Note to GP!
please go to post 4 and post 5, the analysis is too big to fit in one post, please start there. Thanks!
[OVERVIEW]
Jirachi is simply the best Pokemon in DPP OU. Jirachi’s fantastic typing, great movepool, and excellent stats give it limitless versatility. Jirachi is the fastest defensive Steel-type; it has the bulk, Speed, recovery, and resistances, such as a crucial one to Dragon and an immunity to Toxic, to fulfill almost any defensive role. However, the main source of Jirachi’s prowess in DPP OU is a STAB boosted Iron Head and its 60% flinch chance due to Serene Grace. Chaining Iron Head flinches can both slowly wear down even bulky foes and passively heal Jirachi with Leftovers. Combined with many ways to paralyze the opponent such as Body Slam, Thunder, and Thunder Wave to facilitate paraflinching and Jirachi becomes one of the central threats in the tier all teams must be aware of. Physical Jirachi can run a dizzying amount of viable EV spreads to take advantage of this, from focusing on HP and Speed as a fantastic utility Pokemon with options such as Stealth Rock and Substitute; fully investing in its defenses to be perhaps the best general wall in the tier with Wish and Protect; or being a great cleaner or Choice Scarfer with Attack and Speed investment and options such as Fire Punch, Ice Punch, U-turn, and Trick. Serene Grace also helps with coverage moves, as Jirachi has passive opportunities to get devastating burns and freezes from Fire Punch and Ice Punch that can bail it out of tough situations.
Jirachi also is one of the best special and mixed threats in the tier with access to Calm Mind and its great special movepool. Jirachi can customize its coverage and utility moves to handle most threats in the tier: Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, Hidden Power Ground, Psychic, and Hidden Power Fire are all options to take on foes such as Skarmory, Swampert, Hippowdon, Heatran, Magnezone, Gengar, and Scizor that can cause problems for physical Jirachi. Even with Calm Mind or an otherwise fully special moveset, Jirachi can use Iron Head to create free turns, 2HKO Tyranitar, and 4HKO specially defensive Clefable. Jirachi can also lean into its support movepool with options such as Wish, Refresh, and Substitute or even different items like a Shuca Berry, Lum Berry, or Occa Berry to make its Calm Mind sets more devastating.
Jirachi has an enormous influence of the DPP OU metagame, such as being one of the best switch-ins to Choice Specs Latias while also handling all three major Dragon Dance Pokemon in Dragonite, Gyarados, and Tyranitar with a simple Wish + Protect set. Jirachi is almost singled-handedly responsible for making bulkier threats resistant to Steel, such as Heatran, Swampert, and Metagross more often use Leftovers, as without it, Jirachi can eventually beat them with Iron Head and its coverage moves. Jirachi can even stop Magnezone trying to trap it, such as OHKOing it with Hidden Power Ground, outdamaging it with Fire Punch, or PP stalling it out of Thunderbolt with Wish and Protect. Jirachi is also a potent stallbreaker with Iron Head, as if Skarmory is burned or KOed, few foes on defensive teams enjoy taking it on with entry hazards up.
Jirachi primarily fears strong attackers, such as Heatran and Swampert who can break through its defenses and status if it isn’t running Refresh. Physical Jirachi struggles to take on foes resistant to Iron Head, have Leftovers, and are bulky enough to take multiple hits, such as Heatran, Swampert, Suicune, Magnezone, Zapdos, Metagross, and Empoleon. Zapdos and Suicune especially are dangerous due to their great bulk and Pressure depleting Iron Head PP, while Heatran, Magnezone, and Empoleon 4x resist Iron Head and out heal it with Leftovers. Gyarados, Swampert, and Metagross, and Hippowdon all can take multiple hits from physical Jirachi and hit it hard in return. Ghost-types are also annoying to Jirachi, as it cannot paralyze them the majority of the time. Both Gengar and Rotom-A can burn Jirachi, while Gengar naturally outspeeds it and Rotom-A is resistant to Iron Head and very bulky. Special Jirachi is typically hard stopped by Roar Latias and Encore Clefable, as it doesn’t have the proper coverage or power to break through them. Without Refresh or Heal Bell support, Jirachi is ruined by status. Paralysis, such as Choice Scarf Magnezone switching in and using Thunder Wave, Azelf paralyzing it with Thunder Wave in the lead spot, or opposing defensive Jirachi using Body Slam can prevent Jirachi from flinching foes and using Wish, while burn completely ruins its ability to do damage and slowly wears it down. While defensive Jirachi is really bulky, it can be broken down by very strong attacks such as Breloom’s Focus Punch and mixed Dragonite’s Fire Blast, especially if they are backed with Spikes. In theory, Jirachi can deal with all of these threats; however, it is limited to four moveslots and cannot threaten everything that gives it trouble.
[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Body Slam / Thunder / Thunder Wave
move 3: Fire Punch / U-turn
move 4: Protect / Stealth Rock / Substitute / Wish
item: Leftovers
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi provides excellent utility with just Iron Head, allowing it to use a diverse array of support moves. Body Slam is not very strong, but offers a 60% chance to paralyze and can crucially paralyze Ground-types. Paralysis gives foes only a 30% chance to hit through Iron Head and helps incapacitate faster Pokemon trying to set up on Jirachi, such as Dragon Dance Gyarados, Dragon Dance Dragonite, and Agility Empoleon. Body Slam also outdamages Iron Head against foes such as Swampert, Starmie, Zapdos, and Infernape, allowing Jirachi to finish them off at low health. Thunder is another option, as despite only having a 42% chance to paralyze foes factoring in accuracy and Serene Grace, it hits Ghost-types, OHKOes Gyarados after Stealth Rock, and 2HKOes Starmie and Skarmory. Thunder Wave gives Jirachi an 100% chance to paralyze foes, but does not do damage, making it vulnerable to Taunt and Substitute.
Fire Punch gives Jirachi coverage against Steel-types such as opposing Jirachi, Magnezone, Skarmory, Scizor, Bronzong, and Metagross and crucially has a 20% to burn the foe. The burn chance not only lets it wear down targets quicker with Iron Head, but also helps Jirachi survive various Ground-type attacks from Metagross and Bronzong. Another option is U-turn, as it makes Jirachi an excellent pivot as well as allows it to escape Magnezone. When paired with Wish, Jirachi can survive the hit from faster Pokemon so the teammate receiving the Wish switches in unscathed.
Protect helps Jirachi passively heal itself and scouts the foe. Jirachi can often heal a lot of HP by alternating flinching the foe with Iron Head and using Protect. Another option is Stealth Rock, as Jirachi can set it up against many different Pokemon while fending off Rapid Spinners such as Starmie and Forretress with the threat of status or super effective coverage. Jirachi can maximize its ability to take advantage of paralysis with Substitute. Substitute blocks status, Knock Off, and weaker attacks, forcing the foe to try to hit through paralysis and Iron Head flinching multiple times to beat Jirachi. Jirachi can often passively heal the HP needed to make a Substitute with Iron Head and paralysis.
Set Details
========
With three attacks and a utility move, Jirachi can use numerous EV spreads—this EV spread has maximum HP, has enough Speed EVs to outspeed Lucario and Roserade, and has enough Attack EVs to KO Lucario at -1 Defense after one round of Life Orb recoil and Stealth Rock damage 75% of the time. Jirachi needs 156 Attack EVs to KO Lucario after Life Orb recoil at -1 Defense outright. Even with Thunder, Jirachi should run a hindering Special Attack nature, as it is still strong enough against Gyarados, Skarmory, and Starmie. 252 HP EVs gives Jirachi 101 HP Substitute unbroken by one Seismic Toss and great general bulk. Should Lucario not be as important, Jirachi can also run maximum Speed EVs with a spread of 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Speed to at least speed tie with Flygon, opposing Jirachi, and Zapdos; more Attack EVs to power up Fire Punch and Iron Head; and more bulk to better pass Wish with U-turn.
Should Jirachi have Fire Punch, it should use at least 176 Speed EVs with a neutral nature to outspeed Adamant Lucario and Heatran. Some example EV spreads Jirachi can use include 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 Spe with an Adamant nature and 252 HP / 108 Atk / 148 Spe with a Jolly nature. These EV spreads do more damage to Magnezone and opposing Jirachi with Fire Punch and require less Iron Head flinches to break through foes. Without Fire Punch, Jirachi is free to invest more in its bulk to better pass Wish. Some example EV spreads that outspeed Tyranitar include 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe with an Impish nature and 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe with a Careful nature. Jirachi can also minimize its Speed to take the hit before Wish passing via U-turn with an EV spread of 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 SpD with an Impish or Relaxed nature and potentially less than 31 Speed IVs. Beware that lowering Speed makes it harder to flinch foes.
Usage Tips
========
Jirachi should lead or switch in on a target it threatens, such as Tyranitar or offensive Latias and start spreading paralysis or set up Stealth Rock if it has it. The main exception is if Jirachi has Fire Punch and would rather burn the foe, such as against Skarmory, Bronzong, and Metagross. Once Jirachi has statused its checks, it should typically switch out and come in again on the many foes it threatens. Once the check is in again and statused, Jirachi can then start wearing it down with Iron Head, Stealth Rock, and its coverage moves. This is a highly effective strategy; Jirachi is naturally fast and quite bulky, so it takes multiple hits through Iron Head and paralysis to beat. Substitute sets are even more difficult to defeat, as foes have to hit through paralysis and Iron Head to just break the Substitute. While Jirachi can chain many flinches to take down almost any opponent, such as offensive Heatran and Swampert, only try to do this in desperate situations, as not getting the flinch can lead to Jirachi getting KOed much earlier than it should have. With Protect, don’t allow opponents to take advantage with set-up by being too predictable with it. Protect also is great to help Jirachi survive hits, as with maximum HP, it just barely avoids the 2HKO from attacks such as x. With Wish and U-turn, Jirachi can pass Wish, but be careful to keep its health high enough, as it will often take a hit doing so and doesn’t have Protect to back it up. U-turn can also be effective as an early game pivot. Note that Thunder is often unexpected from Jirachi, so it can get a lot of damage against Gyarados and Skarmory in particular. Especially without recovery, Jirachi should try to avoid status at all costs, as paralysis ruins it trying to flinch foes downs and a burned Jirachi is useless and faints quickly.
Team Options
========
Utility Jirachi is a valuable partner for a lot of spikeless offensive builds that love support against Lucario and Choice Specs Latias, appreciate status, and potentially need a Stealth Rock user. For this reason, one of its most common partners is Tyranitar, as Choice Scarf and Dragon Dance sets both enjoy additional back up against Latias while more defensive sets appreciate a stopgap against Lucario and speed control. Choice Scarf Tyranitar also helps with Gengar, as Jirachi does not like dealing with Gengar potentially burning it or overwhelming it with Life Orb boosted attacks. Sand also helps wear down checks like Zapdos and Suicune more effectively. Jirachi, particularly with Substitute, also is a premier Pokemon on more offensive paralysis teams; it enjoys teammates such as Azelf, Machamp, and Thunder Wave + Dragon Dance Gyarados who can potentially help spread paralysis and take advantage of the foes Jirachi wears down. Azelf’s Explosion can potentially both give Jirachi a chance to start spreading status and weaken a Steel-type check such as Heatran or Metagross. Machamp has similar checks to Jirachi, so if it defeats or heavily weakens Skarmory, Gyarados, or Metagross, Jirachi can clean up the rest. Gyarados is also an effective teammate, as it has great type synergy with Jirachi’s weakness while also opening up holes with either a Choice Band or Dragon Dance set. Other sweepers such as Swords Dance Empoleon or Swords Dance Gliscor can be excellent partners to take advantage of how Jirachi can wear down their answers, such as Swamper, with status and Iron Head. While Jirachi can be effective if it is lucky against defensive teams, it does enjoy some additional assistance against them. Wallbreakers such as Breloom and Heatran are fantastic, while Infernape can potentially join Breloom as a dual fighting core. Offensive Starmie sets, such as Choice Specs, can potentially get rid of the entry hazards that Jirachi can often let up trying to burn Skarmory.
As Jirachi can be weak to set up sweepers with a Lum Berry, it does appreciate an additional backstop to them, such as Choice Scarf Rotom-A and Choice Scarf Latias. While Jirachi does appreciate Magnezone support, it is more commonly paired with Choice Scarf Magneton due to the role compression Jirachi provides as a Stealth Rock user and the fact Magneton helps against neutral nature Dragon Dance Gyarados and Dragon Dance Dragonite. Jirachi is also particularly effective alongside Knock Off support, as removing Leftovers makes Iron Head highly effective in wearing down foes who resist Iron Head. Partners such as specially defensive Empoleon and Clefable can work. Additionally, Trick + Iron Ball Metagross can remove Leftovers from mutual checks like Skarmory and Zapdos so that Jirachi can break through them.
[SET]
name: Wish + Protect
move 1: Wish
move 2: Protect
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Body Slam / U-turn
item: Leftovers
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Impish / Careful
evs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi can pair Wish with Protect to get reliable recovery. While it loses a moveslot, it becomes a fantastic wall, as few foes can 2HKO it. With Wish, it also becomes excellent at healing its teammates. Jirachi can easily heal itself, so it is not forced to receive the Wish to stay healthy and can switch to a teammate. Protect additionally scouts for moves Jirachi does not enjoy, such as status and strong super effective attacks, and can keep Jirachi healthy, especially if it alternates flinching the foe with Iron Head and using Protect.
Iron Head makes Jirachi oppressive to deal with, as it can help Jirachi receive Wish by flinching the foe on the turn after it uses Wish. Jirachi has a lot more longevity with Wish and Protect, so it can slowly wear down its answers over the course of the game so that it only needs a few Iron Head flinches to break through. It also allows it remain threatening without any Attack EVs, 2HKOing bulkless Tyranitar and often at least 4HKOing slower foes neutral to it such as Machamp, most Breloom, and specially defensive Clefable. To facilitate Iron Head, Body Slam helps Jirachi spread status to prevent foes from setting up on it and facilitate paraflinching. Body Slam can paralyze Gliscor, Swampert, and Flygon, which are difficult to status otherwise. U-turn is also another option to maximize its ability to pass Wish and to escape Magnezone trying to trap it. Jirachi also has a few options it can use, such as Thunder Wave to more reliable spread paralysis and Toxic to better handle foes resistant to Iron Head such as Suicune and Zapdos, but this can make Jirachi vulnerable to Taunt and foes trying to set-up on it.
