QC: Misaka Mikoto / Moosical / Izaya
AM QC Checks: iLlama, KevinELF
GP: The Dutch Plumberjack / CryoGyro
Water
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Suicune's great defensive typing, fantastic natural bulk, and ability to easily stall out threatening attacks with Pressure make it a solid defensive Pokemon. Calm Mind allows Suicune to become also be a threatening sweeper. Its decent natural Speed can be invested into to allow it to outpace many threats such as Diggersby and Mega Swampert outside rain. Scald pressures physically offensive threats with burns, making it a great move to use with Calm Mind's Special Defense boosts. With the combination of Calm Mind, Pressure, and excellent bulk, Suicune can beat some of the biggest threats to Water teams, like Ferrothorn, one-on-one. At the same time, Suicune is very reliant on Scald to damage the foe, making any bulky Pokemon that resists it very hard for Suicune to break past. Without access to reliable recovery, Suicune is very quickly worn down by entry hazards and cannot reliably switch into attacks. Suicune is heavily reliant upon thorough team support and has to be used on specific builds to make it a threatening sweeper.
[SET]
name: Substitute + Calm Mind (Water)
move 1: Scald
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 40 SpD / 216 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Scald allows Suicune to deal damage to opposing Pokemon and potentially cripple them with burns, making it harder for physical attackers to break through Suicune. Substitute helps Suicune avoid status conditions and becomes harder for special attackers to break with the help of Calm Mind. Substitute also acts as a buffer to get the most possible turns of Leftovers recovery and helps PP stall more effectively with Pressure. Calm Mind boosts Special Attack and Special Defense, allowing Suicune to not only hit harder but also tank special hits with more ease. Protect can be used to help stall out the opposing Pokemon's PP, scout moves, and allow Suicune to regain some health through Leftovers, which also helps keep Substitute up.
Set Details
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The Speed investment allows Suicune to outpace Pokemon such as Diggersby, Zapdos, Heatran, and Buzzwole. Suicune's HP investment enhances its natural bulk and allows it to form substitutes with 101 HP, which don't break to one Seismic Toss. The Special Defense investment gives +1 Suicune's substitute a good chance of withstanding Volt Switch from common users such as Rotom-W and Lanturn. Leftovers allows Suicune to regain health lost from Substitute and opposing Pokemon's attacks.
Usage Tips
========
Try to avoid switching in Suicune on hazards, as they wear it down very easily due to its lack of reliable recovery. Suicune is best used as a late-game setup sweeper after all of its checks and counters have been taken care of, as they can easily stall out Suicune's Scald. When facing slower Pokemon that can spread status such as Toxic Jirachi and Heatran, it is best to get up a substitute to avoid those status conditions. Try to avoid losing Suicune's Leftovers to Trick or Knock Off, as it depends on Leftovers to stay healthy through the battle. In general, if a strong attacker comes in that is guaranteed to break Suicune's substitute, Suicune needs to use Protect and then decide if it's worth trying to stall out the opposing Pokemon's move with Substitute + Protect. If not, use Scald on the turn Substitute breaks, and then either use Protect or switch out if the extra Pressure turn doesn't matter or Suicune doesn't need additional Leftovers recovery. Suicune should use Protect as much as possible to regain health from Leftovers to help its longevity. Protect should not be used recklessly, because using up its PP makes Suicune less effective at pressuring opposing Pokemon. Calm Mind is most easily and best set up behind a substitute.
