap Spikes and U-turn mention around. Spikes should be primary and state how it finds chances to set a layer or two up thanks to the switches it naturally forces. Tera Water is preferred to boost the power of his Water move, granting him a guarantee OHKO on Scizor together with Cobalion and a 2HKO on Keldeo, although it shall not tera outside of an emergency since it loses the boost of Protean.

Due to Greninja being very frail and his incapacity to switch in easily, it fits well in balanced teams that can afford slow VoltTurn support to bring Greninja safely on the spot, and it also provides some defensive answers for Greninja to rely on. Teammates such as Zapdos, Mandibuzz and Slowking are thus very appreciated, with the first two being a switch in to the powerful Lokix, and Slowking can be useful to pressure Toxapex and Gastrodon with Future Sight. I'd mention how Zapdos can pivot into Azumarill and Mandi can better deal with BD Azu as Gren can give it a set-up opportunity if lacking Sludge or locked into STABs. For the Lokix part, I am just going to move further down. Since Greninja causes a lot of switches, hazards setters like Excadrill or Gastrodon are helpful, as Stealth Rocks can chip down enemies and also put checks like Assault Vest Tornadus-T under pressure. Focus on just Excadrill as a partner that can help overwhelm common Water resists together like Slowking, Rotom-W, etc. allowing Gren to spam Surf. Moving the hazards part lower Furthermore, the listed Pokemon provide an Electric immunity, and Excadrill is capable of removing hazards which can be a little overwhelming for Greninja. In the same way, Knock Off helps Greninja by removing crucial items such as boots on opposite Tornadus-T Assault Vest Torn is far more annoying than Boots for Gren as Surf 2HKOs without it and Mandibuzz or leftovers on Tinkaton and Kommo-o. Examples of users would be Tornadus-T, Tinkaton or Tyranitar. Here you can talk about rock setters. I would not use Ttar as an example though, you mention hazards wear down green but so does sand. Bring up Cobalion and Kommo-o as setters alongside Tink. All three can check Lokix. Lastly, offensive teammates such as Calm Mind Latios or Iron Crown like to face a team weakened by Greninja's powerful moves to clean, while others as Ogerpon-C or Lokix have the potential to overwhelm their shared checks with Choice Specs Greninja, examples of these being Kommo-o, Tinkaton, Empoleon, etc.

Not bothered where you slot it in but bring up something regarding Empoleon as it is one of the best responses to Gren. Either replace an example in the para with empo or add one in.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scavet.566724/
Quality checked by:

Grammar checked by:

(this is my first time writing an analysis so please be merciful ^^)

comment add remove

Good job on your first analysis. If you have any questions about implementing this let me know here or on Discord. 1/2

 

[Scavet]

edited