Set Details
========
Jirachi has two possible approaches: physically defensive or specially defensive. Physically defensive with the spread given is preferred, as Jirachi can avoid the 2HKO from an unboosted Earthquake from foes such as Metagross, Dragonite, Tyranitar, and Bronzong. This makes Jirachi extraordinary difficult to KO without a boosted Earthquake or strong super effective Fire-type coverage. The Speed EVs given outspeed Tyranitar. Jirachi can spare some Defense EVs for some additional Special Defense EVs to take attacks such as Gengar’s Life Orb Shadow Ball more easily. An example EV spread would be 252 HP / 164 Def / 60 SpD / 32 Spe that avoids the 2HKO after Stealth Rock and can survive attacks such as Infernape’s unboosted Fire Blast and mixed Dragonite’s Fire Blast after Stealth Rock.
Another option is to fully invest in Jirachi’s Special Defense with an EV spread of 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe. This makes Jirachi remarkably specially bulky, easily surviving attacks such as Kingdra’s Choice Specs Hydro Pump in the rain, Heatran’s unboosted Fire Blast, and Suicune’s boosted Hydro Pump. It also easily strong special Dragon-type attacks such as Latias’s Choice Specs Draco Meteor and mixed Dragonite’s Draco Meteor that can do easily 40% to physically defensive Jirachi. This spread prevents it from taking on Dragon Dance sweepers as easily, but can spread paralysis to offensive Suicune and rain sweepers like Kingdra and Ludicolo well.
Usage Tips
========
Jirachi can be played in two ways: lead or otherwise get in the game early to spread paralysis, or stay hidden as either a potential win condition or as a back-up wall to almost any threat in the tier. If played early, Jirachi should be careful against Magnezone. Without U-turn, Jirachi gets PP stalled and defeated by Leftovers Magnezone, while Choice Scarf Magnezone wins most of the time through Thunderbolt eventually paralyzing it and getting multiple full paralysis, critical hits, or PP stalling Jirachi’s recovery moves. Once in, Jirachi should aim to paralyze as much of the opposing team as it can while keeping itself healthy with Wish and Protect. Do not be afraid to trade lots of HP for status on a crucial threat—Jirachi has a remarkable ability to passively heal after taking a huge hit and eventually end up healthy, such as against Machamp’s DynamicPunch, Infernape’s unboosted Fire Blast, and Gyarados’s +1 Earthquake. Jirachi should try to stay away from entry hazard setters such as Skarmory and Forretress; bulky Substitute users such as Dragonite and opposing Jirachi; and status moves such as Thunder Wave and Will-O-Wisp.
Jirachi can be an excellent cleaner against frailer, paralyzed teams once Iron Head resists are eliminated, despite its defensive leaning stats. With bulkier teams, be prepared to play the long game and conserve Iron Head PP. Don’t be too overzealous to flinch down threats such as Swampert and Heatran unless absolutely needed, as not getting the luck can get Jirachi KOed.
Team Options
========
Wish + Protect is perhaps the gatekeeper of DPP OU; it warps builds that cannot deal with it, so teammates should be able to help Jirachi with its answers such as Skarmory, Heatran, Metagross, and offensive Swampert. Jirachi often finds itself alongside Magnezone on bulkier trap teams, a general wall on more defensive teams, or on paralysis spamming defensive teams built around defensive Zapdos and Blissey or Clefable. Choice Scarf Magnezone is one of Wish + Protect Jirachi’s best partners, as it removes Skarmory without Shed Shell with certainty, provides speed control against dangerous foes like Gengar and Infernape, and can potentially trap weakened Steel-types that can threaten Jirachi such as Heatran, Lucario, and opposing Jirachi. Jirachi also is prominent on the Magnezone bait style, where Skarmory is used as a sacrifice for the opposing Magnezone so one’s own Magnezone traps the other one with Hidden Power Ground, freeing up Jirachi from being trapped. Skarmory’s Spikes are suffocating alongside Jirachi, as most of its checks are either Spikes vulnerable or weak to Stealth Rock. Other partners common on this style are partners who can keep up entry hazards, such as Choice Scarf Tyranitar and defensive Rotom-A; strong defensive teammates such as defensive Latias, Milotic, and Clefable; and a bulky endgame sweeper such as Swords Dance + Roost Gliscor, Calm Mind Clefable, and Curse Quagsire.
Jirachi is also a mainstay on defensive teams as a general wall and Wish passer. Some strong teammates include Hippowdon, RestTalk Gyarados, Skarmory, defensive Latias, Forretress, defensive Celebi, Clefable, and Calm Mind + RestTalk Suicune. These Pokemon help shore Jirachi up against Ground- and Fire-types while also appreciating the support Jirachi gives against Dragon-types and Dragon Dance sweepers as well as potential Wish passes to keep them healthy. Forretress is especially synergetic, as Jirachi absorbs its defensive responsibilities, so it can focus on using Rapid Spin and setting up entry hazards.
Jirachi is especially devastating with Knock Off from Clefable and entry hazard support, so using it on this style of team can easily set it up to potentially sweep.
Jirachi also features prominently on more defensive paralysis based teams built around Starmie, defensive Zapdos, Blissey or Clefable, and Breloom. All of these are synergetic partners: Starmie helps spread paralysis, answer Fire-types such as Heatran and Infernape, and can Rapid Spin to remove Spikes. Zapdos provides additional back up against Pokemon Jirachi doesn’t enjoy facing, such as Lum Berry sweepers and powerful Fighting-types such as Machamp and Breloom. Blissey is extremely bulky and can absorb Heatran’s attacks, while Clefable helps spread Knock Off and also can assist against strong special coverage. Both offensive Breloom, especially Swords Dance, and defensive Breloom enjoy paralysis support, take on Ground-types, and are potent stallbreakers for Jirachi. Some other common partners include Machamp, Substitute + Nasty Plot Togekiss, and Bold Clefable should one use Blissey. Magnezone is also a valuable teammate on these styles, and can assist with teammates such as Swampert, Rhyperior, Choice Band Tyranitar, and even Shaymin.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: Protect / Refresh / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi’s Iron Head is an excellent tool to sweep with—with full Attack investment and maximum Speed, it only needs a few flinches to beat down even faster Pokemon like Flygon and Gliscor as well as now 3HKOing Clefable and other fairly bulky threats such as Machamp. Iron Head also makes up for Jirachi’s lack of a physical boosting move. To facilitate Iron Head, Jirachi can spread paralysis with Body Slam. Like Iron Head, the additional investment helps Jirachi 3HKO frail attackers such as offensive Starmie and Infernape. While Jirachi does not have the bulk to survive attacks such as Dragon Dance Gyarados’s and Dragon Dance Dragonite’s boosted Earthquake, Body Slam prevents them from setting up freely. Fire Punch now 2HKOes Scizor and bulkless Magnezone if either hit burns it and 3HKOes maximum HP Jirachi, Bronzong, specially defensive Skarmory, and Metagross after Stealth Rock. Fire Punch’s burn chance can be devastating for foes trying to switch into it, as burn coupled with Iron Head flinching wears down even bulky walls very easily.
Protect maximizes Jirachi’s longevity, as alternating them to restore HP helps make up for its lack of bulk. However, Refresh is a fantastic option to stave off status. As one of the best ways to neutralize Jirachi is to paralyze or burn it with a faster Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Magnezone or Gengar, Refresh helps make Jirachi even harder to stop. Refresh also helps Jirachi spread status to opposing defensive Jirachi, as it can fish for burns and then heal off paralysis with Refresh. Jirachi can forgo the utility move for additional coverage such as Ice Punch and Grass Knot. Ice Punch is another great option to maximize its coverage and give it a 20% chance to freeze the foe. It OHKOes Dragonite and Flygon after Stealth Rock and is Jirachi’s best option against Gliscor, Zapdos, and Latias. Jirachi can also run Grass Knot in the last spot, as it 2HKOes Swampert even with a hindering Special Attack nature.
Set Details
========
A simple EV spread of 252 Attack / 252 Speed with a Jolly nature helps maximize Jirachi’s Iron Head and its coverage moves. Jirachi should always use maximize Speed EVs to at least tie with Flygon, Jirachi, and Zapdos, but can spare some Attack EVs to run bulk, such as 48 HP / 208 Atk / 252 that hits a Leftovers number.
While Leftovers is by far the best option, Jirachi can use some other items, such as Iron Plate to power up Iron Head, Choice Band to have an extremely powerful
Iron Head and coverage moves, Lum Berry to switch into status such as Breloom’s Spore, and Salac Berry paired with Substitute to take advantage of its additional coverage. All of these items help bluff a Choice Scarf set or otherwise mixed set that hold a resistance berry.
Usage Tips
========
Jirachi can come in earlier in the game to spread status, as getting a burn on Skarmory, Metagross, or opposing Jirachi can immediately open up the game. However, other than this, Jirachi typically comes into the game fairly late or on something it needs to revenge kill, such as Lucario or Tyranitar, as it does not have a lot of bulk and can get worn down. On the other hand, it is uniquely excellent at sweeping weakened, statused foes due to Iron Head, as much of the tier that doesn’t resist it are at least 3HKOed. Jirachi is typically played patiently, waiting for its checks to be worn down by entry hazards and weaker attacks so Jirachi needs less flinches to break through them. Keeping Jirachi hidden also has the benefit of scouting the opposing team so it doesn’t get trapped or statused by Magnezone. With Refresh, don’t be afraid to go for extra damage to weaken status inducing threats, as Jirachi can just heal it off and opponents will often be very willing to status Jirachi in exchange for HP on other Pokemon. Coverage moves such as Ice Punch with investment and Grass Knot can be unexpected from Jirachi, so luring in Gliscor, Flygon, and Swampert trying to KO Jirachi can be valuable.
Team Options
========
Jirachi is one of the best Spikes partners in the tier, as they wear down its answers very effectively. It is a staple of the big five style built around Choice Scarf Tyranitar, Clefable, Skarmory, defensive Latias, and a Ground-type such as Hippowdon, Quagsire, specially defensive Gliscor, and Donphan. It is highly effective as a cleaner and Lucario check on these builds. Tyranitar sets sand, appreciates back up taking on Choiced Latias, and Pursuit traps frail Dark-weak foes like Gengar and Starmie that can status Jirachi or otherwise outspeed it and give it trouble. Clefable spreads Knock Off, greatly increasing Jirachi’s effectiveness, and takes on bulkier threats resistant to Iron Head such as Zapdos and Suicune. Skarmory is the best Spiker in the tier. Defensive Latias and the Ground-type give much needed defensive flexibility with Jirachi. Jirachi also works well alongside other offensive Spikes partners, such as Gengar, Swampert, and specially defensive Empoleon. Gengar and Swampert appreciate if Jirachi burns Skarmory, while both provide the residual damage on defensive teams Jirachi enjoys.
Jirachi can also fit with more offensive teammates, especially if it forgoes Leftovers. It can fit alongside Magnezone offenses that lack Knock Off alongside teammates like Dragon Dance Tyranitar, Dragon Dance Dragonite, Choice Specs Latias, and Swords Dance Gliscor, as it enjoys Leftovers Skarmory being eliminated and pressures Shed Shell Skarmory with status and Iron Head flinches. Jirachi can even use a Lum Berry to help these teammates deal with Breloom. Jirachi’s ability to pressure Lucario and Scizor make it a good teammate for other Spikers that can struggle with them such as Roserade and potentially Froslass. Some good teammates for these include Choice Specs Latias, Calm Mind Suicune, offensive Heatran, Dragon Dance Gyarados, and Choice Scarf Rotom-A.
[SET]
name: Offensive Calm Mind (Superachi)
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Psychic / Draco Meteor
move 3: Thunderbolt / Grass Knot
move 4: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire / Iron Head
item: Leftovers / Shuca Berry
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Timid / Hasty
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi's useful Steel typing, good Speed and great coverage makes it a perfect candidate for the role of a Calm Mind sweeper. Psychic is Jirachi's strongest option, OHKOing Breloom and 2HKOing Machamp. It also is fantastic at dealing with bulky neutral targets such as Clefable, Flygon, Rotom-A, and Dragonite. Thunderbolt and Grass Knot give Jirachi options to hit Water-Types super effectively. Thunderbolt OHKOes Gyarados, 2HKOes most Skarmory and has a 20% chance to paralyze, while Grass Knot OHKOes Swampert and Quagsire. Grass Knot importantly hits Water-type targets such as Milotic and Suicune harder than Thunderbolt and is the best option for Tyranitar and Hippowdon; however, giving up coverage on Skarmory is a big issue. It also inflicts more damage to Suicune and Milotic. While giving up on a powerful coverage option against Skarmory can be an issue, Grass Knot also carries the benefit of giving a super effective 120 Base Power move for Hippowdon and Tyranitar.
The last slot is typically dedicated to Hidden Power Ground, as Jirachi has no hope to break past Heatran otherwise. After a Calm Mind, it OHKOes offensive versions after Stealth Rock damages, while specially defensive version are cleanly 2HKOed. As an alternative, Hidden Power Fire is a fair option alongside Grass Knot to threaten Skarmory. Hidden Power Fire also comes with the benefit of OHKOing Scizor and Forretress Be aware that Hidden Power Fire forces Jirachi to drop its IV stat to 30, making it unable to speed tie with opposing popular base 100s Jirachi and Flygon. Both options are important to threaten Lucario, as they OHKO it after a Special Defense drop.
