Mega Absol (QC 1/3)

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[OVERVIEW]
  • Mega Absol is one of the best offensive Dark-types in the tier because of its fantastic offensive stats and movepool.
  • Mega Absol is very hard to wall or check offensively, as its powerful coverage options, priority in Sucker Punch, and the ability to setup makes it threatening to both offensive and defensive teams.
  • Mega Absol's access to STAB Pursuit and Knock Off gives it a bit of team utility, allowing to be a decent offensive check to the likes of Latias, Celebi, and Slowbro.
  • Magic Bounce is a solid ability that bounces back status ailments such as Thunder Wave and Will-O-Wisp, and it even bounces back entry hazards.
  • Mega Absol's pathetic defensive stats and bad defensive typing means it's unable to take any neutral hit and even some resisted attacks.
  • Mega Absol suffers from pretty bad four moveslot syndrome, meaning it's unable to run all its great utility moves coverage options at once.
  • Compounding Mega Absol's terrible bulk is its mediocre defensive typing that gives it weaknesses to common moves such as Focus Blast, Superpower, and U-turn.
  • Mega Absol faces heavy competition from other Mega Evolutions such as Mega Beedrill, which is stronger, faster, and has access to STAB U-turn to keep up momentum, as well as Mega Aerodactyl, which is also faster and has a similarly good movepool.
[SET]
name: All Out Attacker
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Fire Blast / Pursuit
move 4: Superpower / Pursuit
item: Absolite
ability: Justified
nature: Naive / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

  • Knock Off is a strong STAB move that removes items such as Togekiss's Leftovers and Amoonguss's Black Sludge.
  • Sucker Punch is used to pick off faster threats such as Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Pidgeot, and Mega Beedrill, as well as to avoid the speed tie vs Raikou.
  • Fire Blast is the main option in the third slot, as it is a guaranteed OHKO on almost every Scizor variant and deals significant damage to Klefki, Cobalion, and Mega Steelix.
  • Superpower deals a lot of damage to Pokemon such as Krookodile, Terrakion, and Hydreigon, and is a generally strong move to use against neutral threats.
  • Pursuit can be used in either slot 3 or 4, as it can allow Absol to trap Psychic-types such as Celebi and Latias.
Set Details
========

  • A standard offensive spread of Max Speed and Attack allows Absol to hit as hard and as fast as possible.
  • Absolite is needed to let it Mega Evolve.
  • Absol's only useful pre-mega ability is Justified, which gives it an Attack boost when it's hit by a Dark-type move.
  • If running Fire Blast, a Naive nature is preferred to not lower its damage output, but a Jolly nature should be used if running a purely physical set.

Usage Tips
========

  • Mega Absol's awful bulk means it struggles to take any hit, so try not to bring it in directly on an attack.
  • If you're running Pursuit to trap Psychic-types, be wary that Pursuit isn't a guaranteed OHKO on most of them, so a lot of the time the safest move to use is Knock Off.
  • Be very wary of common Choice Scarf users such as Krookodile, Hydreigon, and Latias. If these Pokemon are brought out after Mega Absol has fainted a foe, it's pretty safe to assume that they're using a Choice Scarf, as they take massive damage from Superpower and, in Latias's case, Sucker Punch.
  • Mega Absol can bounce back entry hazards with Magic Bounce, and as such it can be brought in against passive entry hazard setters such as Forretress and Blissey.
  • Knock Off is a really spammable move in the early game and late game because of its damage output and the ability to remove items such as Togekiss's Leftovers and Primarina's Choice Specs, so it's often a good move to go for.

Team Options
========

  • If running Pursuit, Fighting-types make for good teammates, as they appreciate Mega Absol being able to remove or severely weaken Latias and Celebi.
    Mega Absol needs Fighting-type checks on its team, so Pokemon such as Latias, Celebi, and Togekiss make for good teammates.
  • Fairy-type checks are also essential, because they stop Mega Absol pretty easily. Cobalion, Nidoking, and Amoonguss are considerable options; Cobalion can actually give Mega Absol some momentum with Volt Switch.
  • Mega Absol greatly appreciates U-turn and Volt Switch users so it can be brought in safely. A couple of good examples are Scizor, Cobalion, and Infernape.
  • Mega Absol appreciates special attackers that can deal with physical walls such as Alomomola and Hippowdon, so Pokemon such as Celebi, Volcanion, and Primarina make for good teammates.
  • Entry hazard setters can turn potential 3HKOes into 2HKOes for Mega Absol on Pokemon such as Cobalion; Klefki and Froslass can set up Spikes, while Hippowdon and Terrakion can set up Stealth Rock.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Superpower
item: Absolite
ability: Justified
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

  • Swords Dance is used to boost Absol's Attack stat by 2 stages, turning it into a dangerous late game cleaner and wallbreaker.
  • Knock Off is a consistent STAB move that removes items.
  • Sucker Punch is used to clean up weakened offensive teams, as well as to bypass Choice Scarf users and faster attackers such as Crobat, Talonflame, and Mega Aerodactyl.
  • Superpower is the main option in the fourth slot to hit Terrakion, Hydreigon, Cobalion, and Mega Steelix extremely hard. Unboosted, it almost always OHKOes Terrakion and Hydreigon, and at +2 it OHKOes Cobalion but can't OHKO Mega Steelix.
  • Other moves like Play Rough and Iron Tail deserve a mention, but they don't really hit much in the current meta.

