talkingtree
large if factual
[OVERVIEW]
Tapu Fini leverages its great defensive typing and stats to secure a place at the forefront of the Doubles metagame. Though Tapu Fini is the only Island Guardian whose summoned Terrain doesn't boost the power of its attacks, its ability to block status and weaken Dragon-type attacks on grounded targets is still quite useful. With a solid movepool that contains useful attacks and utility moves alike, Tapu Fini has every tool it would need to thrive, save for a recovery move. As a result, Tapu Fini can end up being worn down somewhat easily. Tapu Fini is also a bit weak unless it's accrued a Calm Mind boost or two, but its STAB attacks are super effective on large metagame threats like Zygarde, Landorus-T, and Incineroar, so Tapu Fini fits onto most teams quite easily.
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Muddy Water
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Heal Pulse
move 4: Protect
item: Wiki Berry
ability: Misty Surge
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 124 SpA / 68 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Muddy Water provides a way for Tapu Fini to deal respectable spread damage and fish for accuracy drops to help buy its teammates free turns. Moonblast is Tapu Fini's best Fairy-type STAB attack, helping it deal with threats such as Zygarde and Kommo-o offensively. Heal Pulse is Tapu Fini's most commonly valuable support move, either aiding a setup user like Mega Scizor by keeping it healthy in preparation for a sweep or simply keeping an important teammate healthy. Protect shields Tapu Fini from damage and allows it to scout the opponent's moves, stall out certain field effects, and retain solid positioning. However, some teams may benefit from Tapu Fini using either Icy Wind or Calm Mind in Protect's place, the former for speed control and the latter to take advantage of a passive foe and gain the ability to become a threat in its own right.
Set Details
========
The given spread allows Tapu Fini to survive two hits from Spooky Plate Aegislash or +1 Double-Edge from any Mega Salamence. As a result, Tapu Fini is also guaranteed to take less than 50% from Mega Metagross's Iron Head. The remaining EVs are used to boost its Special Attack while also ensuring Muddy Water OHKOes Deoxys-A. A Wiki Berry provides significant healing to a weakened Tapu Fini, lessening the impact of it failing to learn any recovery moves. If Tapu Fini is using Icy Wind, moving 16 Special Attack EVs to Speed allows Tapu Fini to outspeed Kyurem-B after hitting it with the move.
Usage Tips
========
Tapu Fini functions best on bulky offense teams, keeping threatening teammates healthy and providing role compression by checking a variety of threats in one team member. Use Tapu Fini's defensive typing to switch into threatening Pokemon like Kommo-o and Kingdra, pivoting in to either threaten super effective damage or heal up an ally. If you're predicting an incoming status move like Spore or Hypnosis, switch Tapu Fini in to nullify its effect. However, keep in mind that non-grounded Pokemon aren't affected by Misty Terrain and won't be shielded from status effects. Heal Pulse is best used on teammates with setup moves or those that are especially bulky, as frail Pokemon rarely benefit from having a bit more health. Tapu Fini's damage output can be disappointing, so it should generally only attack when the move will hit super effectively. The main exception to this would be to use Muddy Water to pick off one weakened foe and chip the other. Fishing for accuracy drops through Muddy Water is a somewhat viable strategy, but it's far from reliable. Don't use Heal Pulse if the opponent has a redirection user such as Amoonguss or Togekiss on the field, as they can steal the effect and cause your move to be detrimental.
Team Options
========
A wide variety of teams can benefit from Tapu Fini's presence due to its generally solid matchups and easily usable support. Teams with bulky setup Pokemon such as Mega Scizor and Mega Tyranitar that can take advantage of Heal Pulse support and the prevention of status effects will especially appreciate having this Tapu Fini as a teammate. Dragon-type Pokemon that don't use Dragon-type moves themselves, such as Kyurem-B and Zygarde, benefit from the weakening of opposing Dragon-type moves to keep them healthy. Tapu Fini doesn't need much in return from its team, but a teammate to beat Grass-types is essential, making Mega Scizor, Incineroar, and Heat Wave Zapdos solid picks. Zapdos can also use a Misty Seed set to pair with Tapu Fini and boost its staying power. Tapu Fini also has trouble breaking through opposing bulky Water-types like Volcanion and Suicune, making Zapdos an even better partner. Tapu Koko and Ferrothorn also stand out as solid teammates in this category. Landorus-T and Assault Vest Kyurem-B can aid Tapu Fini by threatening out Electric-types. Misty Seed Hoopa-U can be a decent teammate on teams that appreciate Trick Room, as it beats Amoonguss and Mega Gengar and benefits from Tapu Fini's activation of its item for the added bulk and immediate usability of its ability, Magician.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Muddy Water
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Protect
item: Wiki Berry / Leftovers
ability: Misty Surge
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Dealing damage to both foes is a valuable asset for setup users in Doubles, so Muddy Water is a crucial part of this set. Potential accuracy drops can also ease setup. Moonblast is Tapu Fini's strongest attack for neutral targets. It also does respectable damage even unboosted, KOing Mega Salamence after Stealth Rock damage. Calm Mind opens the door for Tapu Fini to either break through or clean the opposing team while also improving its staying power by boosting its already decent Special Defense. With Calm Mind, Tapu Fini also forces the opponent to respond by making itself significantly more threatening. Protect keeps Tapu Fini safe while its teammate takes out a threat or sets a useful field effect. It's an essential move in Doubles for ease of positioning, but it also allows Tapu Fini to stall for Leftovers recovery and improve its ability to take a hit.
Set Details
========
The Defense investment makes sure Tapu Fini will avoid the 2HKO from Mega Metagross's Iron Head and avoid the OHKO from Thunder Punch Mega Metagross in Electric Terrain. The remaining investment is used to improve Tapu Fini's ability to do damage. If Tapu Fini's being used on a team with Tailwind support, you may want to move 56 EVs from Special Attack to Speed so that it outruns Deoxys-A under Tailwind. With Leftovers, Tapu Fini can lower its Defense investment to 72 EVs with a Modest nature and still retain the defensive benchmarks. However, Wiki Berry tends to provide considerably more recovery than the slow drip of HP from Leftovers, giving Tapu Fini a second chance to act as a switch-in.
Usage Tips
========
This set functions best on bulkier teams that need Tapu Fini's positive matchups but can't afford the passivity of support sets. There are two main times Tapu Fini can benefit from using Calm Mind: to put pressure on early-game or clean up late-game. If Tapu Fini provides your best chance to finish off your opponent's team in the end, avoid letting it take unnecessary damage early on, since this set has limited recovery. However, this set otherwise operates similarly to more support-focused sets. That is, Tapu Fini acts as a solid defensive pivot against some popular attackers like Incineroar and Zygarde while also using its Misty Terrain to block incoming status moves like Hypnosis and Spore.
Team Options
========
Grass-types are Tapu Fini's biggest obstacles for cleaning, so it needs a teammate to take on Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, and Tapu Bulu. Incineroar takes these on and also provides Fake Out support to ease setup. Other options for this role include Kyurem-B, Mega Gengar, and Heat Wave Zapdos. Zapdos also provides speed control and offers Tapu Fini a way to break through bulky Water-types. Intimidate support helps Tapu Fini cushion the attacks that won't become weaker after it uses Calm Mind, and the common Intimidate users also offer valuable additional roles. In addition to the aforementioned Incineroar, Landorus-T beats Electric-types, Mega Salamence defeats Grass-types, and Mega Manectric can help against both Grass-types and bulky Water-types.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Tapu Fini has a fairly wide movepool with varyingly viable options. Nature's Madness is an interesting move that helps teammates that share checks with Tapu Fini, greatly lowering the health of otherwise safe switch-ins like Amoonguss and Ferrothorn. Ice Beam might seem like an odd pick when the combination of Muddy Water and Moonblast already hits the most common targets, Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Mega Salamence, super effectively; however, it does considerably more damage without needing a boost and also hits Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu. Taunt provides a different form of utility for Tapu Fini, blocking setup of all kinds including Trick Room, Swords Dance, and Tailwind. Taunt and Ice Beam fit better on sets with a lot of Speed investment to outrun Zygarde, Zapdos, Mega Scizor, and Adamant non-Choice Scarf Landorus-T. Choice Scarf Tapu Fini might seem a bit out of place, but when used in conjunction with Soak and a strong Electric- or Grass-type like Tapu Koko or Kartana, it can be quite valuable. Soak also has the benefit of removing the STAB bonus from foes' attacks, making them weaker. Assault Vest is another slightly strange item choice, but it fits well with Tapu Fini's access to Icy Wind and decent moves to pair it with such as its STAB attacks, Nature's Madness, Hidden Power Fire, and Knock Off; the result is a highly specially defensive Tapu Fini set with utility in speed control and Knock Off or Nature's Madness as well as some decent coverage. A Choice Specs set provides considerably more damage output with Tapu Fini's decent coverage through its STAB attacks and Ice Beam, but Tapu Fini still struggles to hit neutral targets hard.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Grass-types**: In addition to resisting Muddy Water, many common Grass-types also resist Moonblast, and all can hit Tapu Fini hard in return. Amoonguss, though its Spore is blocked by Misty Terrain, can be especially frustrating to handle, with Clear Smog removing Tapu Fini's Calm Mind boosts. Ferrothorn also resists Moonblast and hits physically, avoiding any potential Calm Mind boosts attempting to shield Tapu Fini from damage. Tapu Bulu uses Tapu Fini to heal up with Horn Leech and typically runs sets with enough special bulk to take even a boosted Moonblast.
