Pelipper (Update)

Well, Pelipper is quite forgotten Pokemon in UU, as it has mediocre BST, however it has quite unique niche, which I'm going to mention in this analysis skeleton. Mostly Pelipper has good physical bulk, passable special attack, interesting defensive typing and mostly access to Roost, which makes it different then Milotic (Flying provides few usefull resistances), Mantine (which must use RestTalk, quite unreliable method to regenerate HP) and Slowbro (while Slowbro is bulkier, his Physic typing unfortunately makes it weak against physical attackers like Absol, Scyther or Drapion, against which Pelipper may fight in right circumstances. It's also Leafeon and Mix Blaziken weak, while Pelipper may handle them). Currently I'm testing one offensive set with Agility, but I won't mention it yet here, as I'm not sure of results yet.

What I’ve done with this analysis:
- Changed EVs in Tank set and renamed it to Physical Wall, as it really needs as much bulk as possible in much harder hitting new UU metagame then old UU one (as analysis is that OLD).
- Removed Choice Specs. In general too low Special Attack and SR weakness makes it IMO not good enough. Other Options is good enough for it.
- Added Team Options and Overview.
- Changed a bit few options in Other Options.

QC Accepted: 0/2
QC Rejected: 0/2

---------------------------



[Overview]
- Passable HP and good physical Defense stats make Pelipper surprisingly decent physical wall with good resistances to back it up. Also it's worth to mention that electric attacks are not as popular like in OU tier, making Pelipper much less vulnerable to this type of attacks.
- Solid enough movepool and special attack to do his job with access to Roost, STAB Surf and Air Slash (which in UU it's only resisted by Lanturn), Agility and other few usable options.
- Pelipper isn't popular in UU because of few reasons - crippling SR weakness, slow speed, popularity of Milotic and Slowbro and weak special defense. However it has few advantages over them, especially if you can keep Stealth Rock out of battlefield. For first, Pelipper handles few Pokemon, which Milotic and Slowbro can't handle, if your team really need it. Those examples are Scyther, which easily beat both Milotic and Slowbro, especially with Swords Dance under his belt and all versions of Feraligatr, even Swords Dance ones, which Milotic has troubles to take on directly. Also Pelipper has rare ability to check both Mixed and Physical Blazikens without Electric attacks, while Milotic and Slowbro struggles against certain versions on it. However Stealth Rock must be out of field to do it. And for second - Pelipper still checks similar targets to those two, making it more usable then niche pokemon for few unique targets like Arcanine, Leafeon and many fighting types like Primeape, Hitmonlee of Hitmontop, however it must be wary of few attacks, which they may have like ThunderFang on Arcanine, ThunderPunch on Blaziken or Stone Edge on Fighting-types. In other words at first Slowbro and Milotic may outclass it, however Pelipper thanks to his a bit different resistances handles a bit different targets, while keeping ability to check similar pokemon, which may be good reason to include it in your team in place of those two if you want to counter different certain targets, while not loosing against Pokemon, which Slowbro and Milotic handle too.

[SET]
name: Physical Wall
move 1: Surf
move 2: Air Slash / Hidden Power Grass
move 3: Roost
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Keen Eye
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP/ 236 Def / 20 Spe

Why this set deserves to be on-site:
- Passable HP stats, along with good Physical Defense and access to Roost allow Pelipper to be a good physicall wall.
- Counters/checks at once few physical attackers (and in some cases mixed attackers) without access to super effective moves like Leafeon (without SR), Offensive Arcanine, Blaziken, Azumarill, Feraligatr, Scyther and most fighting types like Hitmonlee, Primeape or Hitmontop. Just watch out on electric attacks and extremely strong Rock type attacks and Pelipper is fine. This set works best on stall or semi-stall teams.

- Additional Comments:
- 20 Speed EVs allows Pelipper to outspeed Minimum Speed Lanturn. While you can't stay in anyway, but thanks to this you may finish it when it's really low on health or when you're ready to sacrifice Pelipper and Toxic it, crippling Lanturn for the rest of the match.
- HP Electric allows you to break substitutes against pokemon like Feraligatr, Poliwrath and mostly Azumarill, which otherwise would be impossible to break without investing many EVs in Special Attack. Also without HP Electric you can't counter mentioned earlier Azumarill as it hits too hard with neutral Focus Punch dealing 44.14%- 52.16% damage while you Roost and in this situation you must be able to break his Substitute.
- Surf + Air Slash great coverage, which only Lanturn and Shedinja resist in UU.
- Toxic is good option to cripple his counters, mostly counter number one Lanturn and counter number two Rotom, if it lacks Substitute/RestTalk.
- Posting damage calculations to show how Pelipper takes some hits. It's quite important as not many players know how Pelipper do it.
- There are few Pokemon, which Pelippers user may want to outspeed. 56 Spe EVs are enough to outspeed Max Speed Adamant Rhyperior and you may invest 136 Spe EVs to outspeed Adamant Max Speed Aggron.

Teammates and Counters:
- Chansey is probably best friend for Pelipper. It takes any special hit directed on Pelipper while it easily takes on her fighting weakness. Registeel is also good choice as they cover each other weaknesses almost perfectly. It's also worth to mention Clefable if you look for more offensive walling alternative then Chansey. Venusaur has almost as good synergy as Registeel, especially Specially Defensive one.
- Rapid Spin is required, as Pelipper hate taking 25% on switch from Stealth Rock. Donphan and Sandslash are best choices here. Sandlash is more offensive, while Donphan defensive one. Both of them resists Rock and Electric type attacks, while Pelipper may handle their weaknesses except really powerfull grass attacks like Leaf Storm. Hitmontop is also decent idea with his Rock resistance.

- Lanturn is counter number one. It laughs on any move Pelipper may dish out except Toxic and annihilate it with STAB Thunderbolt. Also bulky grass and electric types like Specially Defensive Venusaur and Tangrowth, Ampharos and Luxray easily outdamage Pelipper with STAB Special Grass and Electric Attacks. Milotic with HP Electric also handles this Pelipper perfectly, while Toxic may activate Marvel Scale boost, making Milotic even harder to take down.
- Rotom is counter number two, as it easily resists Air Slash, takes small damage from Surf and RestTalk/Substitute versions don't care about Toxic.
- Status is huge problem for this Pelipper, mainly Toxic, so pokemon like Chansey, Clefable, Registeel and Venusaur work well in absorbing this crippling status.


Team Options:
- Dugtrio easily eliminates Lanturn, while it resists both Electric and Rock attacks. It also may eliminate Chansey and Registeel, which walls Pelipper without problem.
- Donphan is worth mention not only for Rapid Spin, but also for countering Rhyperior and Aggron, which Pelipper can't handle.
- Nidoqueen is also good idea with her Rock and Electric resistances, while having ability to put Toxic Spikes on field, making Pelippers job in walling certain threats much easier.
- Blaziken and Arcanine really appreciate Pelippers help in handling some of their checks, mostly Azumarill, and if Pelipper uses Toxic on them, those two may be able to break through some of their counters. In similar fashion Absol may appreciate pokemon like Hitmontop out of his way.

Other Options:
- It's possible to use physical moves like Aerial Ace, Seed Bomb, Gunk Shot, or Air Cutter, but they're too weak to use them well with Pelipper's pitiful 50 base Attack.
- Shock Wave is an option, if you have troubles with breeding corrects IVs, however it'a bit too weak to break substitutes of Azumarill and Feraligatr, which is bad news.
- Agility may be usable with Pelipper's passable Special Attack and good STAB combination in Surf/Hydro Pump + Air Slash, however it lacks power to really decimate teams (but this is set that I'm testing right now as a CLEANER, so I may remove Agility from here).
- Knock Off is great move for removing items from his counters on switch, however Pelipper doesn't have enough moveslots to find a place for it.
- Specs set is possible, however SR weakness limits his switches on battlefield, while 85 Special Attack isn't that great to make it really usable.
- Aqua Ring is an option, however problems with free moveslots and not that great utility makes it quite weak choice.
- Ice Beam is decent option, however Air Slash hits the same targets for SE damage, while thanks to having STAB dealing in most cases higher damage.
- Stockpile is interesting idea, however Pelipper's special defense is too weak even after boost, which makes it much less viable.
- Supersonic for confusion.
- Tailwind for helping boosting partners and Pelipper's speed, however if you switch out, it leave only 1 turn for other pokemon to do something, which makes it poor option. Tailwind may have some uses in doubles though.
 

Oglemi

Borf
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I think Rotom deserves a mention of at least counter number 2 to anything Pelipper is going to do.

In the overview you have to mention why no one uses Pelipper, such as the fact that Milotic and Slowbro exist, the SR weakness, same typing as Mantine without the ability to take an Electric attack, and that he's slow.

I think you should really sell how good Pelipper is at stopping any Scyther, or Feraligatr in their tracks. However, Pelipper really has to be wary of Thunder Fang from Arcanine, Thunder Punch from Blaziken, and Stone Edge from any of the Fighting-types of UU.

Remember, it's Rock-type attacks, not Stone-type.
 
Curse you, i was planning to do the Pelipper update >_>


About offensive: i tested it, and it does reasonably well thanks to it's nice typing.
This is the one i tested:

Pelipper @ Life Orb
EVs: 44 HP/ 252 SpA/ 212 speed
Nature: Modest

-Hydro Pump/Surf
-Air Slash
-HP Grass
-Roost

With 212 speed EVs, Pelipper outspeeds Jolly Aggron Aggron. The rest goes to HP. Max SpA is mandatory.

You can also use 120 HP/ 252 SpA/ 136 Spe with Modest nature to outspeed Adamant Aggron and get some extra bulk.

More testing is necessary, of course.
 
I think Rotom deserves a mention of at least counter number 2 to anything Pelipper is going to do.
True, I forgot about Rotom, which of course counters Pelipper without problems. Added him to Counters.

In the overview you have to mention why no one uses Pelipper, such as the fact that Milotic and Slowbro exist, the SR weakness, same typing as Mantine without the ability to take an Electric attack, and that he's slow.
Fixed overview and mentioned your points. I think right now it looks ok.

Remember, it's Rock-type attacks, not Stone-type.
I know x_X. To be honest I don't know why I wrote in some places Stone instead of Rock attacks. Anyway, I fixed this too.

Thanks for your comment, it helped alot ;).

Pelipper @ Life Orb
EVs: 44 HP/ 252 SpA/ 212 speed
Nature: Modest

-Hydro Pump/Surf
-Air Slash
-HP Grass
-Roost

With 136 speed EVs, Pelipper outspeeds Jolly Aggron Aggron. The rest goes to HP. Max SpA is mandatory.

You can also use 120 HP/ 252 SpA/ 136 Spe with Modest nature to outspeed Adamant Aggron and get some extra bulk.

More testing is necessary, of course.
I even use identical EVs with 212 Speed EVs ;). Anyway, Pelipper isn't bad, however it really needs entry hazards support, especially Spikes to make it truly work. But I may say the same about similar Agility/Rock Polish users, while they hit harder then Pelipper. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's a dead weight. To be honest I'm not sure if I should include it. If QC members wants to see Agility set in future Pelipper analyses, then I'll add it of course.

EDIT to post under this one: Gosh x_X, such a dumb mistake. So true, mistake on my part. So only Lanturn resists this combination in UU.

About Insomnia - another mistake, as I looked on another QC skeleton and forgot to change ability ;). Fixed.
 
- Solid enough movepool and special attack to do his job with access to Roost, STAB Surf and Air Slash (which in UU it's only resisted by Shedinja + Lanturn), Agility and other few usable options.
Just want to point out that Shedinja is weak against Flying and thus would be hit by Air Slash.
 

FlareBlitz

Relaxed nature. Loves to eat.
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There are a few minor issues here. First of all, Focus Punch always hits last, so a Relaxed nature doesn't save Pelipper from taking neutral damage due to Roost. Second, I am certain the EVs could use more optimization; outrunning max speed Adamant Rhyperior should be a huge priority, and Jolly Rhyperior should also be taken into consideration. Why are you using HP Electric when Grass hits nearly the same things exactly as hard, and also at least mildly hurts Lanturn?
Besides that, I do think it's a good idea for you to get some calcs. Pelipper has great defenses statistically. Focus on things like Close Combat from Hitmonlee, Flare Blitz from Arcanine, and +2 Leaf Blade from Leafeon, and then work your way up to Stone Edge from Hitmonlee and Thunder Fang from LO Arcanine. Also work in some special attacks, like Fire Blast from Blaziken.
 
I'm being nice and giving some calcs to you:
Morning Glory Arcanine Flare Blitz v. your Pelipper: 25.9% - 30.6%
LO Hitmonlee Close Combat v. your Pelipper: 27.2% - 32.1%
Mixed Priority Attacker Blaziken Fire Blast v. your Pelipper: 51.2% - 60.5%
Sweeper Scyther Aerial Ace v. your Pelipper: 38.3% - 45.4%
Dragon Dance Feraligatr +1 Ice Punch v. your Pelipper: 34% - 40.1%

You're welcome. Also, you added an extra "L" to Physical in "Physical Wall"
 
There are a few minor issues here. First of all, Focus Punch always hits last, so a Relaxed nature doesn't save Pelipper from taking neutral damage due to Roost. Second, I am certain the EVs could use more optimization; outrunning max speed Adamant Rhyperior should be a huge priority, and Jolly Rhyperior should also be taken into consideration. Why are you using HP Electric when Grass hits nearly the same things exactly as hard, and also at least mildly hurts Lanturn?
a) I always forget that Focus Punch has negative priority, so yeah, it's a good point. I removed alternative spread.
b) Well, when I think about it... HP Grass still hits all mentioned targets like HP Electric, but still Lanturn takes small damage. However when it's low on health, it works fine. So I think it won't hurt to change on HP Grass.
c) About speed EVs enough to outspeed Rhyperior and eventually Aggron. While I agree outspeeding them in theory would be nice, however I see few problems. For example you need to sacrifice good amount of EVs, to even achieve possibility to outspeed Adamant Aggron. To do it you need... 136 EVs without boosting nature (for Jolly Rhyperior you need almost as much), which is quite a big number. For Adamant Rhyperior you need only 56 EVs, but I see one big problem. Rhyperior runs only Max Speed on Rock Polish set (and we want to avoid speed creeps, so outrunning CB Rhyperior we can't take into account). Ok, maybe someone like to run max Speed, however as I saw standard don't run this much Speed EVs, so I don't think it will happen often. In this situation I can only imagine using this additional speed on Pelipper usefull in situation, when Rhyperior wants to set-up on Pelipper. For first, it won't happen (emm, risking to take STAB Water attack ?) and even if, Rhyperior will use Passho Berry, so you can't OHKO it anyway. And for second - when Pelipper for some strange reason wants to switch on Rhyperior, Rhyperior will be faster anyway thanks to Rock Polish or you must be 100% certain that it won't use STAB Rock attack when you feel/know it's not Rock Polish set (oh man, I would never risk like this, especially seeing Rhyperior in match for first time). And if you switch Pelipper when something fainted or you predicted perfectly, then Rhyperior will just switch out. With Aggron situation is quite similar. I think I may mention alternative speed investments to outspeed certain Pokemon. But to be honest I prefer additional bulk.
d) I'll add calculations soon, as we'll need more then few of them, which takes a bit of time.
 
I wouldn't really count Pelipper as a Fighting-type counter at all. Its weakness to Stone Edge fucks it over. Assuming it switches in on SR and CC, it'll most likely lose to any Fighting-type in the tier.... (Toxicroak screws it over regardless and it can't switch into Mixkens FB...how sad)
 
I've noticed that you listed Supersonic in other options but it isn't really viable also because of a mere 55% accuracy.
[Gimmicky opiton: It is outclassed anyway by Attract in case you plan to use it on a Pokèmon simulator since most pokémon are male.]

I also don't think the Choice Specs set should be removed. It packs quiet a punch and with the correct support it is perfectly viable in the lower tiers thanks to amazing coverage and a passable 440 Sp.Atk .

For the Choice Specs set I'd slash U-Turn next to Ice Beam as it provides a reliable way to scout for special walls and counters.

NOTE: Please consider that (even if it's not Smogon's school of thought) also NU is a tier so every comment should be as detailed as possible and not only consider the UU metagame. Maybe it's just me but I think that those 150 Pokés shouldn't be overlooked every time.
 
I would also mention that Pelipper makes an good counter to newly-UU Heracross, as a Choice Scarf Heracross Close Combat does 35.2% - 41.7% to this Pelipper, who pretty much OHKOs the pesky bug with Air Slash (Scarfed Heracross will probably be used the most). It has to be wary of Swords Dance versions, though, as a Swords Dance Heracross +2 Close Combat does 55.6% - 65.7% to Pelipper, which is pretty much a 2HKO, discouraging Pelipper from switching in.

EDIT: I forgot that Heracross usually carries Stone Edge, too, so don't pay attention to the "Pelipper counters Heracross" part.

EDIT2: I just finished battling someone on Shoddy by the name of aloc mey who used M Blade's LO Pelipper. I will admit that it was actually pretty effective. I think that LO Pelipper should get at least a mention in OO.
 

SilentVerse

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Ok, Garganator has given me permission to take this over. He gave Flashrider57 permission to take this over a few weeks ago; however, since Flashrider hasn't been on for almost a month, I think it'd be safe for me to take this over. Anyway I'll make a new thread after I test a couple of things, since I'll be changing and possibly adding quite a few things. As such, this can probably be locked. Thanks!
 

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