If hitting Steel-types is not necessary, Jirachi can try to circumvent its other shortcomings with Iron Head. Since Jirachi does not have the firepower of other special attackers such as Latias and Heatran, special walls such as Clefable and defensive Latias are common roadblocks. While it does hamper its coverage, Iron Head Calm Mind Jirachi is able threaten these counters with repeated flinches, targeting their lower Defense stat. Draco Meteor is another option to create holes: with a Modest nature and a Special Attack boost, it is able of OHKOing defensive Latias after Stealth Rock and sand. While this also covers other Dragon-types Dragonite and Kingdra, the Special Attack drop of Draco Meteor combined with its poor complementary coverage makes its use situational. Finally, if you are running this Jirachi alongisde Toxic Spikes, Protect is possible to accentuate poison damage on bulky Water-Types and Tyranitar as well as getting an additional rounds of Leftovers recovery.
Although I agree, I really havent seen protect superrachi, it probably should be moved after draco meteor although i agree 100% w the drawbacks of draco over other options. It was used on few teams during the tspikes era of 2021
Set Details
========
Speed and Special Attack are maximized to get the most out of this set's sweeping capabilities, as special Jirachi is not particularly strong andneeds wants to speed tie with other Jirachi and mixed Flygon. However, Jirachi can then lower its speed benchmark to increase slightly its bulk, especially if it uses Hidden Power Fire. Examples of Speed benchmarks include 320 to outspeed Modest Latias and 308 to outspeed Jolly Lucario and other base 90s, with remain EVs going to HP to better survive offensive Water-types such as Empoleon and Suicune after a Calm Mind. When running Iron Head, a Hasty nature alongside Attack investment is advised. 4 HP / 32 Atk / 252 SpA / 220 Spe outspeeds Modest Latias and gives Jirachi great odds of 2HKOing bulkless Tyranitar. It is possible to run heavier Attack investment, such as such as 80 Atk / 208 SpA / 220 Spe to guarantee a 2HKO on Dragon Dance Tyranitar and 96 Atk / 236 SpA / 176 Spe to 4HKO defensive Latias with Stealth Rock and sand.
Leftovers is the item of choice, providing longevity throughout the match. After multiple Calm Minds, Jirachi will be able to heal most of the weaker special attacks thrown at it and can heal off entry hazard damage. However, this Jirachi can also use Shuca Berry to survive opposing Earthquake from Metagross and Dragon Dance users. Holding a berry also comes the the benefit of not revealing the item, thus letting the opponent mistakingly guess that Jirachi is a mixed variant.
Usage Tips
========
Because Jirachi generally lacks power, it struggles to break past bulkier Pokemon; Metagross, Swampert, Tyranitar, Dragonite, opposing Jirachi, Latias, and Clefable are all able to check it if they have not been weakened properly. Therefore, Jirachi should generally be brought out late game unless it needs to check threats such as Lucario, Gyarados, or Skarmory with its Speed and coverage. Once revealed, Jirachi should use Calm Mind on something it threatens out such as Breloom or on bad Choice locks such as Choice Scarf Flygon's Outrage. Jirachi can also set up on some special attackers such as Zapdos, Rotom-A, and Suicune, as it outspeeds them and can boost its Special Defense to check them. As Jirachi is commonly targeted by Trick once it starts setting up, take care to not let it be Choice locked into a bad move such as Calm Mind or Psychic into Tyranitar. Jirachi's versatility also makes it hard to guess what the set is, especially if it doesn't have Leftovers. Take advantage of this to hit targets such as Gyarados with Thunderbolt, Tyranitar with Iron Head after using Calm Mind, Swampert with Grass Knot, or Scizor with Hidden Power Fire.
Team Options
========
Calm Mind Jirachi fits best alongside teammates that can weaken bulkier Pokemon and special walls while also needing something to check Swords Dance Lucario. One of its best partners is Heatran, as Heatran baits in Tyranitar, special walls such as Clefable, Latias, and Blissey and various Ground-types such as Swampert, Flygon, and Hippowdon and hits them hard, burns them in the case of Tyranitar and the Ground-types, or uses Explosion. Other Explosion lures such as Gengar are also effective. Breloom is another great partner, as its Spore provides set up opportunities and it can heavily threaten special walls. Alongside these Pokemon, Tyranitar is an excellent choice, as it can both Pursuit trap Trick users or potentially set up with Dragon Dance and weaken Pokemon such as Hippowdon, Swampert, and Metagross should Jirachi lack the coverage for them. Trick users such as Latias, Rotom-A, and Metagross can also be useful alongside Calm Mind Jirachi, as they can give set up opportunities and limit special walls. Choice Scarf Rotom-A and Latias can also further backstop Jirachi against Dragon Dance sweepers, as it isn't strong enough to stop them at full health, while Trick + Iron Ball Metagross opens up bulky Pokemon such as Zapdos and Rotom-A. Jirachi, especially with Iron Head, can also fit alongside more offensive options such as Dragon Dance Gyarados, Dragon Dance Dragonite, and Machamp, as it is very fast, threatens Skarmory, and enjoys these Pokemon weakening bulkier foes. To emphasize Iron Head, paralysis inducing teammates such as Azelf, Thunder Wave Gyarados, and Uxie also can be nice choices. Uxie can even use Dual Screens to help Jirachi get multiple boosts.
Calm Mind Jirachi also fits well on Spikes offenses as a fast, strong boosting threat. Spikes help weaken foes such as Metagross, Blissey, and Swampert, allowing Jirachi to power through them. Skarmory is the most synergetic Spiker with Jirachi, but Froslass and Roserade can also work. Other good Spikes partners such as Swampert, mixed Flygon, Latias, and Choice Scarf Lucario are good teammates. Draco Meteor Jirachi is an especially great teammates with Swampert, as it can lure in defensive Latias, opening up Swampert.
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Ice Punch / Icy Wind / Thunderbolt (I have seen having both tbolt and grass knot on the mixed set and its probably most likely over the ice coverage move, let me know what you think. However, if were pushing physical investment, better to have it more in set comments) <- OK
move 3: Fire Punch / Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Grass Knot / Thunder / Thunderbolt
item: Shuca Berry / Expert Belt / Leftovers Personally, I have seen Lefties more often than this listing as a wincon for fatter teams. Up to you, but I'd do Shuca / Lefties / Expert and leave Lum and Occa in additional comments. <- Ok. In very recent times, I'd argue offensive mixed Jirachi is more often used on Bulky Offense than on fat, considering this SPL metagame
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Naive / Hasty
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi makes for a fantastic mixed attacker despite its lack of sheer power with its expansive movepool, resilience to passive damage, and excellent Speed. Iron Head provides coverage against Tyranitar and disables more physically frail special walls such as Clefable and Blissey with its 60% flinch chance. The remainder of the set is more flexible, depending on the rest of the team. Ice Punch and Icy Wind take care of the Flying- and Dragon-types; Ice Punch OHKOes Dragonite and Flygon and and 2HKOes Gliscor and offensive Latias. Its 20% freeze chance also give Jirachi a tool in desperate situations. Icy Wind is a fine alternative to put more pressure on more physically bulky Pokemon weak to Ice such as Gliscor. The Speed drop also lets Jirachi hit first with Iron Head and prevents Pokemon such as Agility Empoleon and Dragon Dance Gyarados from setting up on Jirachi with impunity should it lack the coverage. Fire Punch hits Steel-types such as Scizor, Skarmory, Magnezone, Bronzong, and other Jirachi for super effective damage, alongside a 20% burn chance. It notably OKHOes Scizor after Stealth Rock damage and gives Jirachi reasonable odds to break past Skarmory should it burn with Iron Head. Should Heatran be a concern, Hidden Power Ground is an another option to hit it as well as Magnezone, potentially OHKOing bulkless versions after Stealth Rock damage. Grass Knot hits Swampert, Quagsire, and Gastrondon super effectively, 2HKOing them at worst. Grass Knot deals significant damage to both Suicune and Milotic due to its weight. On the other hand, Thunderbolt and Thunder OHKO non Wacan berry Gyarados and 2HKO Starmie and Skarmory.
Mixed attacking Jirachi has several other options worth considering. Psychic with Special Attack investment OHKOes Gengar and Breloom and 2HKOes Machamp. It also 3HKOes RestTalk Rotom, something Jirachi is unable to achieve with its more common moves. Hidden Power Fire hits Metagross, physically defensive Skarmory, and Breloom harder than Fire Punch. However, Jirachi loses the option to burn its opponents and cannot speed tie with mixed Flygon and opposing Jirachi due to the Speed reducing IV required for Hidden Power Fire.
Set Details
========
Mixed attacking Jirachi typically runs close to or absolute maximum Speed EVs to speed tie with other Jirachi and Flygon then invests in one of its offensive stats. However, Jirachi can also opt to lower its Speed investment to hit harder. Useful Speed benchmarks are 220 Speed EVs to outspeed Modest Latias and Gliscor; 176 to outspeed Lucario and Roserade with a positive nature; 148 Speed EVs to outspeed Zapdos and Flygon with a neutral nature, Suicune and Rotom-A and 176 with a neutral nature to outspeed Adamant Lucario and Heatran. Generally, Jirachi should be run a lot of Speed EVs, especially if it has physical coverage moves such as Ice Punch and Fire Punch, to take advantage of Iron Head to break past fast foes such as itself, Flygon, and Zapdos. For more specially oriented Jirachi, alternative EV spreads include 36 Atk / 252 SpA / 220 Speed (I like this spread but what does the extra Attack do specifically (I also assume this is for HP fire)? We could just mention max/max It gives a 96,5% chance to 2HKO ddTar instead of 78%. This is considering that a) Special Jirachi does not gain as much tying with opposing Jirachi compared to its physically oriented sets b) it may not even have an ice move for Naive Mixed Flygon., 80 Atk / 252 SpA /176 Speed
(If we mention the first one, does this one need to be mentioned?) Considering 176 Speed is mentionned before, i don't mind removing it
, 116 Attack / 192 SpA / 200 Spe with a Special Attack boosting nature to OHKO offensive Swampert with Grass Knot and Expert Belt. While Jirachi can use both Defense and Special Defense hindering natures, Naive is more common as Jirachi simply isn't bulky enough without investment to be a long term pivot into Latias and keeping its Defense in tact allows it to answer threats such as itself, Gyarados, Tyranitar, Breloom, and Dragonite better. Jirachi has a small chance to be OHKOed by Tyranitar +1 Fire Punch after Stealth Rock with a Defense reducing nature, while using a Naive nature gives a better chance of surviving Dragonite's +1 Fire Punch.
I combined this above, let me know what you think. <- I like it
The most common item Jirachi uses is Shuca Berry, as it lets Jirachi survive Earthquake from various Pokemon such as Dragon Dance Gyarados, Dragon Dance Dragonite, Flygon, Metagross, Hippowdon, and Swampert and hit them hard with the appropriate coverage move. Even with a Defense reducing nature, these Pokemon will fail to OHKO Jirachi with a boosted Earthquake. Another option is Expert Belt, which notably guarantees special coverage moves, such as Hidden Power Ground and Grass Knot, OHKO targets such as Magnezone, Heatran, and Swampert. Leftovers is common to help feign Jirachi doesn't have special coverage moves such as Grass Knot, Thunderbolt, and Hidden Power Ground and gives it the longevity to survive on more defensive teams as a win condition. Lum Berry allows Jirachi to absorb Breloom’s Spore and avoid paralysis from Magnezone and opposing Jirachi. In conjunction with Hidden Power Ground, Occa Berry is a decent item to take Fire-types moves from Heatran and Infernape.
Usage Tips
========
Jirachi has a lot of flexibility and can be brought in at almost any stage of the game. It can lead and hit the foe hard with coverage, come in during the the midgame to threaten targets such as Jirachi and Tyranitar with super effective attacks, or wait until the late game to revenge kill dangerous Pokemon such as Lucario and clean up weakened foes with its Speed. Despite this, it struggles to fulfill the defensive role bulkier sets can, as boosted Dragon-type moves such as Latias's Choice Specs Draco Meteor and Dragonite's Outrage can potentially 2HKO it. Once it hits the field, Jirachi is straightforward to play: strike the foe with the appropriate move.
Especially if Jirachi isn't holding Leftovers, different item choice can dictate how it should be played. Items such as Expert Belt and Occa Berry can unexpectedly break open holes earlier in the game, while Lum Berry and Shuca Berry are valuable tools to be held hidden to cover specific situations. Shuca Berry variants in particular are often part of the team's backbone against setup sweepers and should be kept healthy for the later stages of the game. Take advantage of how Jirachi can often bluff coverage attacks in desperate situations: for example, switching into Swords Dance Scizor can represent Jirachi has Fire Punch or Hidden Power Fire even if it doesn't have it and can force them out.
Team Options
========
I wanted to beef this up, so let me know if i missed anything <- lgtm, but I'd put Bulky Offense support first. Open for discussion.
Mixed Jirachi most often fits on two types of teams: as a late game win condition and fail safe against Swords Dance Lucario for both offensive and stall teams based around Spikes, and as an offensive threat and back up answer to Dragon Dance sweepers on faster teams without Spikes. For both offensive and defensive Spikes based teams, the most common Spiker is Skarmory. Defensive Skarmory can take on Jirachi's defensive roles such as switching into Latias's Draco Meteor, while offensive Skarmory sets can immediately set up entry hazards to wear down Jirachi's answers in range of its coverage moves. Jirachi can even heavily weaken or KO Magnezone trying to trap Skarmory. On more offensive teams, Froslass and Roserade can work as well, but they lack the reliability of Skarmory. On more offensive Spikes based teams, common teammates include offensive Swampert, Choice Specs Latias, Tyranitar, Choice Scarf Lucario, and offensive or Choice Scarf Rotom-A. All of these Pokemon either provide critical defensive utility, take advantage of Spikes themselves, or help keep Spikes up against Rapid Spinners such as Starmie, Donphan, and Forretress. For more defensive Spikes based teams, mixed Jirachi is common on the big 5 style built around Choice Scarf Tyranitar, Skarmory, defensive Latias, Clefable, and either RestTalk Rotom-A or a Ground-type such as Hippowdon, Quagsire, Gliscor, or Donphan. In contrast with other offensive Jirachi sets seen with those Pokemon, this Jirachi provides either a more immediate answer to Skarmory with Thunderbolt instead of burning it with Fire Punch or using its additional coverage to take on threats such as Swampert and Gliscor. More defensive teammates help make up for Jirachi's lack of bulk -- whereas more offensive teams are likely to use Jirachi to take on offensive Water-types such as Calm Mind Suicune, Gyarados, and Starmie, defensive partners such as Latias and Clefable can instead, allowing Jirachi to preserve its health for the late game. These teammates also help Jirachi against difficult opponents such a Rotom-A and Zapdos that Jirachi struggles to beat. Note that using such as frail Jirachi forces these Pokemon into particular sets; for example, Skarmory often should be specially defensive and Latias often needs to have Roar.
On teams without Spikes, Jirachi plays a more supportive role in checking threats such as Dragonite, Swampert, Gyarados, Lucario, and Gliscor with its Speed, item, and coverage. As such, it more likely molds its moveset towards its teammates to cover the holes they may lead to. However, it should be used alongside sturdier checks to Latias and Dragonite such as Metagross. Staples of offensive teams such as mixed or Dragon Dance Dragonite, Gyarados, Azelf, offensive Heatran, Dragon Dance Tyranitar, offensive Empoleon, Swords Dance Lucario, Agility Metagross, and Swords Dance Scizor are all good partners. Dragonite and Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciate Jirachi heavily weakening Swampert and Hippowdon with Grass Knot; Azelf and Gyarados can potentially spread paralysis for Jirachi to take advantage of with Iron Head; Heatran and Empoleon appreciates back up with Dragon Dance sweepers and Jirachi potentially weakening special walls with Iron Head; and Lucario, Metagross, and Scizor appreciate Jirachi targeting Flying-types such as Gyarados, Zapdos, Gliscor, and Skarmory with super effective coverage. Breloom is another great partner alongside versions without Grass Knot, as it can switch into Ground-types trying to target Jirachi with Earthquake. Gengar is another good option, as it can weaken Heatran, which walls Jirachi without Hidden Power Ground, with Focus Blast so Jirachi can eventually break through.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Fire Punch
move 3: Trick
move 4: Ice Punch / Thunder Punch / U-turn
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
With its base 100 Speed, a resistance to Extreme Speed and the ability to handle every Dragon Dance user, Jirachi is a decent Choice Scarf user. 492 is a desirable Speed tier, outspeeding +2 Dragon Dance Tyranitar and other fast threats such as Gengar and Latias. Iron Head is the main attack of the set, taking advantage of Serene Grace. With Choice Scarf’s Speed boost Jirachi is able to outpace the entire unboosted metagame and use its 60% flinch rate. This combined with status and entry hazards make Choice Scarf Jirachi is able to break throught Steel-type resists once they have been sufficiently weakened.
The remainder of the set is flexible and will mostly depend on the user's needs. Fire Punch is a popular option to hit Steel-types such as Scizor, Metagross, Skarmory and opposing Jirachi. With a 20% chance to burn the opponent, Jirachi can attempt to force progress on bulky pokémon that may stall it out otherwise. In order to revenge kill Gyarados and Dragonite, Thunder Punch and Ice Punch can be also added to set. They also come with the benefit of a 20% chance to inclict paralysis and freeze, respectively. However, these attacks tend to give setup opportunities, which is why Trick and U-turn are other attractive options. Trick makes Jirachi a legitimate threat against stall teams, crippling a wall and gaining valuable Leftovers recovery. U-turn on the other hand, allows the Jirachi user to flee against a pokemon Jirachi can't hurt like Heatran and keep the momentum in his favor throughout the match.
Choice Scarf Jirachi also makes for a suprisingly good lead. With a set of Iron Head, Trick, Stealth Rock and U-turn, Jirachi can choose to either lock the opposing lead onto a Move, attempt to flinch frailer opponents or U-turn to a more appropriate team member.
Set Details
========
Speed and Attack are maximized to make Jirachi as offensively threatening as possible. Jolly nature allows Jirachi to speed tie with Flygon, outspeed +2 Dragon Dance Tyranitar and tie with other Jirachi once the Choice Scarf has been tricked. However engaging in speed ties with Flygon is uncommon and not recommended without Ice Punch, hence the possibility to use an Adamant nature to help Iron Head hit as hard as possible. It is possible to run additional bulk to improve Jirachi's ability to take hits. A spread of 56 HP / 252 Attack / 200 Speed with an Adamant nature is a common spread, oustpeeding Jolly Mamoswine once Choice Scarf has been tricked. When running Thunder Punch, a spread of 168 HP / 140 Atk / 200 Speed with Adamant nature OHKOes bulkless non Wacan Berry Dragon Dance Gyarados, while the speed beats Jolly Mamoswine and most defensive Latias. Similarly, a Fire Punch Jirachi can run a spread of 232 HP / 180 Atk / 96 with a Jolly nature to maximise its usefulness as a bulky pivot. Once Choice Scarf has been tricked, the HP investment reaches a Leftovers number, while the speed reaches 286 to beat Jolly Mamoswine. Ice Punch Jirachi should stick with maximum Speed, as the ability to at least speed tie with Flygon and OHKO it is one of its perks.
Usage Tips
========
As any Choice Scarf user, Jirachi should be brought in to revenge kill the threats it has been tasked to deal with: Gyarados if it carries Thunder Punch, Dragonite if it carries Ice Punch, Fire Punch against Lucario and Iron Head against pokemon that don't resist it. When revealing Jirachi is Scarfed, beware of Magnezone trying to switch in, as Jirachi not locked into Fire Punch stands no chance against a healty Magnezone. Because it is not weak to Choice Scarf Tyranitar's Pursuit, Jirachi can afford to use Trick more aggressively when facing defensive builds. Additionnaly, Jirachi has the bulk to pivot on resisted hits and swing back momentum in its favor with U-turn. A final thing to note with Choice Scarf Jirachi is its potential as a late game cleaner : with sandstorm and entry hazards up, Jirachi is able to break past slower foes such as Choice Scarf Rotom and weakened Steel resists of the opposing team.
Team Options
========
Choice Scarf Jirachi can fit on a wide variety of playstyles, ranging from offense to stall. Substitute users such as Heatran pair well with well this Jirachi, taking advantage of its ability to lock an opponent with Trick. Skarmory, Roserade and rarer options such as Froslass participate in weakening opposing Steel-resists over the course of the game with entry hazards. Since this Jirachi tends to give setup opportunities, pokemon that able to handle powerful offensive threats are appreciated. On offensive teams, Suicune, Swampert and Gyarados all help in that regard thank to their bulk and coverage options. On more defensive builds, Hippowdon, Skarmory and Latias are flexible defensive walls. Because this set does not carry Leftovers, Rapid Spin support from Starmie is a great partner to remove the Spikes that would otherwise annoy Jirachi. Additionnaly, Starmie is able to handle Heatran, a common response to this Jirachi.
[SET]
name: Wish Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Wish
move 3: Psychic / Flash Cannon
move 4: Thunderbolt
item: Leftovers
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi's immunity to sandstorm and great defensive profile makes it a fine choice for a defensive Calm Minder. With the ability to heal its teammates and resilience to Passive damage, Wish Calm Mind Jirachi is a slow set up providing longevity for its team throughout the game. Its Steel typing is also a boon for its team to take weakened Draco Meteors and Outrages when needed. The combinaison of Wish and Calm Mind is the crux of this set, allowing Jirachi to set up on several threats: walls, weak physical attackers and special attackers lacking super effective coverage will be unable to break past it, barring a critical hit. When strong Earthquake and Fire Blast users aren't not healthy enough anymore to handle it, Jirachi can be a strong option in the later stages of the game, forcing predictible Trick attempts and desperate Explosion from the oponent to neutralize Jirachi, 2 moves it should be weary before attempting a sweep.
Psychic is the STAB of reference, defeating Breloom and Machamp convincingly as well as carrying the benefits of a 20% chance to drop Special Defense. If your team more pressure on Tyranitar and Latias, Flash Cannon is another option. This notably 2HKOes offensive versions of the former after a single Calm Mind, something that Psychic Jirachi cannot claim. Thunderbolt rounds off the set for a decent neutral coverage, and gives Jirachi a way to hit Flying and Water-types super effectively. Provided the team already has solid answers to punish Skarmory attempting to Spike and Gyarados setting up, Hidden Power Ground is a possible option for better coverage against Steel-Types. This notably threatens Heatran, which otherwise can come freely on this Jirachi and force it out repeatedly. This will also help finishing off weakened Tyranitar and Metagross on higher thresholds of health after accumulated chip damage.
Set Details
========
The Speed investment outspeeds Jolly Tyranitar and uninvested base 100s such as Zapdos and opposing defensive Jirachi. HP is maximised, reaching 404 HP. This increases Jirachi's overall bulk and makes it able to recover more than 2 Seismic Toss worth of damage with Wish. This means Jirachi will be able to set on Special Walls such as Blissey, provided status such as Paralysis does not interfere too much. The rest is put in defense, as Jirachi's Special Defense will be already boosted by Calm Mind. With this Investment, Jirachi is capable of strong taking hits in a pinch such as Gyarados' +1 Earthquake, Tyranitar's +1 Earthquake, 2 Breloom Superpowers and retaliate with the appropriate move.
Usage Tips
========
Because of the popularity of super effective coverage to handle Steel-Types, status, Trick and Knock Off, Jirachi should avoid setting up early in the game. During this phase of the game, Jirachi will usually stay back and be used as a Wish support for its team. In order to stay healthy for later, Jirachi will avoid switching into strong attacks such as unweakened Latias' Choice Specs Draco Meteor or Explosion users. If such thing happened repeatedly, Jirachi would often be unable to survive the two turns of Wish and heal back. When using Wish is not necessary, Psychic and Thunderbolt can be used to gradually weaken Jirachi's answers. If need be, Jirachi can sacrifice its chances to sweep and trade damage with opposing Gyarados or Fighting-types. Once it reaches late game, Jirachi can start to look for an attempt at sweeping on a pokemon that can't threaten it. Alternate Wish and Calm Mind to remain healthy while accumulating boosts. Note that it is not always optimal to get to +6, as unnecessary Calm Mind uses only increases the odd of the opponent scoring a critical hit. While this Jirachi has a non negligeable pair of assets, it is handled by popular threats that need to be taken care of beforehand. Jirachi should stay away from Clefable as status and Knock Off damatically decreases its odds of pulling off a sweep. Encore Clefable and Roar Latias are important roadblocks to Wish Calm Mind Jirachi's efficiency as they can reliably prevent it to sweep throughout the game. Finally, Wish Calm Mind Jirachi should generally not attempt to duel unstatused opposing Jirachis, as it loses to offensive Calm Mind sets and risks getting burned and flinched down by physical versions.
Team Options
========
Wish Calm Mind Jirachi fit on defensive builds that appreciates the compression of a win condition and Wish support. The support of Spikes and Toxic Spikes from Skarmory or Roserade helps Jirachi beat its checks in the long run. Toxic Spikes in particular makes the set up process easier against bulky attackers attempting to crit Jirachi. To secure such hazards, the use of a Ghost-type such as Rotom-A is recommended. Rotom electric STAB will also relieve pressure from Jirachi when facing Gyarados. Choice Scarf Tyranitar is a fantastic teammate, able to trap Latias, Clefable to help Jirachi sweeping as well blocking Trick attempts from Rotom-A and Latias directed at Jirachi. Choice Scarf Tyranitar will also contribute to keep hazards on the field when facing Starmie, the most common spinner. Bulky team members lacking reliable recovery such as Swampert or Forretress appreciate Jirachi's Wish support, enabling them to play more freely. Swampert in return will check opposing Tyranitar trying to punish Jirachi and Forretress sets up Spikes throughout the game. Given Wish Calm Mind Jirachi's weakness to Clefable Encore and Roar Latias, a pokémon able to threaten them are greatly appreciated. Heatran is a great choice as its access to Explosion allows to lure both pokemon. Lava Plume Heatran in particular can cripple physical threats with burns, easing Jirachi's condition for setup.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Jirachi's options are nigh limitless, and it is able to make use of most of its movepool. A set consisting of Substitute, Calm Mind, Psychic and Thunderbolt with maximised HP and Speed used to see use on teams based around Toxic Spikes. However, the prominence of Thunder Wave Roar Latias, Encore Clefable and Toxic Spikes immune pokémon have made this set somewhat obsolete. Jirachi has a lot of options to support its team: most notably, it has access to Healing Wish to bring a wounded teammate back to full. Similarly, Jirachi makes for a great support on themed teams. With a set of Iron Head, U-turn, and two supporting options to chose from, Jirachi is able to pivot into opposing Draco Meteor and Outrage and regain momentum for its team. Rain dance is a great option, as Jirachi can punish Tyranitar trying to come in and cancel the summoned weather. A Choice Band set can work due to its obscurity, hiting hard Psychic-types Starmie, Latias and Celebi with U-turn. However, not being able to switch moves on such a versatile pokemon is often detrimental. A set with Toxic, Substitute, Iron Head and Fire Punch can break past bulky opponents Hippowdon, Latias, Suicune and Swampert, who could otherwise stomach Jirachi's hits. Zen Headbutt hits Steel-type resistances such as Rotom-H or Water-types, but suffers from a middling 90% accurary, a lower flinch rate of 40% and overall poor synergistic coverage alongside Iron Head. Jirachi could theorically run a mid game Screens set, but there are better suited pokemon for this role. Jirachi also has access to Doom Desire, Water Pulse and Ancient Power: however these options are never worth the moveslot. Doom Desire suffers from a subpar 85% accuracy and a 2 two-turn delay, while Water Pulse and Ancient Power are too weak to make their unliable secondary effects appealing.
Checks and Counters
===================
Jirachi is a very versatile pokemon and there isn't one safe answer to it. However, each of its sets has individual counters to it.
**Sturdy Steel resists**: Heatran, Zapdos, Metagross and Swampert all take low damage from Iron Head, depleting its PPs and preventing Jirachi from making progress.