**Electric-types**: Tapu Fini is weak to STAB Electric-type attacks, and Z-Moves can KO even from full health. Tapu Koko, Mega Manectric, Zapdos, and Electric-type coverage users like Kyurem-B and Mega Metagross are all threatening, though none resist Tapu Fini's STAB combination, and they must fear a boosted Tapu Fini with speed control on its side.
**Mega Gengar**: Using Shadow Tag, Mega Gengar is able to pivot in on and remove Tapu Fini from play using its super effective Sludge Bomb. This prevents Tapu Fini from acting as a defensive pivot later, its main role on many teams.
**Taunt**: Losing Protect and either Heal Pulse or Calm Mind access can be a big momentum drain, and Tapu Fini can't hit most Taunt users like Tapu Lele and Mega Gengar very hard.
**Redirection**: Heal Pulse becomes a liability instead of a tool if redirected. Amoonguss and Togekiss, the two most common redirectors, also don't take much from Tapu Fini's attacks anyway.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[talkingtree, 232101]]
- Earlier versions by: [[DaAwesomeDude1, 228280]]
- Quality checked by: [[Level 51, 118474], [DaAwesomeDude1, 228280], [Memoric, 215000]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [A Cake Wearing A Hat, 388157]]
Tapu Fini leverages its great defensive typing and stats to secure a place at the forefront of the Doubles metagame. Though Tapu Fini is the only Island Guardian whose summoned Terrain doesn't boost the power of its attacks, its ability to block status and weaken Dragon-type attacks on grounded targets is still quite useful. With a solid movepool that contains useful attacks and utility moves alike, Tapu Fini has every tool it would need to thrive, save for a recovery move. As a result, Tapu Fini can end up being worn down somewhat easily. Tapu Fini is also a bit weak unless it's accrued a Calm Mind boost or two, but its STAB attacks are super effective on large metagame threats like Zygarde, Landorus-T, and Incineroar, so Tapu Fini fits onto most teams quite easily.
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Muddy Water
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Heal Pulse
move 4: Protect
item: Wiki Berry
ability: Misty Surge
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 124 SpA / 68 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Muddy Water provides a way for Tapu Fini to deal respectable spread damage and fish for accuracy drops to help buy its teammates free turns. Moonblast is Tapu Fini's best Fairy-type STAB attack, helping it deal with threats such as Zygarde and Kommo-o offensively. Heal Pulse is Tapu Fini's most commonly valuable support move, either aiding a setup user like Mega Scizor by keeping it healthy in preparation for a sweep or simply keeping an important teammate healthy. Protect shields Tapu Fini from damage and allows it to scout the opponent's moves, stall out certain field effects, and retain solid positioning. However, some teams may benefit from Tapu Fini using either Icy Wind or Calm Mind in Protect's place, the former for speed control and the latter to take advantage of a passive foe and gain the ability to become a threat in its own right.
Set Details
========
The given spread allows Tapu Fini to survive two hits from Spooky Plate Aegislash or +1 Double-Edge from any Mega Salamence. As a result, Tapu Fini is also guaranteed to take less than 50% from Mega Metagross's Iron Head. The remaining EVs are used to boost its Special Attack while also ensuring Muddy Water OHKOes Deoxys-A. A Wiki Berry provides significant healing to a weakened Tapu Fini, lessening the impact of it failing to learn any recovery moves. If Tapu Fini is using Icy Wind, moving 16 Special Attack EVs to Speed allows Tapu Fini to outspeed Kyurem-B after hitting it with the move.