Set Details
========

  • A standard offensive spread of Max Attack and Max Speed makes Absol as powerful and as fast as possible. 4 SpD EVs ensure that Porygon2 always gets an Attack boost from Download.
  • Absolite is needed to make Absol Mega Evolve.
  • Justified is the only useful ability Absol gets in its Pre-Mega form, which gives it an Attack boost on Dark-type moves.

Usage Tips
========

  • Absol shouldn't be brought directly in on any offensive Pokemon, and even some defensive Pokemon, because of its extremely poor bulk.
  • Swords Dance is often not going to be used too often against offensive teams, as its mediocre defensive typing and low bulk means it struggles to survive any hits. Because of this, it's often just better to attack rather than set up. However, you can use Swords Dance against Pokemon that you check, such as Celebi and Slowbro.
  • On the contrary, Swords Dance should be used against defensive teams once Pokemon such as Hippowdon and Togekiss have been weakened.
  • After Mega Evolving, Absol can be used to switch into passive entry hazard setters such as Forretress and Blissey to bounce back Stealth Rock and Spikes. Be wary of Forretress's Gyro Ball, which can 2HKO on the switch.

Team Options
========

  • Fighting-types pair well with Mega Absol. Mixed Infernape is probably the best Fighting-type you can pair with Mega Absol because it can lure in Mega Absol's defensive counters, such as Hippowdon and Suicune, and 2HKO them with Grass Knot.
  • Fighting-type checks like Starmie and Latias are essential for Mega Absol, as Fighting-types can threaten Mega Absol with a super effective STAB move.
  • Similarly, Fairy-type checks like Cobalion and Klefki are also appreciated; Klefki can set up Spikes for Mega Absol, while Cobalion can give it momentum with Volt Switch.
  • Mega Absol appreciates defensive backbones to make up for its lack of defensive synergy, so Pokemon such as Amoonguss, Latias, and Scizor make for good teammates. Scizor in particular can check Fairy-types such as Togekiss and Sylveon.
  • Mega Absol appreciates entry hazard setters to wear down defensive Pokemon. Hippowdon and Gliscor are pretty consistent Stealth Rock setters. Offensive Stealth Rock setters such as Azelf and Terrakion are also considerable options.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

  • Ice Beam hits Gliscor for a massive amount of damage and also hits Hippowdon harder than any other move, but Mega Absol generally prefers the coverage gained by Superpower or the utility provided by Pursuit.
  • Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers like Krookodile but is hard to fit on any set.
  • Play Rough hits Fighting-types such as Hawlucha harder than any other move but doesn't hit much in the current metagame.
  • Iron Tail seems, at first, like an appealing option, but Fairy-types are rather rare in UU and it only really hits Togekiss, which hates its item being knocked off.
  • Mega Absol's other random coverage moves such as Megahorn, Zen Headbutt, and Stone Edge aren't really worth running because its other moves already hit most of its targets anyways.

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

**Faster Attackers**: Common Choice Scarf users such as Krookodile and Hydreigon resist Sucker Punch; Hydreigon can OHKO with Draco Meteor, while Krookodile only needs a small amount of prior damage to OHKO with Earthquake. Other naturally faster Pokemon such as Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Pidgeot can tank one Sucker Punch and OHKO back with Stone Edge or Hurricane respectively. Scizor isn't faster than Mega Absol but can do extreme damage to Mega Absol with a Life Orb or Choice Band boosted Bullet Punch, securing the OHKO with little prior damage.

**Fighting-types**: Infernape is able to OHKO Mega Absol almost always with Mach Punch, and it's secured with minimal prior damage. Cobalion is capable of taking one unboosted Superpower or Fire Blast and can OHKO back with Close Combat, and also gains an Attack boost from Knock Off. Hawlucha can set up a Swords Dance and live any hit and, with the unburden boost from Sitrus Berry, can proceed to sweep Mega Absol's team. The only way Terrakion beats Mega Absol is if Mega Absol gets a very low roll with Superpower or if it revenge kills it with Choice Scarf, but Choice Scarf sets can't switch into Knock Off because Terrakion is then outsped and OHKOed by Superpower.

**Fairy-types**: While relatively rare, Fairy-types are decent at dealing with Mega Absol. Togekiss can comfortably take any attack and use Mega Absol as setup fodder with Nasty Plot, but has to be wary of the rare Iron Tail. Sylveon is a similar case, being able to OHKO Mega Absol with Hyper Voice and not taking much from any move besides Iron Tail.

**Physically Defensive Pokemon**: Hippowdon completely walls most Mega Absol sets, not even taking much from even +2 Knock Off and being able to recover off any damage done with Slack Off while 2HKOing with Earthquake. Gliscor can wall Mega Absol decently well and can recover off damage with Poison Heal, and, if already poisoned, doesn't mind Knock Off either. Suicune can deal with non-Swords Dance sets very well and fish for Scald burns, but it doesn't like +2 Knock Off. Quagsire is also a pretty safe Mega Absol counter, as Unaware ignores Swords Dance boosts and it's bulky enough to switch into it repeatedly.
 
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I need a little bit of input on the All Out Attacker set. Iron tail only really hits 1 relevant mon, Togekiss (since Clefable was dropped and Sylveon's not too common) so should I be mentioning it? Also, I considered giving Play Rough a dash but it's not as relevant now that Keldeo's gone and Superpower already hits most Fighting-types hard anyways.
 

Hilomilo

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Unofficial check - this does not count for 1/3

Overview
* I'd give a different example of an offensive threat Mega Absol can check than Chandelure (it's kinda meh in the current meta), so maybe replace it with something like Jellicent or Slowbro.
* Replace your Mega Swampert example.
* Say here that Mega Absol faces a lot of competition from other Dark-types, and give examples of said Dark-types and elaborate on why they're better in certain situations (Weavile being the main one to mention here)
* I'd also say here that Mega Absol's horrible defensive typing leaves it vulnerable to common priority attacks (give examples) and with weakness to a lot of common attack types.

Set: All-out Attacker

Moves
* Remove Buzzwole mentions.
* Give some examples of critical items Knock Off can remove (Amoonguss's Black Sludge and Togekiss's Leftovers come to mind).
* Mention Pursuit after Superpower in this section, since it's slashed after it on the main set.

Usage Tips
* Specify that Knock Off is best to spam in the early game in order to weaken opposing foes for later on in the match. Also remove the Conkeldurr mention.
* Talk about how to effectively utilize Pursuit if it's being run (make sure to give examples of good targets of the move)
* I'd say here to be wary of Pokemon that may be wielding a Choice Scarf, like Latias, Hydreigon, and Krook. Say that against threats like Latias, Mega Absol should go the safe route and use Sucker Punch, though against Hydreigon and Krook it's better to switch out if the player is under the impression that they have Choice Scarves equipped. (also maybe elaborate on how exactly to tell if a foe could be using choice scarf)

Team Options
* Replace the Xurkitree example, as it's unlikely to stay legal in these coming weeks.
* 'can turn potential 3HKOes into 2HKOes for Mega Absol' - give some examples of KOs Absol can secure with entry hazards set.
* Replace your Chesnaught example with Froslass, which is usually a more viable example of a mon that can set spikes.
* Fairy-type checks seem pretty essential to mention here considering that little stops stuff like Sylveon and Togekiss from dealing with Absol pretty easily. Give good examples of Fairy-type checks and be sure to elaborate on how exactly they can be useful to it as teammates.
* Fighting-type checks also seem quite important to mention here since most have ways of severely damaging Absol regardless of being outsped. Make sure your examples you give are relevant and can actually do a good job checking the tier's common Fighting-types.

Set: Swords Dance

Moves
* In your Knock Off line, give some examples of items that it can remove from typical switch-ins.
* Give some different examples of faster Pokemon in your Sucker Punch line, only since they're the same as from the last set. Talonflame and Crobat both work as examples.
* At this point I think you can remove the Play Rough mention from both the set and this section. Its two main targets are out of the tier, and Togekiss doesn't appreciate a +2 Knock Off after rocks anyway. Move it to Other Options.

Usage Tips
* In your line about using Swords Dance against offensive teams, I think that you should say that Mega Absol should try grabbing an opportunity to set up if it forces out an opposing Pokemon. Be sure to give some examples of Pokemon that will likely switch out of Mega Absol in saying this.

Team Options
* Remove Conkeldurr and Buzzwole mentions
* Replace Infernape with Azelf as an example of an offensive entry hazard setter, as Infernape rarely sets rocks this gen.
* Add Fairy- and Fighting-type checks here for the same reason as the last section.

Other Options
* Be sure to add Play Rough here.
* I also think Will-O-Wisp is a decent option to add here. It allows Mega Absol to cripple physically offensive Pokemon (be sure to give some examples) but is generally too hard to find room fork
* I also don't think it'd be a bad idea to reference some of Mega Absol's other coverage options in Megahorn, Rock Slide, and Zen Headbutt, but say that these generally target Pokemon that are already hit hard enough by the attacks listed on Absol's sets.

Checks and Counters
* Change the first section's name to "Faster Attackers and Priority" given that you have Bullet Punch here. I also think that due to that, mentioning Infernape's Mach Punch wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
* Replace both Conkeldurr and Buzzwole mentions in the Fighting-type section. I personally think it's pretty important to mention both Cobalion and Terrakion, as both receive a boost in Attack from Mega Absol's STAB attacks, which allows them to easily immediately threaten it.

Overall this was really well written! :) hope this helps
 

Eyan

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Sorry it took so long that you had to drop it man. Locking and moving.
 
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