**Status**: Jirachi is reliant on its Speed and gradual damage to beat its opponent. Thunder Wave from Magnezone and Latias prevents Jirachi from taking advantage of Iron Head flinches, as a result of its 4 times lowered speed. Burns from Will-O-Wisp Gengar and Rotom-H also puts a dent in physical versions of Jirachi by reducing Iron Head damage and canceling Leftovers recovery.
** Fire-Types**
**Strong Earthquake users**
**Leftovers**
**Magnet Pull**
**Special Walls**
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Oiponabys, 435540 ], [johnnyg2, 57904]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
[/QUOTE]
please go to post 4 and post 5, the analysis is too big to fit in one post, please start there. Thanks!
[OVERVIEW]
Jirachi is simply the best Pokemon in DPP OU. Jirachi’s fantastic typing, great movepool, and excellent stats give it limitless versatility. Jirachi is the fastest defensive Steel-type; it has the bulk, Speed, recovery, and resistances, such as a crucial one to Dragon and an immunity to Toxic, to fulfill almost any defensive role. However, the main source of Jirachi’s prowess in DPP OU is a STAB boosted Iron Head and its 60% flinch chance due to Serene Grace. Chaining Iron Head flinches can both slowly wear down even bulky foes and passively heal Jirachi with Leftovers. Combined with many ways to paralyze the opponent such as Body Slam, Thunder, and Thunder Wave to facilitate paraflinching and Jirachi becomes one of the central threats in the tier all teams must be aware of. Physical Jirachi can run a dizzying amount of viable EV spreads to take advantage of this, from focusing on HP and Speed as a fantastic utility Pokemon with options such as Stealth Rock and Substitute; fully investing in its defenses to be perhaps the best general wall in the tier with Wish and Protect; or being a great cleaner or Choice Scarfer with Attack and Speed investment and options such as Fire Punch, Ice Punch, U-turn, and Trick. Serene Grace also helps with coverage moves, as Jirachi has passive opportunities to get devastating burns and freezes from Fire Punch and Ice Punch that can bail it out of tough situations.
Jirachi also is one of the best special and mixed threats in the tier with access to Calm Mind and its great special movepool. Jirachi can customize its coverage and utility moves to handle most threats in the tier: Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, Hidden Power Ground, Psychic, and Hidden Power Fire are all options to take on foes such as Skarmory, Swampert, Hippowdon, Heatran, Magnezone, Gengar, and Scizor that can cause problems for physical Jirachi. Even with Calm Mind or an otherwise fully special moveset, Jirachi can use Iron Head to create free turns, 2HKO Tyranitar, and 4HKO specially defensive Clefable. Jirachi can also lean into its support movepool with options such as Wish, Refresh, and Substitute or even different items like a Shuca Berry, Lum Berry, or Occa Berry to make its Calm Mind sets more devastating.
Jirachi has an enormous influence of the DPP OU metagame, such as being one of the best switch-ins to Choice Specs Latias while also handling all three major Dragon Dance Pokemon in Dragonite, Gyarados, and Tyranitar with a simple Wish + Protect set. Jirachi is almost singled-handedly responsible for making bulkier threats resistant to Steel, such as Heatran, Swampert, and Metagross more often use Leftovers, as without it, Jirachi can eventually beat them with Iron Head and its coverage moves. Jirachi can even stop Magnezone trying to trap it, such as OHKOing it with Hidden Power Ground, outdamaging it with Fire Punch, or PP stalling it out of Thunderbolt with Wish and Protect. Jirachi is also a potent stallbreaker with Iron Head, as if Skarmory is burned or KOed, few foes on defensive teams enjoy taking it on with entry hazards up.
Jirachi primarily fears strong attackers, such as Heatran and Swampert who can break through its defenses and status if it isn’t running Refresh. Physical Jirachi struggles to take on foes resistant to Iron Head, have Leftovers, and are bulky enough to take multiple hits, such as Heatran, Swampert, Suicune, Magnezone, Zapdos, Metagross, and Empoleon. Zapdos and Suicune especially are dangerous due to their great bulk and Pressure depleting Iron Head PP, while Heatran, Magnezone, and Empoleon 4x resist Iron Head and out heal it with Leftovers. Gyarados, Swampert, and Metagross, and Hippowdon all can take multiple hits from physical Jirachi and hit it hard in return. Ghost-types are also annoying to Jirachi, as it cannot paralyze them the majority of the time. Both Gengar and Rotom-A can burn Jirachi, while Gengar naturally outspeeds it and Rotom-A is resistant to Iron Head and very bulky. Special Jirachi is typically hard stopped by Roar Latias and Encore Clefable, as it doesn’t have the proper coverage or power to break through them. Without Refresh or Heal Bell support, Jirachi is ruined by status. Paralysis, such as Choice Scarf Magnezone switching in and using Thunder Wave, Azelf paralyzing it with Thunder Wave in the lead spot, or opposing defensive Jirachi using Body Slam can prevent Jirachi from flinching foes and using Wish, while burn completely ruins its ability to do damage and slowly wears it down. While defensive Jirachi is really bulky, it can be broken down by very strong attacks such as Breloom’s Focus Punch and mixed Dragonite’s Fire Blast, especially if they are backed with Spikes. In theory, Jirachi can deal with all of these threats; however, it is limited to four moveslots and cannot threaten everything that gives it trouble.
[SET]
name: Utility
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Body Slam / Thunder / Thunder Wave
move 3: Fire Punch / U-turn
move 4: Protect / Stealth Rock / Substitute / Wish
item: Leftovers
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi provides excellent utility with just Iron Head, allowing it to use a diverse array of support moves. Body Slam is not very strong, but offers a 60% chance to paralyze and can crucially paralyze Ground-types. Paralysis gives foes only a 30% chance to hit through Iron Head and helps incapacitate faster Pokemon trying to set up on Jirachi, such as Dragon Dance Gyarados, Dragon Dance Dragonite, and Agility Empoleon. Body Slam also outdamages Iron Head against foes such as Swampert, Starmie, Zapdos, and Infernape, allowing Jirachi to finish them off at low health. Thunder is another option, as despite only having a 42% chance to paralyze foes factoring in accuracy and Serene Grace, it hits Ghost-types, OHKOes Gyarados after Stealth Rock, and 2HKOes Starmie and Skarmory. Thunder Wave gives Jirachi an 100% chance to paralyze foes, but does not do damage, making it vulnerable to Taunt and Substitute.
Fire Punch gives Jirachi coverage against Steel-types such as opposing Jirachi, Magnezone, Skarmory, Scizor, Bronzong, and Metagross and crucially has a 20% to burn the foe. The burn chance not only lets it wear down targets quicker with Iron Head, but also helps Jirachi survive various Ground-type attacks from Metagross and Bronzong. Another option is U-turn, as it makes Jirachi an excellent pivot as well as allows it to escape Magnezone. When paired with Wish, Jirachi can survive the hit from faster Pokemon so the teammate receiving the Wish switches in unscathed.
Protect helps Jirachi passively heal itself and scouts the foe. Jirachi can often heal a lot of HP by alternating flinching the foe with Iron Head and using Protect. Another option is Stealth Rock, as Jirachi can set it up against many different Pokemon while fending off Rapid Spinners such as Starmie and Forretress with the threat of status or super effective coverage. Jirachi can maximize its ability to take advantage of paralysis with Substitute. Substitute blocks status, Knock Off, and weaker attacks, forcing the foe to try to hit through paralysis and Iron Head flinching multiple times to beat Jirachi. Jirachi can often passively heal the HP needed to make a Substitute with Iron Head and paralysis.
Set Details
========
With three attacks and a utility move, Jirachi can use numerous EV spreads—this EV spread has maximum HP, has enough Speed EVs to outspeed Lucario and Roserade, and has enough Attack EVs to KO Lucario at -1 Defense after one round of Life Orb recoil and Stealth Rock damage 75% of the time. Jirachi needs 156 Attack EVs to KO Lucario after Life Orb recoil at -1 Defense outright. Even with Thunder, Jirachi should run a hindering Special Attack nature, as it is still strong enough against Gyarados, Skarmory, and Starmie. 252 HP EVs gives Jirachi 101 HP Substitute unbroken by one Seismic Toss and great general bulk. Should Lucario not be as important, Jirachi can also run maximum Speed EVs with a spread of 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Speed to at least speed tie with Flygon, opposing Jirachi, and Zapdos; more Attack EVs to power up Fire Punch and Iron Head; and more bulk to better pass Wish with U-turn.
Should Jirachi have Fire Punch, it should use at least 176 Speed EVs with a neutral nature to outspeed Adamant Lucario and Heatran. Some example EV spreads Jirachi can use include 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 Spe with an Adamant nature and 252 HP / 108 Atk / 148 Spe with a Jolly nature. These EV spreads do more damage to Magnezone and opposing Jirachi with Fire Punch and require less Iron Head flinches to break through foes. Without Fire Punch, Jirachi is free to invest more in its bulk to better pass Wish. Some example EV spreads that outspeed Tyranitar include 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe with an Impish nature and 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe with a Careful nature. Jirachi can also minimize its Speed to take the hit before Wish passing via U-turn with an EV spread of 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 SpD with an Impish or Relaxed nature and potentially less than 31 Speed IVs. Beware that lowering Speed makes it harder to flinch foes.
Usage Tips
========
Jirachi should lead or switch in on a target it threatens, such as Tyranitar or offensive Latias and start spreading paralysis or set up Stealth Rock if it has it. The main exception is if Jirachi has Fire Punch and would rather burn the foe, such as against Skarmory, Bronzong, and Metagross. Once Jirachi has statused its checks, it should typically switch out and come in again on the many foes it threatens. Once the check is in again and statused, Jirachi can then start wearing it down with Iron Head, Stealth Rock, and its coverage moves. This is a highly effective strategy; Jirachi is naturally fast and quite bulky, so it takes multiple hits through Iron Head and paralysis to beat. Substitute sets are even more difficult to defeat, as foes have to hit through paralysis and Iron Head to just break the Substitute. While Jirachi can chain many flinches to take down almost any opponent, such as offensive Heatran and Swampert, only try to do this in desperate situations, as not getting the flinch can lead to Jirachi getting KOed much earlier than it should have. With Protect, don’t allow opponents to take advantage with set-up by being too predictable with it. Protect also is great to help Jirachi survive hits, as with maximum HP, it just barely avoids the 2HKO from attacks such as x. With Wish and U-turn, Jirachi can pass Wish, but be careful to keep its health high enough, as it will often take a hit doing so and doesn’t have Protect to back it up. U-turn can also be effective as an early game pivot. Note that Thunder is often unexpected from Jirachi, so it can get a lot of damage against Gyarados and Skarmory in particular. Especially without recovery, Jirachi should try to avoid status at all costs, as paralysis ruins it trying to flinch foes downs and a burned Jirachi is useless and faints quickly.
Team Options
========
Utility Jirachi is a valuable partner for a lot of spikeless offensive builds that love support against Lucario and Choice Specs Latias, appreciate status, and potentially need a Stealth Rock user. For this reason, one of its most common partners is Tyranitar, as Choice Scarf and Dragon Dance sets both enjoy additional back up against Latias while more defensive sets appreciate a stopgap against Lucario and speed control. Choice Scarf Tyranitar also helps with Gengar, as Jirachi does not like dealing with Gengar potentially burning it or overwhelming it with Life Orb boosted attacks. Sand also helps wear down checks like Zapdos and Suicune more effectively. Jirachi, particularly with Substitute, also is a premier Pokemon on more offensive paralysis teams; it enjoys teammates such as Azelf, Machamp, and Thunder Wave + Dragon Dance Gyarados who can potentially help spread paralysis and take advantage of the foes Jirachi wears down. Azelf’s Explosion can potentially both give Jirachi a chance to start spreading status and weaken a Steel-type check such as Heatran or Metagross. Machamp has similar checks to Jirachi, so if it defeats or heavily weakens Skarmory, Gyarados, or Metagross, Jirachi can clean up the rest. Gyarados is also an effective teammate, as it has great type synergy with Jirachi’s weakness while also opening up holes with either a Choice Band or Dragon Dance set. Other sweepers such as Swords Dance Empoleon or Swords Dance Gliscor can be excellent partners to take advantage of how Jirachi can wear down their answers, such as Swamper, with status and Iron Head. While Jirachi can be effective if it is lucky against defensive teams, it does enjoy some additional assistance against them. Wallbreakers such as Breloom and Heatran are fantastic, while Infernape can potentially join Breloom as a dual fighting core. Offensive Starmie sets, such as Choice Specs, can potentially get rid of the entry hazards that Jirachi can often let up trying to burn Skarmory.
As Jirachi can be weak to set up sweepers with a Lum Berry, it does appreciate an additional backstop to them, such as Choice Scarf Rotom-A and Choice Scarf Latias. While Jirachi does appreciate Magnezone support, it is more commonly paired with Choice Scarf Magneton due to the role compression Jirachi provides as a Stealth Rock user and the fact Magneton helps against neutral nature Dragon Dance Gyarados and Dragon Dance Dragonite. Jirachi is also particularly effective alongside Knock Off support, as removing Leftovers makes Iron Head highly effective in wearing down foes who resist Iron Head. Partners such as specially defensive Empoleon and Clefable can work. Additionally, Trick + Iron Ball Metagross can remove Leftovers from mutual checks like Skarmory and Zapdos so that Jirachi can break through them.
[SET]
name: Wish + Protect
move 1: Wish
move 2: Protect
move 3: Iron Head
move 4: Body Slam / U-turn
item: Leftovers
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Impish / Careful
evs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi can pair Wish with Protect to get reliable recovery. While it loses a moveslot, it becomes a fantastic wall, as few foes can 2HKO it. With Wish, it also becomes excellent at healing its teammates. Jirachi can easily heal itself, so it is not forced to receive the Wish to stay healthy and can switch to a teammate. Protect additionally scouts for moves Jirachi does not enjoy, such as status and strong super effective attacks, and can keep Jirachi healthy, especially if it alternates flinching the foe with Iron Head and using Protect.
Iron Head makes Jirachi oppressive to deal with, as it can help Jirachi receive Wish by flinching the foe on the turn after it uses Wish. Jirachi has a lot more longevity with Wish and Protect, so it can slowly wear down its answers over the course of the game so that it only needs a few Iron Head flinches to break through. It also allows it remain threatening without any Attack EVs, 2HKOing bulkless Tyranitar and often at least 4HKOing slower foes neutral to it such as Machamp, most Breloom, and specially defensive Clefable. To facilitate Iron Head, Body Slam helps Jirachi spread status to prevent foes from setting up on it and facilitate paraflinching. Body Slam can paralyze Gliscor, Swampert, and Flygon, which are difficult to status otherwise. U-turn is also another option to maximize its ability to pass Wish and to escape Magnezone trying to trap it. Jirachi also has a few options it can use, such as Thunder Wave to more reliable spread paralysis and Toxic to better handle foes resistant to Iron Head such as Suicune and Zapdos, but this can make Jirachi vulnerable to Taunt and foes trying to set-up on it.
Set Details
========
Jirachi has two possible approaches: physically defensive or specially defensive. Physically defensive with the spread given is preferred, as Jirachi can avoid the 2HKO from an unboosted Earthquake from foes such as Metagross, Dragonite, Tyranitar, and Bronzong. This makes Jirachi extraordinary difficult to KO without a boosted Earthquake or strong super effective Fire-type coverage. The Speed EVs given outspeed Tyranitar. Jirachi can spare some Defense EVs for some additional Special Defense EVs to take attacks such as Gengar’s Life Orb Shadow Ball more easily. An example EV spread would be 252 HP / 164 Def / 60 SpD / 32 Spe that avoids the 2HKO after Stealth Rock and can survive attacks such as Infernape’s unboosted Fire Blast and mixed Dragonite’s Fire Blast after Stealth Rock.
Another option is to fully invest in Jirachi’s Special Defense with an EV spread of 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe. This makes Jirachi remarkably specially bulky, easily surviving attacks such as Kingdra’s Choice Specs Hydro Pump in the rain, Heatran’s unboosted Fire Blast, and Suicune’s boosted Hydro Pump. It also easily strong special Dragon-type attacks such as Latias’s Choice Specs Draco Meteor and mixed Dragonite’s Draco Meteor that can do easily 40% to physically defensive Jirachi. This spread prevents it from taking on Dragon Dance sweepers as easily, but can spread paralysis to offensive Suicune and rain sweepers like Kingdra and Ludicolo well.
Usage Tips
========
Jirachi can be played in two ways: lead or otherwise get in the game early to spread paralysis, or stay hidden as either a potential win condition or as a back-up wall to almost any threat in the tier. If played early, Jirachi should be careful against Magnezone. Without U-turn, Jirachi gets PP stalled and defeated by Leftovers Magnezone, while Choice Scarf Magnezone wins most of the time through Thunderbolt eventually paralyzing it and getting multiple full paralysis, critical hits, or PP stalling Jirachi’s recovery moves. Once in, Jirachi should aim to paralyze as much of the opposing team as it can while keeping itself healthy with Wish and Protect. Do not be afraid to trade lots of HP for status on a crucial threat—Jirachi has a remarkable ability to passively heal after taking a huge hit and eventually end up healthy, such as against Machamp’s DynamicPunch, Infernape’s unboosted Fire Blast, and Gyarados’s +1 Earthquake. Jirachi should try to stay away from entry hazard setters such as Skarmory and Forretress; bulky Substitute users such as Dragonite and opposing Jirachi; and status moves such as Thunder Wave and Will-O-Wisp.
Jirachi can be an excellent cleaner against frailer, paralyzed teams once Iron Head resists are eliminated, despite its defensive leaning stats. With bulkier teams, be prepared to play the long game and conserve Iron Head PP. Don’t be too overzealous to flinch down threats such as Swampert and Heatran unless absolutely needed, as not getting the luck can get Jirachi KOed.
Team Options
========
Wish + Protect is perhaps the gatekeeper of DPP OU; it warps builds that cannot deal with it, so teammates should be able to help Jirachi with its answers such as Skarmory, Heatran, Metagross, and offensive Swampert. Jirachi often finds itself alongside Magnezone on bulkier trap teams, a general wall on more defensive teams, or on paralysis spamming defensive teams built around defensive Zapdos and Blissey or Clefable. Choice Scarf Magnezone is one of Wish + Protect Jirachi’s best partners, as it removes Skarmory without Shed Shell with certainty, provides speed control against dangerous foes like Gengar and Infernape, and can potentially trap weakened Steel-types that can threaten Jirachi such as Heatran, Lucario, and opposing Jirachi. Jirachi also is prominent on the Magnezone bait style, where Skarmory is used as a sacrifice for the opposing Magnezone so one’s own Magnezone traps the other one with Hidden Power Ground, freeing up Jirachi from being trapped. Skarmory’s Spikes are suffocating alongside Jirachi, as most of its checks are either Spikes vulnerable or weak to Stealth Rock. Other partners common on this style are partners who can keep up entry hazards, such as Choice Scarf Tyranitar and defensive Rotom-A; strong defensive teammates such as defensive Latias, Milotic, and Clefable; and a bulky endgame sweeper such as Swords Dance + Roost Gliscor, Calm Mind Clefable, and Curse Quagsire.
Jirachi is also a mainstay on defensive teams as a general wall and Wish passer. Some strong teammates include Hippowdon, RestTalk Gyarados, Skarmory, defensive Latias, Forretress, defensive Celebi, Clefable, and Calm Mind + RestTalk Suicune. These Pokemon help shore Jirachi up against Ground- and Fire-types while also appreciating the support Jirachi gives against Dragon-types and Dragon Dance sweepers as well as potential Wish passes to keep them healthy. Forretress is especially synergetic, as Jirachi absorbs its defensive responsibilities, so it can focus on using Rapid Spin and setting up entry hazards.
Jirachi is especially devastating with Knock Off from Clefable and entry hazard support, so using it on this style of team can easily set it up to potentially sweep.
Jirachi also features prominently on more defensive paralysis based teams built around Starmie, defensive Zapdos, Blissey or Clefable, and Breloom. All of these are synergetic partners: Starmie helps spread paralysis, answer Fire-types such as Heatran and Infernape, and can Rapid Spin to remove Spikes. Zapdos provides additional back up against Pokemon Jirachi doesn’t enjoy facing, such as Lum Berry sweepers and powerful Fighting-types such as Machamp and Breloom. Blissey is extremely bulky and can absorb Heatran’s attacks, while Clefable helps spread Knock Off and also can assist against strong special coverage. Both offensive Breloom, especially Swords Dance, and defensive Breloom enjoy paralysis support, take on Ground-types, and are potent stallbreakers for Jirachi. Some other common partners include Machamp, Substitute + Nasty Plot Togekiss, and Bold Clefable should one use Blissey. Magnezone is also a valuable teammate on these styles, and can assist with teammates such as Swampert, Rhyperior, Choice Band Tyranitar, and even Shaymin.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: Protect / Refresh / Ice Punch
item: Leftovers
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi’s Iron Head is an excellent tool to sweep with—with full Attack investment and maximum Speed, it only needs a few flinches to beat down even faster Pokemon like Flygon and Gliscor as well as now 3HKOing Clefable and other fairly bulky threats such as Machamp. Iron Head also makes up for Jirachi’s lack of a physical boosting move. To facilitate Iron Head, Jirachi can spread paralysis with Body Slam. Like Iron Head, the additional investment helps Jirachi 3HKO frail attackers such as offensive Starmie and Infernape. While Jirachi does not have the bulk to survive attacks such as Dragon Dance Gyarados’s and Dragon Dance Dragonite’s boosted Earthquake, Body Slam prevents them from setting up freely. Fire Punch now 2HKOes Scizor and bulkless Magnezone if either hit burns it and 3HKOes maximum HP Jirachi, Bronzong, specially defensive Skarmory, and Metagross after Stealth Rock. Fire Punch’s burn chance can be devastating for foes trying to switch into it, as burn coupled with Iron Head flinching wears down even bulky walls very easily.
Protect maximizes Jirachi’s longevity, as alternating them to restore HP helps make up for its lack of bulk. However, Refresh is a fantastic option to stave off status. As one of the best ways to neutralize Jirachi is to paralyze or burn it with a faster Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Magnezone or Gengar, Refresh helps make Jirachi even harder to stop. Refresh also helps Jirachi spread status to opposing defensive Jirachi, as it can fish for burns and then heal off paralysis with Refresh. Jirachi can forgo the utility move for additional coverage such as Ice Punch and Grass Knot. Ice Punch is another great option to maximize its coverage and give it a 20% chance to freeze the foe. It OHKOes Dragonite and Flygon after Stealth Rock and is Jirachi’s best option against Gliscor, Zapdos, and Latias. Jirachi can also run Grass Knot in the last spot, as it 2HKOes Swampert even with a hindering Special Attack nature.
Set Details
========
A simple EV spread of 252 Attack / 252 Speed with a Jolly nature helps maximize Jirachi’s Iron Head and its coverage moves. Jirachi should always use maximize Speed EVs to at least tie with Flygon, Jirachi, and Zapdos, but can spare some Attack EVs to run bulk, such as 48 HP / 208 Atk / 252 that hits a Leftovers number.
While Leftovers is by far the best option, Jirachi can use some other items, such as Iron Plate to power up Iron Head, Choice Band to have an extremely powerful
Iron Head and coverage moves, Lum Berry to switch into status such as Breloom’s Spore, and Salac Berry paired with Substitute to take advantage of its additional coverage. All of these items help bluff a Choice Scarf set or otherwise mixed set that hold a resistance berry.
Usage Tips
========
Jirachi can come in earlier in the game to spread status, as getting a burn on Skarmory, Metagross, or opposing Jirachi can immediately open up the game. However, other than this, Jirachi typically comes into the game fairly late or on something it needs to revenge kill, such as Lucario or Tyranitar, as it does not have a lot of bulk and can get worn down. On the other hand, it is uniquely excellent at sweeping weakened, statused foes due to Iron Head, as much of the tier that doesn’t resist it are at least 3HKOed. Jirachi is typically played patiently, waiting for its checks to be worn down by entry hazards and weaker attacks so Jirachi needs less flinches to break through them. Keeping Jirachi hidden also has the benefit of scouting the opposing team so it doesn’t get trapped or statused by Magnezone. With Refresh, don’t be afraid to go for extra damage to weaken status inducing threats, as Jirachi can just heal it off and opponents will often be very willing to status Jirachi in exchange for HP on other Pokemon. Coverage moves such as Ice Punch with investment and Grass Knot can be unexpected from Jirachi, so luring in Gliscor, Flygon, and Swampert trying to KO Jirachi can be valuable.
Team Options
========
Jirachi is one of the best Spikes partners in the tier, as they wear down its answers very effectively. It is a staple of the big five style built around Choice Scarf Tyranitar, Clefable, Skarmory, defensive Latias, and a Ground-type such as Hippowdon, Quagsire, specially defensive Gliscor, and Donphan. It is highly effective as a cleaner and Lucario check on these builds. Tyranitar sets sand, appreciates back up taking on Choiced Latias, and Pursuit traps frail Dark-weak foes like Gengar and Starmie that can status Jirachi or otherwise outspeed it and give it trouble. Clefable spreads Knock Off, greatly increasing Jirachi’s effectiveness, and takes on bulkier threats resistant to Iron Head such as Zapdos and Suicune. Skarmory is the best Spiker in the tier. Defensive Latias and the Ground-type give much needed defensive flexibility with Jirachi. Jirachi also works well alongside other offensive Spikes partners, such as Gengar, Swampert, and specially defensive Empoleon. Gengar and Swampert appreciate if Jirachi burns Skarmory, while both provide the residual damage on defensive teams Jirachi enjoys.
Jirachi can also fit with more offensive teammates, especially if it forgoes Leftovers. It can fit alongside Magnezone offenses that lack Knock Off alongside teammates like Dragon Dance Tyranitar, Dragon Dance Dragonite, Choice Specs Latias, and Swords Dance Gliscor, as it enjoys Leftovers Skarmory being eliminated and pressures Shed Shell Skarmory with status and Iron Head flinches. Jirachi can even use a Lum Berry to help these teammates deal with Breloom. Jirachi’s ability to pressure Lucario and Scizor make it a good teammate for other Spikers that can struggle with them such as Roserade and potentially Froslass. Some good teammates for these include Choice Specs Latias, Calm Mind Suicune, offensive Heatran, Dragon Dance Gyarados, and Choice Scarf Rotom-A.
[SET]
name: Offensive Calm Mind (Superachi)
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Psychic / Draco Meteor
move 3: Thunderbolt / Grass Knot
move 4: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Fire / Iron Head
item: Leftovers / Shuca Berry
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Timid / Hasty
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi's useful Steel typing, good Speed and great coverage makes it a perfect candidate for the role of a Calm Mind sweeper. Psychic is Jirachi's strongest option, OHKOing Breloom and 2HKOing Machamp. It also is fantastic at dealing with bulky neutral targets such as Clefable, Flygon, Rotom-A, and Dragonite. Thunderbolt and Grass Knot give Jirachi options to hit Water-Types super effectively. Thunderbolt OHKOes Gyarados, 2HKOes most Skarmory and has a 20% chance to paralyze, while Grass Knot OHKOes Swampert and Quagsire. Grass Knot importantly hits Water-type targets such as Milotic and Suicune harder than Thunderbolt and is the best option for Tyranitar and Hippowdon; however, giving up coverage on Skarmory is a big issue. It also inflicts more damage to Suicune and Milotic. While giving up on a powerful coverage option against Skarmory can be an issue, Grass Knot also carries the benefit of giving a super effective 120 Base Power move for Hippowdon and Tyranitar.
The last slot is typically dedicated to Hidden Power Ground, as Jirachi has no hope to break past Heatran otherwise. After a Calm Mind, it OHKOes offensive versions after Stealth Rock damage
If hitting Steel-types is not necessary, Jirachi can try to circumvent its other shortcomings with Iron Head. Since Jirachi does not have the firepower of other special attackers such as Latias and Heatran, special walls such as Clefable and defensive Latias are common roadblocks. While it does hamper its coverage, Iron Head Calm Mind Jirachi is able threaten these counters with repeated flinches, targeting their lower Defense stat. Draco Meteor is another option to create holes: with a Modest nature and a Special Attack boost, it is able of OHKOing defensive Latias after Stealth Rock and sand. While this also covers other Dragon-types Dragonite and Kingdra, the Special Attack drop of Draco Meteor combined with its poor complementary coverage makes its use situational. Finally, if you are running this Jirachi alongisde Toxic Spikes, Protect is possible to accentuate poison damage on bulky Water-Types and Tyranitar as well as getting an additional rounds of Leftovers recovery.
Although I agree, I really havent seen protect superrachi, it probably should be moved after draco meteor although i agree 100% w the drawbacks of draco over other options. It was used on few teams during the tspikes era of 2021
Set Details
========
Speed and Special Attack are maximized to get the most out of this set's sweeping capabilities, as special Jirachi is not particularly strong and
Leftovers is the item of choice, providing longevity throughout the match. After multiple Calm Minds, Jirachi will be able to heal most of the weaker special attacks thrown at it and can heal off entry hazard damage. However, this Jirachi can also use Shuca Berry to survive opposing Earthquake from Metagross and Dragon Dance users. Holding a berry also comes the the benefit of not revealing the item, thus letting the opponent mistakingly guess that Jirachi is a mixed variant.
Usage Tips
========
Because Jirachi generally lacks power, it struggles to break past bulkier Pokemon; Metagross, Swampert, Tyranitar, Dragonite, opposing Jirachi, Latias, and Clefable are all able to check it if they have not been weakened properly. Therefore, Jirachi should generally be brought out late game unless it needs to check threats such as Lucario, Gyarados, or Skarmory with its Speed and coverage. Once revealed, Jirachi should use Calm Mind on something it threatens out such as Breloom or on bad Choice locks such as Choice Scarf Flygon's Outrage. Jirachi can also set up on some special attackers such as Zapdos, Rotom-A, and Suicune, as it outspeeds them and can boost its Special Defense to check them. As Jirachi is commonly targeted by Trick once it starts setting up, take care to not let it be Choice locked into a bad move such as Calm Mind or Psychic into Tyranitar. Jirachi's versatility also makes it hard to guess what the set is, especially if it doesn't have Leftovers. Take advantage of this to hit targets such as Gyarados with Thunderbolt, Tyranitar with Iron Head after using Calm Mind, Swampert with Grass Knot, or Scizor with Hidden Power Fire.
Team Options
========
Calm Mind Jirachi fits best alongside teammates that can weaken bulkier Pokemon and special walls while also needing something to check Swords Dance Lucario. One of its best partners is Heatran, as Heatran baits in Tyranitar, special walls such as Clefable, Latias, and Blissey and various Ground-types such as Swampert, Flygon, and Hippowdon and hits them hard, burns them in the case of Tyranitar and the Ground-types, or uses Explosion. Other Explosion lures such as Gengar are also effective. Breloom is another great partner, as its Spore provides set up opportunities and it can heavily threaten special walls. Alongside these Pokemon, Tyranitar is an excellent choice, as it can both Pursuit trap Trick users or potentially set up with Dragon Dance and weaken Pokemon such as Hippowdon, Swampert, and Metagross should Jirachi lack the coverage for them. Trick users such as Latias, Rotom-A, and Metagross can also be useful alongside Calm Mind Jirachi, as they can give set up opportunities and limit special walls. Choice Scarf Rotom-A and Latias can also further backstop Jirachi against Dragon Dance sweepers, as it isn't strong enough to stop them at full health, while Trick + Iron Ball Metagross opens up bulky Pokemon such as Zapdos and Rotom-A. Jirachi, especially with Iron Head, can also fit alongside more offensive options such as Dragon Dance Gyarados, Dragon Dance Dragonite, and Machamp, as it is very fast, threatens Skarmory, and enjoys these Pokemon weakening bulkier foes. To emphasize Iron Head, paralysis inducing teammates such as Azelf, Thunder Wave Gyarados, and Uxie also can be nice choices. Uxie can even use Dual Screens to help Jirachi get multiple boosts.
Calm Mind Jirachi also fits well on Spikes offenses as a fast, strong boosting threat. Spikes help weaken foes such as Metagross, Blissey, and Swampert, allowing Jirachi to power through them. Skarmory is the most synergetic Spiker with Jirachi, but Froslass and Roserade can also work. Other good Spikes partners such as Swampert, mixed Flygon, Latias, and Choice Scarf Lucario are good teammates. Draco Meteor Jirachi is an especially great teammates with Swampert, as it can lure in defensive Latias, opening up Swampert.
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Ice Punch / Icy Wind / Thunderbolt (I have seen having both tbolt and grass knot on the mixed set and its probably most likely over the ice coverage move, let me know what you think. However, if were pushing physical investment, better to have it more in set comments) <- OK
move 3: Fire Punch / Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Grass Knot / Thunder / Thunderbolt
item: Shuca Berry / Expert Belt / Leftovers Personally, I have seen Lefties more often than this listing as a wincon for fatter teams. Up to you, but I'd do Shuca / Lefties / Expert and leave Lum and Occa in additional comments. <- Ok. In very recent times, I'd argue offensive mixed Jirachi is more often used on Bulky Offense than on fat, considering this SPL metagame
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Naive / Hasty
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi makes for a fantastic mixed attacker despite its lack of sheer power with its expansive movepool, resilience to passive damage, and excellent Speed. Iron Head provides coverage against Tyranitar and disables more physically frail special walls such as Clefable and Blissey with its 60% flinch chance. The remainder of the set is more flexible, depending on the rest of the team. Ice Punch and Icy Wind take care of the Flying- and Dragon-types; Ice Punch OHKOes Dragonite and Flygon and and 2HKOes Gliscor and offensive Latias. Its 20% freeze chance also give Jirachi a tool in desperate situations. Icy Wind is a fine alternative to put more pressure on more physically bulky Pokemon weak to Ice such as Gliscor. The Speed drop also lets Jirachi hit first with Iron Head and prevents Pokemon such as Agility Empoleon and Dragon Dance Gyarados from setting up on Jirachi with impunity should it lack the coverage. Fire Punch hits Steel-types such as Scizor, Skarmory, Magnezone, Bronzong, and other Jirachi for super effective damage, alongside a 20% burn chance. It notably OKHOes Scizor after Stealth Rock damage and gives Jirachi reasonable odds to break past Skarmory should it burn with Iron Head. Should Heatran be a concern, Hidden Power Ground is an another option to hit it as well as Magnezone, potentially OHKOing bulkless versions after Stealth Rock damage. Grass Knot hits Swampert, Quagsire, and Gastrondon super effectively, 2HKOing them at worst. Grass Knot deals significant damage to both Suicune and Milotic due to its weight. On the other hand, Thunderbolt and Thunder OHKO non Wacan berry Gyarados and 2HKO Starmie and Skarmory.
Mixed attacking Jirachi has several other options worth considering. Psychic with Special Attack investment OHKOes Gengar and Breloom and 2HKOes Machamp. It also 3HKOes RestTalk Rotom, something Jirachi is unable to achieve with its more common moves. Hidden Power Fire hits Metagross, physically defensive Skarmory, and Breloom harder than Fire Punch. However, Jirachi loses the option to burn its opponents and cannot speed tie with mixed Flygon and opposing Jirachi due to the Speed reducing IV required for Hidden Power Fire.
Set Details
========
Mixed attacking Jirachi typically runs close to or absolute maximum Speed EVs to speed tie with other Jirachi and Flygon then invests in one of its offensive stats. However, Jirachi can also opt to lower its Speed investment to hit harder. Useful Speed benchmarks are 220 Speed EVs to outspeed Modest Latias and Gliscor; 176 to outspeed Lucario and Roserade with a positive nature; 148 Speed EVs to outspeed Zapdos and Flygon with a neutral nature, Suicune and Rotom-A and 176 with a neutral nature to outspeed Adamant Lucario and Heatran. Generally, Jirachi should be run a lot of Speed EVs, especially if it has physical coverage moves such as Ice Punch and Fire Punch, to take advantage of Iron Head to break past fast foes such as itself, Flygon, and Zapdos. For more specially oriented Jirachi, alternative EV spreads include 36 Atk / 252 SpA / 220 Speed (I like this spread but what does the extra Attack do specifically (I also assume this is for HP fire)? We could just mention max/max It gives a 96,5% chance to 2HKO ddTar instead of 78%. This is considering that a) Special Jirachi does not gain as much tying with opposing Jirachi compared to its physically oriented sets b) it may not even have an ice move for Naive Mixed Flygon.
(If we mention the first one, does this one need to be mentioned?) Considering 176 Speed is mentionned before, i don't mind removing it
, 116 Attack / 192 SpA / 200 Spe with a Special Attack boosting nature to OHKO offensive Swampert with Grass Knot and Expert Belt. While Jirachi can use both Defense and Special Defense hindering natures, Naive is more common as Jirachi simply isn't bulky enough without investment to be a long term pivot into Latias and keeping its Defense in tact allows it to answer threats such as itself, Gyarados, Tyranitar, Breloom, and Dragonite better. Jirachi has a small chance to be OHKOed by Tyranitar +1 Fire Punch after Stealth Rock with a Defense reducing nature, while using a Naive nature gives a better chance of surviving Dragonite's +1 Fire Punch.
I combined this above, let me know what you think. <- I like it
The most common item Jirachi uses is Shuca Berry, as it lets Jirachi survive Earthquake from various Pokemon such as Dragon Dance Gyarados, Dragon Dance Dragonite, Flygon, Metagross, Hippowdon, and Swampert and hit them hard with the appropriate coverage move. Even with a Defense reducing nature, these Pokemon will fail to OHKO Jirachi with a boosted Earthquake. Another option is Expert Belt, which notably guarantees special coverage moves, such as Hidden Power Ground and Grass Knot, OHKO targets such as Magnezone, Heatran, and Swampert. Leftovers is common to help feign Jirachi doesn't have special coverage moves such as Grass Knot, Thunderbolt, and Hidden Power Ground and gives it the longevity to survive on more defensive teams as a win condition. Lum Berry allows Jirachi to absorb Breloom’s Spore and avoid paralysis from Magnezone and opposing Jirachi. In conjunction with Hidden Power Ground, Occa Berry is a decent item to take Fire-types moves from Heatran and Infernape.
Usage Tips
========
Jirachi has a lot of flexibility and can be brought in at almost any stage of the game. It can lead and hit the foe hard with coverage, come in during the the midgame to threaten targets such as Jirachi and Tyranitar with super effective attacks, or wait until the late game to revenge kill dangerous Pokemon such as Lucario and clean up weakened foes with its Speed. Despite this, it struggles to fulfill the defensive role bulkier sets can, as boosted Dragon-type moves such as Latias's Choice Specs Draco Meteor and Dragonite's Outrage can potentially 2HKO it. Once it hits the field, Jirachi is straightforward to play: strike the foe with the appropriate move.
Especially if Jirachi isn't holding Leftovers, different item choice can dictate how it should be played. Items such as Expert Belt and Occa Berry can unexpectedly break open holes earlier in the game, while Lum Berry and Shuca Berry are valuable tools to be held hidden to cover specific situations. Shuca Berry variants in particular are often part of the team's backbone against setup sweepers and should be kept healthy for the later stages of the game. Take advantage of how Jirachi can often bluff coverage attacks in desperate situations: for example, switching into Swords Dance Scizor can represent Jirachi has Fire Punch or Hidden Power Fire even if it doesn't have it and can force them out.
Team Options
========
I wanted to beef this up, so let me know if i missed anything <- lgtm, but I'd put Bulky Offense support first. Open for discussion.
Mixed Jirachi most often fits on two types of teams: as a late game win condition and fail safe against Swords Dance Lucario for both offensive and stall teams based around Spikes, and as an offensive threat and back up answer to Dragon Dance sweepers on faster teams without Spikes. For both offensive and defensive Spikes based teams, the most common Spiker is Skarmory. Defensive Skarmory can take on Jirachi's defensive roles such as switching into Latias's Draco Meteor, while offensive Skarmory sets can immediately set up entry hazards to wear down Jirachi's answers in range of its coverage moves. Jirachi can even heavily weaken or KO Magnezone trying to trap Skarmory. On more offensive teams, Froslass and Roserade can work as well, but they lack the reliability of Skarmory. On more offensive Spikes based teams, common teammates include offensive Swampert, Choice Specs Latias, Tyranitar, Choice Scarf Lucario, and offensive or Choice Scarf Rotom-A. All of these Pokemon either provide critical defensive utility, take advantage of Spikes themselves, or help keep Spikes up against Rapid Spinners such as Starmie, Donphan, and Forretress. For more defensive Spikes based teams, mixed Jirachi is common on the big 5 style built around Choice Scarf Tyranitar, Skarmory, defensive Latias, Clefable, and either RestTalk Rotom-A or a Ground-type such as Hippowdon, Quagsire, Gliscor, or Donphan. In contrast with other offensive Jirachi sets seen with those Pokemon, this Jirachi provides either a more immediate answer to Skarmory with Thunderbolt instead of burning it with Fire Punch or using its additional coverage to take on threats such as Swampert and Gliscor. More defensive teammates help make up for Jirachi's lack of bulk -- whereas more offensive teams are likely to use Jirachi to take on offensive Water-types such as Calm Mind Suicune, Gyarados, and Starmie, defensive partners such as Latias and Clefable can instead, allowing Jirachi to preserve its health for the late game. These teammates also help Jirachi against difficult opponents such a Rotom-A and Zapdos that Jirachi struggles to beat. Note that using such as frail Jirachi forces these Pokemon into particular sets; for example, Skarmory often should be specially defensive and Latias often needs to have Roar.
On teams without Spikes, Jirachi plays a more supportive role in checking threats such as Dragonite, Swampert, Gyarados, Lucario, and Gliscor with its Speed, item, and coverage. As such, it more likely molds its moveset towards its teammates to cover the holes they may lead to. However, it should be used alongside sturdier checks to Latias and Dragonite such as Metagross. Staples of offensive teams such as mixed or Dragon Dance Dragonite, Gyarados, Azelf, offensive Heatran, Dragon Dance Tyranitar, offensive Empoleon, Swords Dance Lucario, Agility Metagross, and Swords Dance Scizor are all good partners. Dragonite and Dragon Dance Tyranitar appreciate Jirachi heavily weakening Swampert and Hippowdon with Grass Knot; Azelf and Gyarados can potentially spread paralysis for Jirachi to take advantage of with Iron Head; Heatran and Empoleon appreciates back up with Dragon Dance sweepers and Jirachi potentially weakening special walls with Iron Head; and Lucario, Metagross, and Scizor appreciate Jirachi targeting Flying-types such as Gyarados, Zapdos, Gliscor, and Skarmory with super effective coverage. Breloom is another great partner alongside versions without Grass Knot, as it can switch into Ground-types trying to target Jirachi with Earthquake. Gengar is another good option, as it can weaken Heatran, which walls Jirachi without Hidden Power Ground, with Focus Blast so Jirachi can eventually break through.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Fire Punch
move 3: Trick
move 4: Ice Punch / Thunder Punch / U-turn
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
With its base 100 Speed, a resistance to Extreme Speed and the ability to handle every Dragon Dance user, Jirachi is a decent Choice Scarf user. 492 is a desirable Speed tier, outspeeding +2 Dragon Dance Tyranitar and other fast threats such as Gengar and Latias. Iron Head is the main attack of the set, taking advantage of Serene Grace. With Choice Scarf’s Speed boost Jirachi is able to outpace the entire unboosted metagame and use its 60% flinch rate. This combined with status and entry hazards make Choice Scarf Jirachi is able to break throught Steel-type resists once they have been sufficiently weakened.
The remainder of the set is flexible and will mostly depend on the user's needs. Fire Punch is a popular option to hit Steel-types such as Scizor, Metagross, Skarmory and opposing Jirachi. With a 20% chance to burn the opponent, Jirachi can attempt to force progress on bulky pokémon that may stall it out otherwise. In order to revenge kill Gyarados and Dragonite, Thunder Punch and Ice Punch can be also added to set. They also come with the benefit of a 20% chance to inclict paralysis and freeze, respectively. However, these attacks tend to give setup opportunities, which is why Trick and U-turn are other attractive options. Trick makes Jirachi a legitimate threat against stall teams, crippling a wall and gaining valuable Leftovers recovery. U-turn on the other hand, allows the Jirachi user to flee against a pokemon Jirachi can't hurt like Heatran and keep the momentum in his favor throughout the match.
Choice Scarf Jirachi also makes for a suprisingly good lead. With a set of Iron Head, Trick, Stealth Rock and U-turn, Jirachi can choose to either lock the opposing lead onto a Move, attempt to flinch frailer opponents or U-turn to a more appropriate team member.
Set Details
========
Speed and Attack are maximized to make Jirachi as offensively threatening as possible. Jolly nature allows Jirachi to speed tie with Flygon, outspeed +2 Dragon Dance Tyranitar and tie with other Jirachi once the Choice Scarf has been tricked. However engaging in speed ties with Flygon is uncommon and not recommended without Ice Punch, hence the possibility to use an Adamant nature to help Iron Head hit as hard as possible. It is possible to run additional bulk to improve Jirachi's ability to take hits. A spread of 56 HP / 252 Attack / 200 Speed with an Adamant nature is a common spread, oustpeeding Jolly Mamoswine once Choice Scarf has been tricked. When running Thunder Punch, a spread of 168 HP / 140 Atk / 200 Speed with Adamant nature OHKOes bulkless non Wacan Berry Dragon Dance Gyarados, while the speed beats Jolly Mamoswine and most defensive Latias. Similarly, a Fire Punch Jirachi can run a spread of 232 HP / 180 Atk / 96 with a Jolly nature to maximise its usefulness as a bulky pivot. Once Choice Scarf has been tricked, the HP investment reaches a Leftovers number, while the speed reaches 286 to beat Jolly Mamoswine. Ice Punch Jirachi should stick with maximum Speed, as the ability to at least speed tie with Flygon and OHKO it is one of its perks.
Usage Tips
========
As any Choice Scarf user, Jirachi should be brought in to revenge kill the threats it has been tasked to deal with: Gyarados if it carries Thunder Punch, Dragonite if it carries Ice Punch, Fire Punch against Lucario and Iron Head against pokemon that don't resist it. When revealing Jirachi is Scarfed, beware of Magnezone trying to switch in, as Jirachi not locked into Fire Punch stands no chance against a healty Magnezone. Because it is not weak to Choice Scarf Tyranitar's Pursuit, Jirachi can afford to use Trick more aggressively when facing defensive builds. Additionnaly, Jirachi has the bulk to pivot on resisted hits and swing back momentum in its favor with U-turn. A final thing to note with Choice Scarf Jirachi is its potential as a late game cleaner : with sandstorm and entry hazards up, Jirachi is able to break past slower foes such as Choice Scarf Rotom and weakened Steel resists of the opposing team.
Team Options
========
Choice Scarf Jirachi can fit on a wide variety of playstyles, ranging from offense to stall. Substitute users such as Heatran pair well with well this Jirachi, taking advantage of its ability to lock an opponent with Trick. Skarmory, Roserade and rarer options such as Froslass participate in weakening opposing Steel-resists over the course of the game with entry hazards. Since this Jirachi tends to give setup opportunities, pokemon that able to handle powerful offensive threats are appreciated. On offensive teams, Suicune, Swampert and Gyarados all help in that regard thank to their bulk and coverage options. On more defensive builds, Hippowdon, Skarmory and Latias are flexible defensive walls. Because this set does not carry Leftovers, Rapid Spin support from Starmie is a great partner to remove the Spikes that would otherwise annoy Jirachi. Additionnaly, Starmie is able to handle Heatran, a common response to this Jirachi.
[SET]
name: Wish Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Wish
move 3: Psychic / Flash Cannon
move 4: Thunderbolt
item: Leftovers
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Jirachi's immunity to sandstorm and great defensive profile makes it a fine choice for a defensive Calm Minder. With the ability to heal its teammates and resilience to Passive damage, Wish Calm Mind Jirachi is a slow set up providing longevity for its team throughout the game. Its Steel typing is also a boon for its team to take weakened Draco Meteors and Outrages when needed. The combinaison of Wish and Calm Mind is the crux of this set, allowing Jirachi to set up on several threats: walls, weak physical attackers and special attackers lacking super effective coverage will be unable to break past it, barring a critical hit. When strong Earthquake and Fire Blast users aren't not healthy enough anymore to handle it, Jirachi can be a strong option in the later stages of the game, forcing predictible Trick attempts and desperate Explosion from the oponent to neutralize Jirachi, 2 moves it should be weary before attempting a sweep.
Psychic is the STAB of reference, defeating Breloom and Machamp convincingly as well as carrying the benefits of a 20% chance to drop Special Defense. If your team more pressure on Tyranitar and Latias, Flash Cannon is another option. This notably 2HKOes offensive versions of the former after a single Calm Mind, something that Psychic Jirachi cannot claim. Thunderbolt rounds off the set for a decent neutral coverage, and gives Jirachi a way to hit Flying and Water-types super effectively. Provided the team already has solid answers to punish Skarmory attempting to Spike and Gyarados setting up, Hidden Power Ground is a possible option for better coverage against Steel-Types. This notably threatens Heatran, which otherwise can come freely on this Jirachi and force it out repeatedly. This will also help finishing off weakened Tyranitar and Metagross on higher thresholds of health after accumulated chip damage.
Set Details
========
The Speed investment outspeeds Jolly Tyranitar and uninvested base 100s such as Zapdos and opposing defensive Jirachi. HP is maximised, reaching 404 HP. This increases Jirachi's overall bulk and makes it able to recover more than 2 Seismic Toss worth of damage with Wish. This means Jirachi will be able to set on Special Walls such as Blissey, provided status such as Paralysis does not interfere too much. The rest is put in defense, as Jirachi's Special Defense will be already boosted by Calm Mind. With this Investment, Jirachi is capable of strong taking hits in a pinch such as Gyarados' +1 Earthquake, Tyranitar's +1 Earthquake, 2 Breloom Superpowers and retaliate with the appropriate move.
Usage Tips
========
Because of the popularity of super effective coverage to handle Steel-Types, status, Trick and Knock Off, Jirachi should avoid setting up early in the game. During this phase of the game, Jirachi will usually stay back and be used as a Wish support for its team. In order to stay healthy for later, Jirachi will avoid switching into strong attacks such as unweakened Latias' Choice Specs Draco Meteor or Explosion users. If such thing happened repeatedly, Jirachi would often be unable to survive the two turns of Wish and heal back. When using Wish is not necessary, Psychic and Thunderbolt can be used to gradually weaken Jirachi's answers. If need be, Jirachi can sacrifice its chances to sweep and trade damage with opposing Gyarados or Fighting-types. Once it reaches late game, Jirachi can start to look for an attempt at sweeping on a pokemon that can't threaten it. Alternate Wish and Calm Mind to remain healthy while accumulating boosts. Note that it is not always optimal to get to +6, as unnecessary Calm Mind uses only increases the odd of the opponent scoring a critical hit. While this Jirachi has a non negligeable pair of assets, it is handled by popular threats that need to be taken care of beforehand. Jirachi should stay away from Clefable as status and Knock Off damatically decreases its odds of pulling off a sweep. Encore Clefable and Roar Latias are important roadblocks to Wish Calm Mind Jirachi's efficiency as they can reliably prevent it to sweep throughout the game. Finally, Wish Calm Mind Jirachi should generally not attempt to duel unstatused opposing Jirachis, as it loses to offensive Calm Mind sets and risks getting burned and flinched down by physical versions.
Team Options
========
Wish Calm Mind Jirachi fit on defensive builds that appreciates the compression of a win condition and Wish support. The support of Spikes and Toxic Spikes from Skarmory or Roserade helps Jirachi beat its checks in the long run. Toxic Spikes in particular makes the set up process easier against bulky attackers attempting to crit Jirachi. To secure such hazards, the use of a Ghost-type such as Rotom-A is recommended. Rotom electric STAB will also relieve pressure from Jirachi when facing Gyarados. Choice Scarf Tyranitar is a fantastic teammate, able to trap Latias, Clefable to help Jirachi sweeping as well blocking Trick attempts from Rotom-A and Latias directed at Jirachi. Choice Scarf Tyranitar will also contribute to keep hazards on the field when facing Starmie, the most common spinner. Bulky team members lacking reliable recovery such as Swampert or Forretress appreciate Jirachi's Wish support, enabling them to play more freely. Swampert in return will check opposing Tyranitar trying to punish Jirachi and Forretress sets up Spikes throughout the game. Given Wish Calm Mind Jirachi's weakness to Clefable Encore and Roar Latias, a pokémon able to threaten them are greatly appreciated. Heatran is a great choice as its access to Explosion allows to lure both pokemon. Lava Plume Heatran in particular can cripple physical threats with burns, easing Jirachi's condition for setup.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Jirachi's options are nigh limitless, and it is able to make use of most of its movepool. A set consisting of Substitute, Calm Mind, Psychic and Thunderbolt with maximised HP and Speed used to see use on teams based around Toxic Spikes. However, the prominence of Thunder Wave Roar Latias, Encore Clefable and Toxic Spikes immune pokémon have made this set somewhat obsolete. Jirachi has a lot of options to support its team: most notably, it has access to Healing Wish to bring a wounded teammate back to full. Similarly, Jirachi makes for a great support on themed teams. With a set of Iron Head, U-turn, and two supporting options to chose from, Jirachi is able to pivot into opposing Draco Meteor and Outrage and regain momentum for its team. Rain dance is a great option, as Jirachi can punish Tyranitar trying to come in and cancel the summoned weather. A Choice Band set can work due to its obscurity, hiting hard Psychic-types Starmie, Latias and Celebi with U-turn. However, not being able to switch moves on such a versatile pokemon is often detrimental. A set with Toxic, Substitute, Iron Head and Fire Punch can break past bulky opponents Hippowdon, Latias, Suicune and Swampert, who could otherwise stomach Jirachi's hits. Zen Headbutt hits Steel-type resistances such as Rotom-H or Water-types, but suffers from a middling 90% accurary, a lower flinch rate of 40% and overall poor synergistic coverage alongside Iron Head. Jirachi could theorically run a mid game Screens set, but there are better suited pokemon for this role. Jirachi also has access to Doom Desire, Water Pulse and Ancient Power: however these options are never worth the moveslot. Doom Desire suffers from a subpar 85% accuracy and a 2 two-turn delay, while Water Pulse and Ancient Power are too weak to make their unliable secondary effects appealing.
Checks and Counters
===================
Jirachi is a very versatile pokemon and there isn't one safe answer to it. However, each of its sets has individual counters to it.
**Sturdy Steel resists**: Heatran, Zapdos, Metagross and Swampert all take low damage from Iron Head, depleting its PPs and preventing Jirachi from making progress.
**Status**: Jirachi is reliant on its Speed and gradual damage to beat its opponent. Thunder Wave from Magnezone and Latias prevents Jirachi from taking advantage of Iron Head flinches, as a result of its 4 times lowered speed. Burns from Will-O-Wisp Gengar and Rotom-H also puts a dent in physical versions of Jirachi by reducing Iron Head damage and canceling Leftovers recovery.
** Fire-Types**
**Strong Earthquake users**
**Leftovers**
**Magnet Pull**
**Special Walls**
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Oiponabys, 435540 ], [johnnyg2, 57904]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
[/QUOTE]
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