WIP Vaporeon [QC 0/2]

:Vaporeon:

[OVERVIEW]

Vaporeon is an effective Pokémon in LGPE OU due to its great mixed bulk and excellent typing. It has an excellent matchup against Melmetal, can switch into Mega Blastoise quite well, and is one of the few Pokémon other than Steel types that can survive any attack from +1 Mega Alakazam. Unlike other specially bulky Pokémon, Vaporeon also has a great matchup against prominent physical attackers such as Mega Aerodactyl and Ground-types. Offensively, Vaporeon has a great STAB move and typing and enough power to pressure the common recovery users, so it is generally able to make good progress whenever it comes in.

However, Vaporeon is very slow in a tier where speed is all-important, and it gets worn down very quickly by Stealth Rock especially if it tries to switch in and out multiple times. As an offensive special tank, Alolan Muk is often preferred for its ability to hard switch into Mega Alakazam and Gengar due to its defensive typing, as well as Muk’s ability to threaten Mega Venusaur teams. Vaporeon also struggles against Mega Gyarados, which can switch into its typically spammable Surf, outspeed and threaten back with its powerful STAB Crunch. Lastly, while Vaporeon can survive any STAB Thunderbolt or even a +2 Thunderbolt from Nasty Plot Mew after Stealth Rock, the Electric weakness can still be a significant liability.



[SET]
name: Offensive Tank
move 1: Surf
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Yawn
move 4: Ice Beam / Protect / Hyper Beam
item: No Item
nature: Modest


[SET COMMENTS]
Set Information
=========

Surf is Vaporeon’s strongest accurate damaging move, OHKOing every ground type other than Nidoqueen as well as Mega Aerodactyl after Stealth Rock, and generally hitting most of the tier for good damage including upwards of 40% to both Melmetal and Zapdos. Shadow Ball is Vaporeon’s most important coverage move, doing just under 50% to Mew and preventing it from effectively stalling with Roost due to Special Defense drops, as well as doing over 60% to Starmie. Yawn is primarily for Zapdos, either on the switch-in or more often as it uses Roost after switching into Surf, which thereby forces Zapdos to either sacrifice itself in order to remove Vaporeon, or pivot back out and then another Pokémon has to take Vaporeon’s Surf. Yawn has some additional uses such as being the best way of threatening Mega Blastoise, ending the sweep of a +1 Mega Alakazam that is not in range of Vaporeon’s damaging moves, or as a midground against teams with Pokémon such as Mega Gyarados, Mega Venusaur or Chansey that do not mind hard switching into Vaporeon’s Surf. 



Vaporeon’s fourth move is irrelevant in most games, but it can be used to improve specialized matchups or situations. Ice Beam OHKOs Alolan Exeggutor and Dragonite, and can do major damage to Mega Venusaur deterring it from switching in, although Mega Venusaur and Dragonite are sufficiently pressured by Yawn. Ice Beam also does more damage to Zapdos on switch-in, leaving it under 25% after Stealth Rock and therefore ensuring that Zapdos is removed if it does anything other than Roost as Vaporeon clicks Yawn and then pivot out. Protect synergizes with Yawn to prevent opposing Pokémon from KOing Vaporeon right before they fall asleep, but since the primary targets of Yawn are usually forced out regardless Vaporeon may be better off using its strong Surf instead of clicking Protect on a likely switch-in. Protect notably also has the ability to prevent a drowsy Zapdos from pivoting out with U-turn. Lastly, Vaporeon can choose to run Hyper Beam in its fourth moveslot, doing over 30% to Mega Gyarados which for example puts it in range of Mega Alakazam if Gyarados took Stealth Rock damage prior to Mega Evolving. However, Yawn is generally sufficient to threaten Mega Gyarados since Gyarados either has to stay in and accept being asleep or is forced out and something else has to switch into the incoming Vaporeon Surf.



A Modest nature is necessary for Vaporeon to sufficiently pressure Mew and Zapdos, and for maximizing Vaporeon’s damage output in general. Although a Bold nature may look appealing for surviving 2 Earthquakes from Adamant Melmetal or 2 Rock Slides from Jolly Mega Aerodactyl after Stealth Rock, the decrease in offensive pressure against Zapdos and Mew is too important for any nature other than Modest to be a serious consideration the vast majority of the time.