Team Options
========
Toxapex provides Suicune with Toxic Spikes, making Suicune's job of sweeping late-game easier. Toxapex also can check set up sweepers such as Volcarona with Haze. Keldeo is a tremendous help to Suicune, as it can help break through some of the toughest Suicune checks such as Ferrothorn as well as Water-immune Pokemon such as Cradily, Seismitoad, and Mantine by using Secret Sword and Hidden Power Electric. Greninja is a great Choice Scarf user that can take care of some key Fairy- and Grass-type threats such as Tapu Bulu and Tapu Koko with Gunk Shot, and with a Life Orb, it can 2HKO Ferrothorn with Hidden Power Fire without locking itself into a weak attack. Mantine offers hazard control for Suicune, which is important because Suicune's lack of reliable recovery means it can easily be worn down by residual damage. Mantine also acts as a buffer to Grass-types, a means to prevent setup through Haze, and a way to break down opposing walls with Toxic. Mega Swampert and Gastrodon provide a key Electric-type immunity for Suicune and can remove Electric-type Pokemon such as Tapu Koko. Mega Swampert can also set up Stealth Rock, which wears down Suicune's checks each time they switch in. Mega Swampert and Gastrodon also provide a means of switching into Trick users, as Gastrodon's Sticky Hold keeps it from losing its item and Mega Stones can't be removed. Dragon Dance Gyarados provides a way to break past annoying Grass- and Poison-type Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur with Supersonic Skystrike and Toxapex with +1 Earthquake. Azumarill provides a nice Grass immunity for Suicune. Empoleon can set up Stealth Rock for Suicune while also clearing hazards with Defog and phazing setup sweepers with Roar. Mega Sharpedo can take care of many bulky Pokemon that can give Suicune trouble such as Mantine and Slowbro with Crunch and weakened Mega Venusaur and Toxapex with Psychic Fangs, and its access to Speed Boost Mega Evolving can help it outspeed and OHKO fast threats such as Choice Scarf Victini. Tentacruel is an option over Toxapex for providing the team with Toxic Spikes; unlike Toxapex, Tentacruel can clear hazards off the field with Rapid Spin, but it lacks the recovery that Toxapex gets. Lanturn provides a nice Electric-type immunity for Suicune and can clear away status with Heal Bell.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Water
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Rest + Sleep Talk can be used over Substitute + Protect, to fully recover Suicune's HP; however, it requires Suicune to choose the right attacks with Sleep Talk, and can leave it setup bait. This also shifts the focus of Suicune from being a PP staller to a generally bulky setup sweeper. It's also pretty ineffective because Haze and phazing are fairly common. Toxic can be used over Calm Mind, which allows Suicune to break past Pokemon such as Mantine and Cradily; however, then it loses any offensive presence.
Checks and Counters
===================
Water
--------
**Grass-types**: Grass-types resist Suicune's Scald, making bulky ones very hard for Suicune to break past. Tapu Bulu deserves a special mention, as it not only boosts the power of its Grass-type attacks with Grassy Terrain but also OHKOes Suicune with Wood Hammer.
**Electric-types**: Electric-types can easily break through Suicune with their powerful STAB attacks. Tapu Koko deserves a special mention, as it sets up Electric Terrain to boost its Electric-type STAB attacks.
**Stallbreakers**: Taunt locks Suicune into Scald, which only is effectively spammed when Suicune is fully set up; Pokemon such as Cobalion can leave it easier for teammates such as Keldeo to deal with. Suicune is also vulnerable to Encore, as it mainly uses its passive and setup moves until it's ready to spam Scald. Mega Lopunny can lock Suicune into using a setup move such as Calm Mind and exploit that by spamming Power-Up Punch and proceeding to easily OHKO Suicune and its teammates.
**Bulky Water-types**: Suicune's way of cleaning through teams is Scald; however, bulky Water-types such as Toxapex can easily take a boosted Scald and recover off damage done by Suicune or remove its boosts with Haze. Empoleon can also tank a boosted Scald and force Suicune off the field with Roar, making it lose all of its stat boosts and possibly take more chip damage from entry hazards.
**Entry Hazards** When many entry hazards have been set, such as a few layers of Spikes and Stealth Rock, Suicune has a hard time being brought into play due to its only form of recovery being Leftovers. Suicune does not appreciate Toxic Spikes either, as the constant chip cancels out its Leftovers recovery.
**Knock Off and Trick**: Suicune relies on Leftovers to gain back health, as it has no access to recovery moves, making it a lot easier to chip down. Trick takes away Suicune's Leftovers and usually replaces it with a Choice item, making Suicune near useless.
**Water-immune Pokemon**: Suicune relies on Scald to do damage, making any Water-immune Pokemon impossible to break past. Pokemon such as Cradily and Mantine can also badly poison Suicune, severely reducing its time on the field. However, Suicune can take on Water-immune Pokemon one-on-one due to Pressure, Calm Mind, and Protect, making them not the most reliable Suicune checks.
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