Here's an article I cooked up, hope you guys enjoy (especially the editors :D)
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Featured UU Pokemon: Cofagrigus[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]By: LampentLvl.61[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]History[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Before the fifth generation, pure Ghost-type pokemon have never truly dominated tiers in the competitive game-play since, well, ever. There's Misdreavus, the little purple ghost that sat in the bowels of even the NU and Little Cup tiers in the fourth generation, with only your basic Ghost-type movepool to work with. Banette, still to this day, is only viable as a suicide lead with the Destiny Bond or Memento set. Dusclops did find a place in UU in the fourth generation after the tier was first created, but was outclassed by many other Ghost-types who had a secondary typing to help them out. The only two real threats with a pure Ghost-typing in the fourth generation gameplay came in the forms of Mismagius, who was a huge threat in UU, and Dusknoir who had found a home in the OU tier. Then came the fifth generation and the introduction of the new item, the Eviolite, which gave many Ghost-types new life. Misdreavus became a dangerous tank in both NU and Little Cup and Dusclops was now a near impossible wall to break in UU. However, a new special-attacking pure Ghost-type pokemon came along in the fifth generation with Dusknoir-esque stats, an excellent movepool with a bunch of toys to play around with and a potenially infuriating new ability. This pokemon is still a huge threat today in the UU tier, and it goes by the name of Cofagrigus. Eviolite users beware, Cofagrigus doesn't need such a crutch to hold its own in UU. With the ability to be a versitile defensive beast, or a poignant speedy special sweeper (with the help of Trick Room), you never really know what Cofagrigus is going to do until it comes out on the field. With UU completely plagued with Fighting-types, Cofagrigus becomes even more threatening, as every half-decent team is bound to have at least one of them and this bulky coffin checks all of them if it can manage to land a Will-o-wisp or has Trick Room set up. Battler beware, the great Tutankhamun would have been proud.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Cofagrigus's Qualities[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]From the deadly scarfed Hi Jump Kick of Mienshao, to the sheer power of Swords Dance Heracross's Close Combat, Cofagrigus can not only take any move they can throw at it, but make sure they can't hurt any of your team ever again thanks to Will-o-wisp and Haze. These two moves are the gems of Cofagrigus's defensive set; they ensure that no physical attacker can set up on it. Even the mighty Life Orb Scafty is afraid of getting burnt after it manages to get off just a single Crunch on the coffin (which only does 45.94 – 54.37% unboosted), and then inherits Cofagrigus's exclusive 'Mummy' ability, making it so it can't just shed off the burn the next turn, and is forced to switch out as this point. There is also one quality that Cofagrigus has over its main competition, Dusclops, for a spot on your team: a very useful 95 base Special Attack stat. This allows Cofagrigus to utilize an offensive set, something that Dusclops can never do. With two attacking moves in the form of STAB Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting, Cofagrigus can become a very dangerous threat very quickly with the help of Trick Room. But there is that fourth slot that needs to be filled... hmm... what should go there? Maybe the move that every other offensive Ghost-type wishes they had: Nasty Plot. Yes, Cofagrigus shares this excellent boosting move with Mismagius, its Ghost-type competition on the offensive side, but Mismagius also has a woeful physical defense stat, and its special defense is only on par with the coffin's. It is also true that Mismagius can save a turn by not having to set up Trick Room, but even with this advantage, it finds itself OHKO'd or 2HKO'd by any moderately powered physical attack, something that Cofagrigus can say it can take all day long.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Playing with Cofagrigus[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Even with the possibility of your opponent having a Fire-type with Flash Fire to absorb and get a boost from the Will-o-wisp on the switch, Cofagrigus can use this to its advantage. For example, if you predict the Chandelure coming in to suck up the Will-o-wisp, you can go for the Shadow Ball instead, which even defensive Cofagrigus can OHKO after Stealth Rocks. The coffin can also switch into physical pokemon that are trying to set up and can Haze their stat boosts away if they try to be greedy and go for another stat boost, or tank a +1 hit and then Haze it away. The last moveslot on defensive Cofagrigus can be filled by either Pain Split or Rest. Cofagrigus is bulky enough to take physical hits from pokemon it walls such as Heracross locked into Megahorn or Stone Edge, it can then burn it and Rest off the damage along with the Toxic poison that it may have been inflicted with earlier. It can also simply wait for one of its checks to come out such as specially defensive Snorlax and use Pain Split to get back up to full health; but keep in mind that Cofagrigus is prone to status if you opt for Pain Split. As for the special attacking side of Cofagrigus, Shadow Ball and HP Fighting give you near flawless coverage of the metagame, and there are very few pokemon who can stop if you can manage to set up Trick Room and Nasty Plot.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Playing Against Cofagrigus[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]As much as you can abuse Cofagrigus's movepool and typing, there are some pokemon that can deal with it easily enough. Porygon-Z is a great check to defensive Cofagrigus, as trying to get a burn on it is not worth taking 51.25 – 60.62% for specially defensive Cofagrigus or 70.0 – 82.5% for the physically defensive variant from a Dark Pulse. Porygon-Z does also run the odd Taunt set which cripples both variations of Cofagrigus. However, with a Nasty Plot and Trick Room up, Cofagrigus can actually become a threat to Porygon-Z with the presence of HP Fighting. One pokemon who can wall Cofagrigus all day is Togekiss who can take a +2 HP Fighting with ease and then proceed to ParaFlinch its way to victory; it can even set up a Nasty Plot of its own and send monsterous Air Slashes back Cofagrigus's way. Other than Togekiss and the very rare Meloetta who are immune to Shadow Ball and can take Hidden Power Fighting, there isn't much that anyone can do once Trick Room is up. Strong special attackers can switch in while Cofagrigus is busy setting up, hope to take one of any move, and then try to OHKO or at least get the coffin to low health with their strongest STAB move. You can also try bringing in a wall of your own, preferably one with a recovery move or Taunt, stall out the Trick Room turns and proceed to plague it with status of some sort. Defensive Cofagrigus, on the other hand, is usually checked by any high-octane Fire-type who are immune to Will-o-wisp and can hit hard with their STAB move such as Houndoom or Darmanitan.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Fitting Cofagrigus onto your Team[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]If you're using a frail sweeper that can't take hits very well such as Darmanitan or Weavile, Cofagrigus can help by spreading burns around the opponent's team including any dangerous physical attackers that will cause your sweeper some problems. If your team needs a wall to Fighting-types, Cofagrigus is definitely a good choice as well, especially in a tier that has so many threats with the word 'Fighting' somewhere in their description. Also, Cofagrigus can be used as that late-game sweeper on a Trick Room team.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Environmental Factors[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]In all seriousness, it helps Cofagrigus out a lot if Trick Room is already up when it comes in, this way, offensive Cofagrigus is most likely already faster, and can proceed to go straight for the Nasty Plot before performing a sweep. As for the ever-present entry hazards in UU, Cofagrigus is one of the few pokemon who is succeptable to every one of them, but who can also say that it doesn't mind them all that much. Sure they're a pain to deal with, especially if you don't have a spinner, but honestly, Cofagrigus can just rest off the damage if it really needs to, or take on the task of a mini-sweep before it bites the dust.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Teammates[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Anything that can successfully use Trick Room and has little to no common weaknessess, such as Porygon2, is an excellent teammate for Cofagrigus, to put it bluntly. Looking at Porygon2 in particular, it sports only a single weakness in the Fighting-type (Ooh, how convenient!), so all you really have to do to set up your Cofagrigus sweep is take out or weaken anything that might pose a threat to your beloved coffin, switch Porygon2 into something that you know can't hurt it and set up a Trick Room as your opponent switches into its Fighting-type. You can then proceed to switch in your Cofagrigus on the aforementionned Mienshao's Hi Jump Kick or Heracross's Close Combat, set up a Nasty Plot on their switch, and you have a good chance at bagging a win. As for the defensive side of Cofagrigus, offensive teams really like walls that they can switch into opposing threats to their designated sweeper. If only one of your opponent's pokemon is stopping you from sweeping, chances are, Cofagrigus can take care of it for you. Take Raikou for example. Its only weakness is to the Ground-type and it's safe to say that every Ground-type is a physical attacker in UU, bar the Nidos. Since defensive Cofagrigus can sponge physical hits like nothing, you can proceed to burn their only counter to Raikou and proceed to sweep.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Get Out There![/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]As long as you use Cofagrigus to your team's greatest strengths, you're pretty much guaranteed to wreck faces with which ever set you think is best. It really is the pokemon you should be using if you want a bulky Ghost-type sweeper, or a spin blocker, or even an outright wall to your sweeper's counter. If you enjoy playing the pokemon sadist every once and a while, Cofagrigus is your perfect partner in crime.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Featured UU Pokemon: Cofagrigus[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]By: LampentLvl.61[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]History[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Before the fifth generation, pure Ghost-type pokemon have never truly dominated tiers in the competitive game-play since, well, ever. There's Misdreavus, the little purple ghost that sat in the bowels of even the NU and Little Cup tiers in the fourth generation, with only your basic Ghost-type movepool to work with. Banette, still to this day, is only viable as a suicide lead with the Destiny Bond or Memento set. Dusclops did find a place in UU in the fourth generation after the tier was first created, but was outclassed by many other Ghost-types who had a secondary typing to help them out. The only two real threats with a pure Ghost-typing in the fourth generation gameplay came in the forms of Mismagius, who was a huge threat in UU, and Dusknoir who had found a home in the OU tier. Then came the fifth generation and the introduction of the new item, the Eviolite, which gave many Ghost-types new life. Misdreavus became a dangerous tank in both NU and Little Cup and Dusclops was now a near impossible wall to break in UU. However, a new special-attacking pure Ghost-type pokemon came along in the fifth generation with Dusknoir-esque stats, an excellent movepool with a bunch of toys to play around with and a potenially infuriating new ability. This pokemon is still a huge threat today in the UU tier, and it goes by the name of Cofagrigus. Eviolite users beware, Cofagrigus doesn't need such a crutch to hold its own in UU. With the ability to be a versitile defensive beast, or a poignant speedy special sweeper (with the help of Trick Room), you never really know what Cofagrigus is going to do until it comes out on the field. With UU completely plagued with Fighting-types, Cofagrigus becomes even more threatening, as every half-decent team is bound to have at least one of them and this bulky coffin checks all of them if it can manage to land a Will-o-wisp or has Trick Room set up. Battler beware, the great Tutankhamun would have been proud.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Cofagrigus's Qualities[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]From the deadly scarfed Hi Jump Kick of Mienshao, to the sheer power of Swords Dance Heracross's Close Combat, Cofagrigus can not only take any move they can throw at it, but make sure they can't hurt any of your team ever again thanks to Will-o-wisp and Haze. These two moves are the gems of Cofagrigus's defensive set; they ensure that no physical attacker can set up on it. Even the mighty Life Orb Scafty is afraid of getting burnt after it manages to get off just a single Crunch on the coffin (which only does 45.94 – 54.37% unboosted), and then inherits Cofagrigus's exclusive 'Mummy' ability, making it so it can't just shed off the burn the next turn, and is forced to switch out as this point. There is also one quality that Cofagrigus has over its main competition, Dusclops, for a spot on your team: a very useful 95 base Special Attack stat. This allows Cofagrigus to utilize an offensive set, something that Dusclops can never do. With two attacking moves in the form of STAB Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting, Cofagrigus can become a very dangerous threat very quickly with the help of Trick Room. But there is that fourth slot that needs to be filled... hmm... what should go there? Maybe the move that every other offensive Ghost-type wishes they had: Nasty Plot. Yes, Cofagrigus shares this excellent boosting move with Mismagius, its Ghost-type competition on the offensive side, but Mismagius also has a woeful physical defense stat, and its special defense is only on par with the coffin's. It is also true that Mismagius can save a turn by not having to set up Trick Room, but even with this advantage, it finds itself OHKO'd or 2HKO'd by any moderately powered physical attack, something that Cofagrigus can say it can take all day long.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Playing with Cofagrigus[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Even with the possibility of your opponent having a Fire-type with Flash Fire to absorb and get a boost from the Will-o-wisp on the switch, Cofagrigus can use this to its advantage. For example, if you predict the Chandelure coming in to suck up the Will-o-wisp, you can go for the Shadow Ball instead, which even defensive Cofagrigus can OHKO after Stealth Rocks. The coffin can also switch into physical pokemon that are trying to set up and can Haze their stat boosts away if they try to be greedy and go for another stat boost, or tank a +1 hit and then Haze it away. The last moveslot on defensive Cofagrigus can be filled by either Pain Split or Rest. Cofagrigus is bulky enough to take physical hits from pokemon it walls such as Heracross locked into Megahorn or Stone Edge, it can then burn it and Rest off the damage along with the Toxic poison that it may have been inflicted with earlier. It can also simply wait for one of its checks to come out such as specially defensive Snorlax and use Pain Split to get back up to full health; but keep in mind that Cofagrigus is prone to status if you opt for Pain Split. As for the special attacking side of Cofagrigus, Shadow Ball and HP Fighting give you near flawless coverage of the metagame, and there are very few pokemon who can stop if you can manage to set up Trick Room and Nasty Plot.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Playing Against Cofagrigus[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]As much as you can abuse Cofagrigus's movepool and typing, there are some pokemon that can deal with it easily enough. Porygon-Z is a great check to defensive Cofagrigus, as trying to get a burn on it is not worth taking 51.25 – 60.62% for specially defensive Cofagrigus or 70.0 – 82.5% for the physically defensive variant from a Dark Pulse. Porygon-Z does also run the odd Taunt set which cripples both variations of Cofagrigus. However, with a Nasty Plot and Trick Room up, Cofagrigus can actually become a threat to Porygon-Z with the presence of HP Fighting. One pokemon who can wall Cofagrigus all day is Togekiss who can take a +2 HP Fighting with ease and then proceed to ParaFlinch its way to victory; it can even set up a Nasty Plot of its own and send monsterous Air Slashes back Cofagrigus's way. Other than Togekiss and the very rare Meloetta who are immune to Shadow Ball and can take Hidden Power Fighting, there isn't much that anyone can do once Trick Room is up. Strong special attackers can switch in while Cofagrigus is busy setting up, hope to take one of any move, and then try to OHKO or at least get the coffin to low health with their strongest STAB move. You can also try bringing in a wall of your own, preferably one with a recovery move or Taunt, stall out the Trick Room turns and proceed to plague it with status of some sort. Defensive Cofagrigus, on the other hand, is usually checked by any high-octane Fire-type who are immune to Will-o-wisp and can hit hard with their STAB move such as Houndoom or Darmanitan.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Fitting Cofagrigus onto your Team[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]If you're using a frail sweeper that can't take hits very well such as Darmanitan or Weavile, Cofagrigus can help by spreading burns around the opponent's team including any dangerous physical attackers that will cause your sweeper some problems. If your team needs a wall to Fighting-types, Cofagrigus is definitely a good choice as well, especially in a tier that has so many threats with the word 'Fighting' somewhere in their description. Also, Cofagrigus can be used as that late-game sweeper on a Trick Room team.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Environmental Factors[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]In all seriousness, it helps Cofagrigus out a lot if Trick Room is already up when it comes in, this way, offensive Cofagrigus is most likely already faster, and can proceed to go straight for the Nasty Plot before performing a sweep. As for the ever-present entry hazards in UU, Cofagrigus is one of the few pokemon who is succeptable to every one of them, but who can also say that it doesn't mind them all that much. Sure they're a pain to deal with, especially if you don't have a spinner, but honestly, Cofagrigus can just rest off the damage if it really needs to, or take on the task of a mini-sweep before it bites the dust.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Teammates[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Anything that can successfully use Trick Room and has little to no common weaknessess, such as Porygon2, is an excellent teammate for Cofagrigus, to put it bluntly. Looking at Porygon2 in particular, it sports only a single weakness in the Fighting-type (Ooh, how convenient!), so all you really have to do to set up your Cofagrigus sweep is take out or weaken anything that might pose a threat to your beloved coffin, switch Porygon2 into something that you know can't hurt it and set up a Trick Room as your opponent switches into its Fighting-type. You can then proceed to switch in your Cofagrigus on the aforementionned Mienshao's Hi Jump Kick or Heracross's Close Combat, set up a Nasty Plot on their switch, and you have a good chance at bagging a win. As for the defensive side of Cofagrigus, offensive teams really like walls that they can switch into opposing threats to their designated sweeper. If only one of your opponent's pokemon is stopping you from sweeping, chances are, Cofagrigus can take care of it for you. Take Raikou for example. Its only weakness is to the Ground-type and it's safe to say that every Ground-type is a physical attacker in UU, bar the Nidos. Since defensive Cofagrigus can sponge physical hits like nothing, you can proceed to burn their only counter to Raikou and proceed to sweep.[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]Get Out There![/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, sans-serif]As long as you use Cofagrigus to your team's greatest strengths, you're pretty much guaranteed to wreck faces with which ever set you think is best. It really is the pokemon you should be using if you want a bulky Ghost-type sweeper, or a spin blocker, or even an outright wall to your sweeper's counter. If you enjoy playing the pokemon sadist every once and a while, Cofagrigus is your perfect partner in crime.[/FONT]