Usage Tips
=========

Vaporeon is generally very flexible matchup wise, so it tends to be best used against whatever your team is weakest to. On specially offensive teams, for example, Vaporeon is a usable switchin to Alolan Muk, as even Adamant Crunch almost never 2hkos after Stealth Rock without a Defense drop, and if Alolan Muk stays in to take 2 Surfs from Vaporeon it will be left in range of anything else. Vaporeon is as good of a switchin to Melmetal’s Double Iron Bash as it gets, avoiding being KOd by Double Iron Bash followed by Earthquake most of the time, and Melmetal usually cannot afford to take Vaporeon’s strong Surf anyways. Against Mega Blastoise teams, Vaporeon effectively prevents Mega Blastoise’s usual ability to make rapid progress, taking less than 20% from any of Blastoise’s attacks, forcing it out with Yawn and then threatening any switchin with Surf; although Vaporeon can sometimes be vulnerable to Dark Pulse flinches.



Vaporeon’s HP is very valuable, and while hard switching it into certain attacks can be considered when your team does not have a better option, it may be preferable to bring Vaporeon in after a KO or on a pivot move, as the higher its HP the more progress it will be able to make offensively. For example, being out of Zapdos’s KO range enables Vaporeon to use Yawn against a Zapdos that has switched into Surf much more safely. Due to Stealth Rock damage as well as Vaporeon’s relative lack of bad matchups, in many cases Vaporeon should never switch out once it comes in, and instead do as much damage to the opposing team as it can until it is KOed. When you are considering bringing Vaporeon in, be attentive to what progress you can expect Vaporeon to achieve in that game state, and evaluate whether that looks to be better or worse than what it could be expected to accomplish later in the game.


Team Options
=========


[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Other Options
=========

Scald, Hydro Pump, Waterfall/Double-Edge lol, Quick Attack, Reflect


Checks and Counters
=========


Mega Gyarados: Mega Gyarados takes very little damage from Vaporeon’s Surf and even less from Shadow Ball, and threatens to outspeed and 2hko with Crunch or Earthquake in return. Mega Gyarados also sometimes runs Rest with Eevee-Starter support, which can prevent Vaporeon from wearing it down long-term and also blocks Yawn to some extent. However, Mega Gyarados does not want to switch into Yawn regardless, and it cannot afford to be slept by Yawn if not being used with Eevee support.



Mega Venusaur: Mega Venusaur takes very little from Vaporeon’s Surf, outspeeds and threatens either Mega Drain or Leech Seed in return. Mega Venusaur does take significant damage from Ice Beam, and cannot afford to be slept by Yawn.



Chansey: Chansey takes very little damage from any viable attack from Vaporeon, and can set up Reflect or spread Thunder Wave while staying healthy with Softboiled.



Electric Types: Jolteon and Zapdos outspeed Vaporeon and threaten to do big damage with Thunderbolt, although they do not OHKO after Stealth Rock. Zapdos can use U-turn to pivot out of Ground-types that switch-in a predicted Thunderbolt, while Jolteon outspeeds and potentially 2HKOs the most common Ground type, Alolan-Dugtrio. Zapdos can sometimes directly switch into Vaporeon’s Surf and then Roost as Vaporeon is forced out by the threat of Thunderbolt, but is very vulnerable to Yawn due to its Stealth Rock weakness. Jolteon takes too much damage from Surf to be a good switch-in in most cases.



Status and Chip Damage: Often the best way to deal with Vaporeon is to attack or status it. Vaporeon can be revenge killed relatively easily by most teams after taking even one strong attack. Alternatively, Vaporeon afflicted with Poison or Burn struggles a lot more to make progress against Mew and Zapdos, and is forced to take additional passive damage whenever it uses Yawn, while Paralyzed Vaporeon no longer outspeeds Melmetal and can fail to accomplish anything if it fully paralyzes on a key turn.




[CREDITS]

- Written by: [[Juoean, 486979]]
- Quality checked by:
- Grammar checked by:
 

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