Sigilyph (Analysis)

[EricaHartmann]

Just a heads up, you missed a couple of spaces throughout the analysis and a </p> after a paragraph.

Hide

[Additional Comments]
<p>If you feel that physical attackers aren't much of a problem, then Toxic Orb can be used over Flame Orb. The Toxic status doesn't decrease the opponent's Attack stat, but thepassive damage increases each turn. Leftovers and Hidden Power Fighting can also be used instead of Flame Orb and Psycho Shift in case your team already employs another status condition and you don't want them clashing.<p>

[Other Options]
<p> Sigilyph has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. He can use moves like Toxic and Thunder Wave to cripple opponents, but Psycho Shift is still preferable. Shadow Ball is an option to counter Ghost-types such as Jellicent. If you aren't using Magic Guard, then Safeguard is a useful move to protect Sigilyph from status. Other useful moves that this Pokemon can learn and utilize include Calm Mind, Trick Room,and Gravity. Whirlwind can cause alot of trouble for Pokemon who rely on set up moves, and can be used in conjunction with Psycho Shift. </p>

[Checks and Counters]
<p> Because of Sigilyph's low initial offensive prowess and the poor coverage of Psychic attacks, almost any strong user of Dark, Ghost, Rock, or Electric attacks can potentially switch in and defeat him. Tyranitar is likely the most notable example, being immune to Psychic moves and having powerful STAB Stone Edge, Crunch, and Pursuit; it is also known to carry Ice Beam frequently, and sets focused on special attacking do not fear burn. Jirachi is a major threat, it's 4x resistant to Psychic and frequently carries Thunder due to the popularity of rain. Starmie resists Psychic and is almost completely unafraid of burn or poison thanks to Natural Cure, it also carriesThunderbolt / Thunder and Ice Beam. Heatran is immune to burn and also resists Psychic; its powerful Fire attacks are a real threat even when it's a neutral hit.Be careful about using physical attackers against Sigilyph, as an untimely burn can leave that Pokemon useless for the remainder of the match. Overall, the trick is to hit hard and hit fast, as you definitely do not want to let Sigilyph set up. <p>

 

[MackTheKnife]

Ah, I see. Thanks for that, Ill change em.

 

[Ruscour]

"alot"

How did GP not catch this?

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

 

[viol and bass]

GP has the unfortunate quality of being composed primarily of humans.

 

[Galactic Boss Cyrus]

I nearly had a heart attack when I looked on Bulbapedia and it said Xatu couldn't give Roost along with Psycho Shift and Stored Power.

I'm planning on getting a competitive Sigilyph, with a few changes, as usual.

Scary Shit + Flame Orb
Magic Guard
Timid, 252 D/SD, 6 HP
-Cosmic Power
-Stored Power
-Psycho Shift
-Roost

I keep the moves and item, but change the nature and IVs.

Timid: Sigilyph's defenses, at 80, aren't going to receive much of a boost from natures, so I figured, why not give a cheap boost to its base 97 speed? I'm sure a lot of 80s will be outsped, and when Roost is negating SE hits from the average slow Stone Edger, that seems to be good enough.

Now, I'm not so sure about what absorbs better--HP or Defenses, but investing EVs entirely in the Defense stats will produce more of an effect from Cosmic Power. I do have experience with Stockpile Gastrodon from Platinum, which I was able to use to tear apart several OU teams. I've become very good at gauging when to boost and when to recover, factoring in possible criticals.

With that in mind, I'm on the fence about how to allocate HP and physical defense. Sigilyph needs to be able to take a super-effective hit, and then that hit under a burn, which would be like taking 3 hits before a stable setup. Defense will help Sigilyph survive that crucial initial assault, heightening its chances to set up successfully. However, more HP EVs, I think, would improve its capability to take Special hits. With such a powerful Physical meta for Gen 5, I decided to go with the flat Defense spread.


Also, some quick calculations you'll want to memorize: the base power of Stored Power after a given number of Cosmic Powers, factoring in STAB.

0: 30
1: 90
2: 150 -- after 2 Cosmic Powers, Stored will surpass Psychic
3: 210
4: 270
5: 330
6: 390

Basically, it starts at 30 and increases by 60 after each Cosmic. Negative changes don't affect Stored Power, if Bulbapedia is right this time.

 

[A Man In Black]

Now, I'm not so sure about what absorbs better--HP or Defenses, but investing EVs entirely in the Defense stats will produce more of an effect from Cosmic Power.

No, it won't. Except for a small handful of Pokemon with extremely high base HP and extremely low base defenses, the relationship between defenses and HP is such that an investment in HP is best if you want to raise both defenses equally. This remains true even with boosted defenses from Cosmic Power; those boosts do not change the relative value of HP to Def/SDef one whit. 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef is not a good spread.

 

[Thorhammer]

When determining what percentage of HP a Pokemon will lose from an attack, the power the attack would otherwise have is divided by both the Def/SpD stat and the HP stat, so the two are multiplied together to get the overall defensive ability. A 1.5x multiplier to Def/SpD may as well be a 1.5x multiplier to HP, so Cosmic Power doesn't change the fact that HP EVs are far more valuable.

Your logic behind the nature is also flawed. Sigilyph's defenses are base 80, but with that much investment, they would be higher than its Speed anyway. Therefore, using a Bold or Calm nature instead would allow EVs to be moved from that stat into Speed to get the same Speed stat and a higher Def/SpD stat. However, as previously mentioned, that much investment is not optimal. The ideal EV spread for such a set is already listed in the first post.

Also, most people are aware of the mechanics of Stored Power.

 

[Galactic Boss Cyrus]

Ugh, that's what I get when I'm too lazy to run calculations. I still think Timid would be better in level 50 battles, though, but I'll check some Speeds later. I think someone else has already designed a set that outspeeds Jolly T-Tar before a Dragon Dance, though. I'll likely go with that.

HP EV's necessarily being defense EV's is really helpful to know, thanks.

 

[Soundblaster]

My stall team was screwed over by a Sigilyph with Cosmic Power, Encore, Roost and Bide. It had 252 HP and must of had had a S.Def boosting nature because it took hits like a champ and Bided them back at me after an Encore. :P

I now have a new respect for this guy.

 

[RioT X]

In before dark pokemon destrolishes you!!!

 

[Jmaculas]

Works well with shell smash Gorebyss. Has great bulk to baton pass into with an already powered up stored power and hp fighting to make is a more convenient sweeper

 

[BBoyAjolt]

Air Slash should be considered since its has quite decent speed and sp atk.

 

[Daenym]

In before dark pokemon destrolishes you!!!

Especially when they've been Burned. Good contribution to the discussion, though.


On another note, I kinda like the idea of a bulkyish ShellPass recipient. The problem is that, prior to boosts,Sigilyph isn't exactly the sturdiest guy around. So while you're getting a very potent sweeper, you're also risking taking a very nasty hit when you come in.

The Gorebyss set would be the standard ShellPasser, obviously. The Sigilyph would have a moveset with something like:

HP Fighting
Stored Power
Roost
Cosmic Power/Air Slash

Stored Power for boost abuse (it'd be hitting, what, 140 BP prior to STAB, and coming off of +2), HP Fighting for coverage. Roost to attempt to alleviate that switch-in damage. Cosmic Power lets you turn Stored Power into an even more ridiculous weapon and, coupled with Roost, gives you some staying power, while Air Slash is another STAB move and lets you hit a few other things for OK damage (Reuniclus comes to mind in particular).

EVs would probably get dropped into HP and Sp Atk, but Speed is also important since ideally you'd hit 303 speed to outspeed Excadrill. Assuming you're running this in OU, obviously. Other tiers are a different story.

 

[Bugbot]

With the introduction of new powerful Dark- and Rock types[...]

I don't know how GP handles the hyphens, but I think there should be a hyphen after Rock.

evs: 252 HP / 200 Def/ 56 Spe

Should be "evs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe" (there is a missing space).

[Other Options]
<p>[DELETE SPACE]Sigilyph has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. He can use moves like Toxic and Thunder Wave to cripple opponents, but Psycho Shift is still preferable. Shadow Ball is an option to counter Ghost-types such as Jellicent. If you aren't using Magic Guard, then Safeguard is a useful move to protect Sigilyph from status. Other useful moves that this Pokemon can learn and utilize include Calm Mind, Trick Room,[ADD SPACE] and Gravity. Whirlwind can cause alot of trouble for Pokemon who rely on set-up [HYPHEN, ASK GP] moves, and can be used in conjunction with Psycho Shift.</p>

Every paragraph must end with </p> instead of <p>, by the way.

[Checks and Counters]
<p>[DELETE SPACE] [...] as you definitely do not want to let Sigilyph set up.[DELETE SPACE]</p>

One last thing, I'm not sure if "Cosmic Power" can be pluralized (Set Comments). Ask GP about it.

 

[Bonston]

I've been testing and using sigilyph a lot lately, and i think that this page somewhere should mention how valuable dual screens is with the cosmic power set, there are so few things that can ohko it after dual screens are up and it's already had a cosmic power up, and pretty much nothing can 2hko it after all that so it can either psycho shift or cosmic power and roost until it's setup. As long as you have an answer to phazers (most threatening i've come across for sigilyph is SubCM jirachi) then you're probably in for a pretty comfortable sweep, I've had many people telling me they are going to copy the set. The only other thing that can spoil this set could be a crit within the first few cosmic powers or just after the screens fade, so just be careful and roost even when you think you might not need it. I am newish to all this so any constructive criticism would be appreciated.

Edit; Should mention i mean that you would use another poke to setup the screens, i've been using cresselia but only because my team is a little fire weak as it is and a lot of the other effective dual screeners have a steel typing, they would all be viable, just use what fits into the team the best.

 

[Flora]

I know this has a "Done" mark, but the set doesn't explain what the 56 Spe EVs do. Can you explain them, MackTheKnife, with the sentences talking about EVs?

I get that Bold 56 Spe EVs outspeed max Spe Tyranitar by 1 point, but Timid 56 Spe EVs is a bit confusing.

edit: I lurked and saw that PK Gaming wanted that spread but didn't announce the nature. I'm thinking it should be Bold.

 

[November Blue]

Okay, this analysis seems outdated to me. I'd like to propose some changes. In practice, cosmic power is a horrible move and should be replaced with calm mind. I'd slash stored power with air slash as well.

The speed seems really random. I thought that 244 speed was one point lower than it should be, but then I noticed the timid nature (O_O)

What the hell is 268 speed for? It isn't mentioned anywhere in the analysis.

I'd suggest this set:

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Stored Power / Air Slash
move 3: Roost
move 4: Psycho Shift
item: Flame Orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def/ 252 Spe

OR

evs: 252 HP / 196 Def/ 60 Spe

The first set runs max speed to tie with haxorus. Since garchomp was banned, axeface is becoming more popular. Almost nothing below base 100 is running a +speed nature anymore, so you could run 252 speed EVs and a bold nature.

The second set runs 245 speed, which is a common speed tier.

Calm mind is much better than cosmic power IMO. Sigilyph is a bulky booster, not a defensive wall like stockpile quagsire. The special attack boosts allow it to actually damage opponents. CP boosted stored power is weak. I'd also slash air slash in with stored power, as it has great neutral coverage.

Cosmic power is a gimmick set. I've tested it, as well as the calm minder, and I think that the CM set is far superior. It allows sigilyph to deal decent amounts of damage without necessitating full setup. The current set is easily walled by dark and steel types and specially defensive pokes shrug off CP stored powers.

I'd like to reference this post: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3630013&postcount=176

 

[Jmaculas]

This is my Smash Pass Reciever Sigilyph set. Stored power hits like a truck due to +6 of shell smash no set up needed.


move 1: Cosmic Power
move 2: Stored Power
move 3: Roost
move 4: HP Fighting
item: Life orb
ability: Magic Guard
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 130 Def/ 126 SpD

 

[Paradoxus]

In terms of receiving, sigilyph is outclassed by Espeon who has Magic Bounce and a higher satk.