Usage Tips
========
Tapu Fini functions best on bulky offense teams, keeping threatening teammates healthy and providing role compression by checking a variety of threats in one team member. Use Tapu Fini's defensive typing to switch into threatening Pokemon like Kommo-o and Kingdra, pivoting in to either threaten super effective damage or heal up an ally. If you're predicting an incoming status move like Spore or Hypnosis, switch Tapu Fini in to nullify its effect. However, keep in mind that non-grounded Pokemon aren't affected by Misty Terrain and won't be shielded from status effects. Heal Pulse is best used on teammates with setup moves or those that are especially bulky, as frail Pokemon rarely benefit from having a bit more health. Tapu Fini's damage output can be disappointing, so it should generally only attack when the move will hit super effectively. The main exception to this would be to use Muddy Water to pick off one weakened foe and chip the other. Fishing for accuracy drops through Muddy Water is a somewhat viable strategy, but it's far from reliable. Don't use Heal Pulse if the opponent has a redirection user such as Amoonguss or Togekiss on the field, as they can steal the effect and cause your move to be detrimental.
Team Options
========
A wide variety of teams can benefit from Tapu Fini's presence due to its generally solid matchups and easily usable support. Teams with bulky setup Pokemon such as Mega Scizor and Mega Tyranitar that can take advantage of Heal Pulse support and the prevention of status effects will especially appreciate having this Tapu Fini as a teammate. Dragon-type Pokemon that don't use Dragon-type moves themselves, such as Kyurem-B and Zygarde, benefit from the weakening of opposing Dragon-type moves to keep them healthy. Tapu Fini doesn't need much in return from its team, but a teammate to beat Grass-types is essential, making Mega Scizor, Incineroar, and Heat Wave Zapdos solid picks. Zapdos can also use a Misty Seed set to pair with Tapu Fini and boost its staying power. Tapu Fini also has trouble breaking through opposing bulky Water-types like Volcanion and Suicune, making Zapdos an even better partner. Tapu Koko and Ferrothorn also stand out as solid teammates in this category. Landorus-T and Assault Vest Kyurem-B can aid Tapu Fini by threatening out Electric-types. Misty Seed Hoopa-U can be a decent teammate on teams that appreciate Trick Room, as it beats Amoonguss and Mega Gengar and benefits from Tapu Fini's activation of its item for the added bulk and immediate usability of its ability, Magician.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Muddy Water
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Protect
item: Wiki Berry / Leftovers
ability: Misty Surge
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Dealing damage to both foes is a valuable asset for setup users in Doubles, so Muddy Water is a crucial part of this set. Potential accuracy drops can also ease setup. Moonblast is Tapu Fini's strongest attack for neutral targets. It also does respectable damage even unboosted, KOing Mega Salamence after Stealth Rock damage. Calm Mind opens the door for Tapu Fini to either break through or clean the opposing team while also improving its staying power by boosting its already decent Special Defense. With Calm Mind, Tapu Fini also forces the opponent to respond by making itself significantly more threatening. Protect keeps Tapu Fini safe while its teammate takes out a threat or sets a useful field effect. It's an essential move in Doubles for ease of positioning, but it also allows Tapu Fini to stall for Leftovers recovery and improve its ability to take a hit.
Set Details
========
The Defense investment makes sure Tapu Fini will avoid the 2HKO from Mega Metagross's Iron Head and avoid the OHKO from Thunder Punch Mega Metagross in Electric Terrain. The remaining investment is used to improve Tapu Fini's ability to do damage. If Tapu Fini's being used on a team with Tailwind support, you may want to move 56 EVs from Special Attack to Speed so that it outruns Deoxys-A under Tailwind. With Leftovers, Tapu Fini can lower its Defense investment to 72 EVs with a Modest nature and still retain the defensive benchmarks. However, Wiki Berry tends to provide considerably more recovery than the slow drip of HP from Leftovers, giving Tapu Fini a second chance to act as a switch-in.
Usage Tips
========
This set functions best on bulkier teams that need Tapu Fini's positive matchups but can't afford the passivity of support sets. There are two main times Tapu Fini can benefit from using Calm Mind: to put pressure on early-game or clean up late-game. If Tapu Fini provides your best chance to finish off your opponent's team in the end, avoid letting it take unnecessary damage early on, since this set has limited recovery. However, this set otherwise operates similarly to more support-focused sets. That is, Tapu Fini acts as a solid defensive pivot against some popular attackers like Incineroar and Zygarde while also using its Misty Terrain to block incoming status moves like Hypnosis and Spore.
Team Options
========
Grass-types are Tapu Fini's biggest obstacles for cleaning, so it needs a teammate to take on Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, and Tapu Bulu. Incineroar takes these on and also provides Fake Out support to ease setup. Other options for this role include Kyurem-B, Mega Gengar, and Heat Wave Zapdos. Zapdos also provides speed control and offers Tapu Fini a way to break through bulky Water-types. Intimidate support helps Tapu Fini cushion the attacks that won't become weaker after it uses Calm Mind, and the common Intimidate users also offer valuable additional roles. In addition to the aforementioned Incineroar, Landorus-T beats Electric-types, Mega Salamence defeats Grass-types, and Mega Manectric can help against both Grass-types and bulky Water-types.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Tapu Fini has a fairly wide movepool with varyingly viable options. Nature's Madness is an interesting move that helps teammates that share checks with Tapu Fini, greatly lowering the health of otherwise safe switch-ins like Amoonguss and Ferrothorn. Ice Beam might seem like an odd pick when the combination of Muddy Water and Moonblast already hits the most common targets, Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Mega Salamence, super effectively; however, it does considerably more damage without needing a boost and also hits Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu. Taunt provides a different form of utility for Tapu Fini, blocking setup of all kinds including Trick Room, Swords Dance, and Tailwind. Taunt and Ice Beam fit better on sets with a lot of Speed investment to outrun Zygarde, Zapdos, Mega Scizor, and Adamant non-Choice Scarf Landorus-T. Choice Scarf Tapu Fini might seem a bit out of place, but when used in conjunction with Soak and a strong Electric- or Grass-type like Tapu Koko or Kartana, it can be quite valuable. Soak also has the benefit of removing the STAB bonus from foes' attacks, making them weaker. Assault Vest is another slightly strange item choice, but it fits well with Tapu Fini's access to Icy Wind and decent moves to pair it with such as its STAB attacks, Nature's Madness, Hidden Power Fire, and Knock Off; the result is a highly specially defensive Tapu Fini set with utility in speed control and Knock Off or Nature's Madness as well as some decent coverage. A Choice Specs set provides considerably more damage output with Tapu Fini's decent coverage through its STAB attacks and Ice Beam, but Tapu Fini still struggles to hit neutral targets hard.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Grass-types**: In addition to resisting Muddy Water, many common Grass-types also resist Moonblast, and all can hit Tapu Fini hard in return. Amoonguss, though its Spore is blocked by Misty Terrain, can be especially frustrating to handle, with Clear Smog removing Tapu Fini's Calm Mind boosts. Ferrothorn also resists Moonblast and hits physically, avoiding any potential Calm Mind boosts attempting to shield Tapu Fini from damage. Tapu Bulu uses Tapu Fini to heal up with Horn Leech and typically runs sets with enough special bulk to take even a boosted Moonblast.
**Electric-types**: Tapu Fini is weak to STAB Electric-type attacks, and Z-Moves can KO even from full health. Tapu Koko, Mega Manectric, Zapdos, and Electric-type coverage users like Kyurem-B and Mega Metagross are all threatening, though none resist Tapu Fini's STAB combination, and they must fear a boosted Tapu Fini with speed control on its side.
**Mega Gengar**: Using Shadow Tag, Mega Gengar is able to pivot in on and remove Tapu Fini from play using its super effective Sludge Bomb. This prevents Tapu Fini from acting as a defensive pivot later, its main role on many teams.
**Taunt**: Losing Protect and either Heal Pulse or Calm Mind access can be a big momentum drain, and Tapu Fini can't hit most Taunt users like Tapu Lele and Mega Gengar very hard.
**Redirection**: Heal Pulse becomes a liability instead of a tool if redirected. Amoonguss and Togekiss, the two most common redirectors, also don't take much from Tapu Fini's attacks anyway.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[talkingtree, 232101]]
- Earlier versions by: [[DaAwesomeDude1, 228280]]
- Quality checked by: [[Level 51, 118474], [DaAwesomeDude1, 228280], [Memoric, 215000]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [A Cake Wearing A Hat, 388157]]
Last edited: