Noelle
Trying my best
[OVERVIEW]
Palafin is a strong attacker with an exceptionally high Attack stat and good natural bulk. It fits best on priority spam and rain teams that can make use of Palafin's sky-high Attack stat and access to Wave Crash and Jet Punch. Palafin most commonly holds a Choice Band to maximize its damage output. Leftovers, Sitrus Berry, or Mystic Water can be used on Bulk Up sets as well. ) Palafin in its base forme has pitiful stats and needs to be pivoted out immediately. This puts very little immediate pressure on the opponent as a lead. Furthermore, it struggles with a lot of relevant Grass-type Pokemon, such as Amoonguss and Meowscarada. It enjoys being paired with Fire-types such as Arcanine and Chi-Yu that can remove Grass-types for it, as well as Steel-types like Kingambit and Gholdengo, which can switch in on Grass-type attacks and appreciate Palafin removing Ground- and Fire-types.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Jet Punch
move 2: Flip Turn
move 3: Wave Crash
move 4: Ice Punch / Close Combat
item: Choice Band
ability: Zero to Hero
nature:Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Water / Grass
[SET COMMENTS]
*Jet Punch is a strong priority STAB move that lets Palafin deal with fast threats such as Chi-Yu and Volcarona.
*Wave Crash is a strong STAB attack that allows Palafin to hit slower targets such as Ting Lu and Great Tusk for massive damage
*Flip Turn allows you to get Palafin's base forme out of the battle to activate its ability, as well as act as a pivot move to keep up momentum in its Hero forme. Due to Palafin's pitiful base stats, it is very important you pivot it out as soon as possible to activate its ability.
*Ice Punch allows Palafin to hit relevant Grass- and Dragon-types that resist its STAB attacks, such as Amoonguss, Garchomp, and Dragonite. Close Combat allows Palafin to hit the plethora of Dark-types in the tier such as Chien-Pao and Kingambit for super effective damage.
*Choice Band allows Palafin to boost its already sky-high Attack stat even further, notably being able to OHKO Gholdengo with Wave Crash.
*Palafin uses an Adamant nature more commonly for the extra power boost, but Jolly can also be used to outspeed Adamant Palafin and speed tie with Chi-Yu. Alternatively, you can maximize Palafin's HP investment instead of Speed and opt for an Adamant nature to make use of Palafin's good bulk, but you sacrifice the ability to Speed tie with opposing Palafin.
*The Tera type of Water maximizes the damage Palafin can do with your STAB attacks. The Tera type of Grass lets Palafin resist Electric- and Grass-type moves as well as gain an immunity to Spore. This improves Palafin's matchups into Iron Hands and Amoonguss
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Palafin can opt for an item like Leftovers or Sitrus Berry and use a Bulk Up set. This allows Palafin to act as a defensive win condition with Drain Punch for longevity and Jet Punch to remove weakened targets, but this set requires more support from its teammates to work than a Choice Band set would. Palafin can also use Mystic Water and use Protect instead of Flip Turn. This set gives Palafin the ability to switch moves and use Protect but has a noticeably lower damage output than Choice Band.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/noelle.555040/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ninjasnapple.552611/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/big-pichu.586432/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
Palafin is a strong attacker with an exceptionally high Attack stat and good natural bulk. It fits best on priority spam and rain teams that can make use of Palafin's sky-high Attack stat and access to Wave Crash and Jet Punch. Palafin most commonly holds a Choice Band to maximize its damage output. Leftovers, Sitrus Berry, or Mystic Water can be used on Bulk Up sets as well. ) Palafin in its base forme has pitiful stats and needs to be pivoted out immediately. This puts very little immediate pressure on the opponent as a lead. Furthermore, it struggles with a lot of relevant Grass-type Pokemon, such as Amoonguss and Meowscarada. It enjoys being paired with Fire-types such as Arcanine and Chi-Yu that can remove Grass-types for it, as well as Steel-types like Kingambit and Gholdengo, which can switch in on Grass-type attacks and appreciate Palafin removing Ground- and Fire-types.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Jet Punch
move 2: Flip Turn
move 3: Wave Crash
move 4: Ice Punch / Close Combat
item: Choice Band
ability: Zero to Hero
nature:Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Water / Grass
[SET COMMENTS]
*Jet Punch is a strong priority STAB move that lets Palafin deal with fast threats such as Chi-Yu and Volcarona.
*Wave Crash is a strong STAB attack that allows Palafin to hit slower targets such as Ting Lu and Great Tusk for massive damage
*Flip Turn allows you to get Palafin's base forme out of the battle to activate its ability, as well as act as a pivot move to keep up momentum in its Hero forme. Due to Palafin's pitiful base stats, it is very important you pivot it out as soon as possible to activate its ability.
*Ice Punch allows Palafin to hit relevant Grass- and Dragon-types that resist its STAB attacks, such as Amoonguss, Garchomp, and Dragonite. Close Combat allows Palafin to hit the plethora of Dark-types in the tier such as Chien-Pao and Kingambit for super effective damage.
*Choice Band allows Palafin to boost its already sky-high Attack stat even further, notably being able to OHKO Gholdengo with Wave Crash.
*Palafin uses an Adamant nature more commonly for the extra power boost, but Jolly can also be used to outspeed Adamant Palafin and speed tie with Chi-Yu. Alternatively, you can maximize Palafin's HP investment instead of Speed and opt for an Adamant nature to make use of Palafin's good bulk, but you sacrifice the ability to Speed tie with opposing Palafin.
*The Tera type of Water maximizes the damage Palafin can do with your STAB attacks. The Tera type of Grass lets Palafin resist Electric- and Grass-type moves as well as gain an immunity to Spore. This improves Palafin's matchups into Iron Hands and Amoonguss
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Palafin can opt for an item like Leftovers or Sitrus Berry and use a Bulk Up set. This allows Palafin to act as a defensive win condition with Drain Punch for longevity and Jet Punch to remove weakened targets, but this set requires more support from its teammates to work than a Choice Band set would. Palafin can also use Mystic Water and use Protect instead of Flip Turn. This set gives Palafin the ability to switch moves and use Protect but has a noticeably lower damage output than Choice Band.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/noelle.555040/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/ninjasnapple.552611/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/big-pichu.586432/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/autumn.384270/
Last edited: