The Best Abilities (On the Worst Pokémon)
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Mold Breaker
What the ability does
If this Pokémon attacks and the target's ability would prevent the effects of the attack from taking place, or hinder the effects of the move, the ability is temporarily nullified while the attack is in progress. Abilities that prevent status such as Limber are deactivated during the attack which allows a Pokémon that has one to be affected by the status they prevent, but the ability cures the status immediately after the attack.
Who should get it
The obvious choice for what should get Mold Breaker is Rhyperior! With its 140 base attack, Rhyperior would love to spam STAB Earthquakes without worrying about pesky Levitators switching in for free. Rotom would get utterly destroyed, as would Flygon, Latias, Gengar, Bronzong, and Azelf, among others, which would probably be enough to boost Rhyperior’s usage enough to cement it into OU. However, it should be mentioned that Rhyperior would also miss Solid Rock dearly if it were to use Mold Breaker. In that sense, Gliscor would also make great use of this, as with Swords Dance and decent speed, it can shred through teams with STAB Earthquake.
Who actually gets it
Another pair of NU Pokemon, Pinsir and Rampardos, have access to another great ability. Though it is pretty cool that both of these Pokemon have an impressive attack stat and access to Earthquake, neither gets STAB off of it, and both have other poor qualities that discourage people from using them.
Compoundeyes
What the ability does
Accuracy of all moves is increased multiplicatively by 30%. 60% becomes 78%, 70% becomes 91%, etc.
Who should get it
Remember around the beginning of the HGSS hype when people realized Starmie learns Gravity? Think that, but about 100 times better. Natural Cure is awesome for sponging status, but when it comes to all-out power, Compoundeyes would put Starmie into a class of its own. With Compoundeyes, Starmie's Hydro Pump gains 100% accuracy, and it can also support that with a 91% accurate Blizzard and Thunder for even more absurd power. Tyranitar would be another excellent candidate, gaining 100% accurate Stone Edge, Fire Blast, and Aqua Tail, and can also turn to 91% accurate Thunder and Blizzard in a pinch.
Who actually gets it
Butterfree, a Pokemon whose sole benefit from Compoundeyes makes it go from "mediocre 4x SR weak Pokemon with a 75% accurate sleep move" to "mediocre 4x SR weak Pokemon with a 99% accurate sleeping move". Not a huge jump, if you ask me.
Speed Boost
What the ability does
This Pokémon's Speed is boosted one stage at the end of each turn.
Who should get it
Speed Boost is a fantastic ability which ANY offensive Pokémon would welcome with open arms. However, there are some who would put this ability to especially good use: namely Pokémon who resist common priority attacks and have access to offensive stat boosting moves like Swords Dance and Nasty Plot. Imagine, if you would, a Speed Boost Scizor! Sure it loses that fantastic Technician boost on Bullet Punch, but now it doesn’t need priority attacks at all! Just use Swords Dance and let your ability take care of your speed on its own! Similarly, Slowking could set up an easy sweep with Nasty Plot and its impressive defenses.
Who actually gets it
Game Freak did a great job at teasing us here. They said, "Hey! Here's Yanmega, a fantastic special sweeper who gets this amazing ability!... but oh, wait, we also invented this move called Stealth Rock, which means Yanmega will only come in at half health every time, haha!!!” They also gave us a taste of easy Baton Passing with Ninjask, who just so happens to know Swords Dance too! But alas, no Taunt means that Ninjask can be phazed or Taunted itself into failing to Baton Pass. Not to mention Ninjask basically gets two chances to pass in a match due to it also taking 50% from Stealth Rock damage… thanks, Game Freak... thanks.
Damp
What the ability does
While the user is in play, the opponent(s) cannot use the moves Explosion or Selfdestruct.
Who should get it
Pretty much anything defensive that tends to be Explosion bait would love to have Damp. With Damp, Swampert could finally be that all-purpose Metagross and non-HP Grass Heatran counter that everyone has been looking for. Blissey could finally switch into Gengar and Heatran without fear of an errant Explosion cracking its egg wide open, while Suicune could Calm Mind on Heatran all day long and there would be nothing the Heatran user could do about it.
Who actually gets it
Golduck, Poliwrath, Politoed, and Quagsire. All four Pokemon are NU, all four Pokemon have far superior secondary abilities at their disposal, and you probably wouldn't dream of Exploding on any of these poor fools any time soon.
Scrappy
What the ability does
This Pokémon is able to hit Ghost-type opponents with Normal- and Fighting-type moves, at normal damage. Other resistances still apply (a Fighting-type move would still be not very effective on Gengar due to its Poison typing).
Who should get it
Can you say "guaranteed Rapid Spin"? A combination of Scrappy and Rapid Spin has been something much desired in the competitive Pokémon universe since the introduction of Stealth Rock. It even inspired ideas for the Create-A-Pokémon project! If Forretress, Starmie, Tentacruel, hell, even Delibird got Scrappy, the metagame would change significantly. Stall teams would probably become nonexistent, or at least would function in a completely different manner. Pokémon who are 4x weak to Rock-type attacks would become not only viable, but probably a huge asset, as that normally means they are 4x resistant to Fighting-type attacks. Speaking of Fighting-type attacks, it should be mentioned that any strong Fighting-type Pokémon would love to have Scrappy as well. If Lucario could just rely on Close Combat for eliminating Rotom, it would make predicting and sweeping much easier. To top it all off, he could nail pesky Gengar and Scarf Rotom with ExtremeSpeed!
Who actually gets it
At least GameFreak threw us a bone here and gave Scrappy to two Pokémon who get STAB on Normal-type attacks. Kangaskhan and Miltank love hitting Spiritomb and Rotom with Return or Seismic Toss in UU, so this ability did not completely go to waste. It is also really funny to see Spiritomb get nailed with a super effective Focus Punch coming from Kangaskhan every now and then!
Motor Drive
What the ability does
If this Pokémon is hit by any Electric-type attack, including Thunder Wave, the damage or paralysis is nullified, and this Pokémon's Speed is boosted one stage.
Who should get it
Imagine, for a second, that this ability instead absorbs Fire-type attacks and is called something infinitely cooler like "Coal Fired" or "Stoke". Now imagine that this ability belonged to something badass like Infernape or Heatran. Imagine Infernape coming in on Rotom-A's Will-O-Wisp, Nasty Plotting or Swords Dancing on the switch, and then obliterating everything in its path with blistering speed. Imagine Choice Scarf Heatran... except it can switch moves AND it has a Life Orb. Hell, imagine that all this could belong to Magmortar, which could break opponents with a powerful STAB Flamethrower while still hitting Blissey with a powerful Cross Chop! Unfortunately, this cannot be...
Who actually gets it
Electivire is the best example of a great concept gone horribly wrong. Think about it: a mixed attacker that could take advantage of one of the more common and crucial attacking types in the game to sweep most teams! Unfortunately, in the end it failed when people realized that "It's super effective!" doesn't translate directly into a KO. Maybe if Electivire had better Special Attack to use its stronger STAB, or if it was a little less frail, it would be useful. Until then, it'll just remain as "that thing that noobs pair up with Gyarados."
Sticky Hold
What the ability does
If the enemy uses a move that would remove this Pokémon's item, the move will fail.
Who should get it
With the release of Platinum came a much larger pool of Pokémon who could learn Trick. This immediately decreased the effectiveness of Calm Mind sweepers and special walls like Blissey. If only these Pokémon could get Sticky Hold, that wouldn't be a problem! People would no longer be able to render offensive Calm Mind Suicune useless so easily, or Trick Blissey with Latias. Sure, Blissey would lose Natural Cure, but with access to Aromatherapy, that’s hardly an issue. I’m sure offensive Suicune would not miss Pressure either.
Who actually gets it
Of course, such a useful ability would only be given to three NU Pokémon: Gastrodon, Muk, and Swalot. Although admittedly these three like their immunity to Trick (especially Gastrodon), the prevalence of Trick in the tiers they are actually used in is much lower than that of OU, where Pokémon are in dire need of Sticky Hold. Again, thanks a lot, Game Freak.
Shed Skin
What the ability does
This Pokémon has a 30% chance of removing burn, freeze, paralysis, poison, and sleep at the end of each turn.
Who should get it
Pupitar gets Shed Skin as its ability, so it's not too out there to imagine the devastation that a Shed Skin Tyranitar would be capable of unleashing on its foes. With Shed Skin, Tyranitar gains the ability to potentially shrug off a burn from Rotom-A as if nothing ever happened. It could eat paralysis from Blissey while setting up Dragon Dance and proceed to sweep. Curse Tyranitar could use Rest without Sleep Talk and instead add a move like Earthquake, Fire Punch, or Aqua Tail to its devastating repertoire, all while packing the potential for one-turn 100% healing. In fact, pretty much everything that relies on Rest for healing would love a crack at waking up early for free.
Who actually gets it
Arbok and Seviper. Arbok has access to Intimidate for some potential niche usage, and with Seviper's awful defenses, why would you ever status it when you can just poke it lightly and KO it? Also, just as a teaser, they give it to stuff like Dragonair and Pupitar, then immediately snatch it away once it evolves. Terrible.
Tinted Lens
What the ability does
When this Pokémon uses a move that is not very effective on its target, the damage is doubled.
Who should get it
Again, another incredible offensive ability here. It’s very hard to narrow down which Pokémon should get such a universally great ability, because anything with a high base attacking stat could make great use of this. Can you imagine if something like Heatran got this ability? Come in and fire off Fire Blasts without worrying about Swampert walling you. I think the one Pokémon who SHOULD get this ability, though, is Flygon; I mean, seriously, look at those eyes! He basically has tinted lens built into his DNA! Although Dragon is already only resisted by Steel-types, it would make Flygon that much better if he could just click Outrage without worrying about being setup bait for Agiligross or Skarmory.
Who actually gets it
Despite being 4x weak to Stealth Rock, this ability is actually what convinced people that Yanmega did not belong in UU! People slapped a Choice Specs on Yanmega, just clicked Bug Buzz, and were easily able to destroy most of the metagame. That should illustrate how good Tinted Lens is! Unfortunately, the other two Pokémon who get it are Illumise and Venomoth, so don't expect the phenomenon to repeat itself any time soon.
Adaptability
What the ability does
The STAB modifier of the user becomes x2 instead of x1.5.
Who should get it
Weavile's lack of solid STAB option and absolutely useless ability means that it'd be a prime candidate for Adaptability. With Adaptability, it gets the equivalent of a 100 Base Power Ice Punch, 53 Base Power Ice Shard, and 93 Base Power Night Slash. This means that it's no longer looking at STAB options that are nearly out-damaged by Return, which can vastly improve its chances of actually sweeping teams, especially with a new coverage move in the form of Low Kick. Of course, anything with a decent set of dual STAB would get a huge boost from Adaptability. Mamoswine could use it to jack up the power of its Earthquake, Ice Shard, and Ice Fang, while Infernape would be looking at Fire Blast and Close Combat with the equivalent of 160 Base Power.
Who actually gets it
While I'm hard-pressed to say that Porygon-Z is a bad Pokemon, it's certainly got issues that overshadow its incredible power. Adaptability certainly improves the power of its normal-type STAB (remember the Hyper Beam OHKOs Blissey hype?), but the problem really comes with the fact that Normal STAB is terrible. So of course, Game Freak decides to hand this great ability to something with a terrible STAB type. Oh well, at least it didn't end up on a Poison-type!
Download
What the ability does
If this Pokémon is switched into an opponent with higher Defense than Special Defense, it gets a +1 Special Attack boost. If the opponent has more Special Defense, this Pokémon gets a +1 Attack boost. If the opponent has equal defenses, this Pokémon gets a +1 Special Attack boost.
Who should get it
Mixed sweepers only dream of having such a great and easy way of boosting their effectiveness. Pokémon like Infernape, Dragonite and Salamence would be even better than they already are with power boosts from Download. It wouldn’t matter who they switch into, because either way they will benefit. Salamence and Dragonite in particular would love this, as they could easily unleash a boosted Outrage or Draco Meteor depending on whom they switch into.
Who actually gets it
Porygon2 and Porygon-Z. Maybe if Return wasn't their only usable form of physical attack, Download would see a little more love on the two of them. However, with Trace on the former and Adaptability on the latter, Download just ends up being an unreliable boost on Pokémon that need a little more reliability to function correctly.
Magic Guard
What the ability does
The user is not damaged by any indirect form of damage, including status effects, abilities, move recoil, and item-based damage such as Life Orb or Sticky Barb.
Who should get it
In a metagame riddled with Stealth Rock, pretty much any Pokémon weak to Rock-type moves would love to have Magic Guard. If Moltres or Articuno got Magic Guard, they would probably have a good shot at jumping up a tier to OU. If more Pokémon had Magic Guard, we would probably see more Focus Sash usage, because Pokémon would be given a free set-up, almost guaranteed. The final obvious choice for an ability like Magic Guard are walls who get ruined by Toxic and weather effects. This includes Pokémon like Blissey and Celebi who can have their walling abilities rendered ineffective with Toxic Spikes up.
Who actually gets it
The only Pokémon in the game that gets Magic Guard is Clefable and its pre-evolutions. Although Clefable isn’t the best Pokémon in the game (not even making the OU cut), it can still be a nightmare for defensive UU players just because of this fantastic ability.
Unaware
What the ability does
If a Pokemon with the ability Unaware is the target of an attack, all of the attacker's [Special] Attack boosts are ignored. If a Pokemon with the ability Unaware is attacking, all of the defender's [Special] Defense boosts are ignored.
Who should get it
Something like Metagross would absolutely love access to Unaware. Being able to laugh at opposing Dragon Dance Gyarados' meager attempts to dent its metallic exterior is no joke, and Metagross becomes an even better check to a wide array of opponents. Dragon Dance Tyranitar, Swords Dance Lucario, Dragon Dance Salamence, Curse Tyranitar, Curse Snorlax, and even potentially specially offensive opponents such as Calm Mind Suicune become complete jokes for Metagross to deal with, being unable to OHKO with any attack and easily being hit back hard by one of Metagross' powerful attacks.
Who actually gets it
Bibarel, a Pokemon with defenses so pathetic that unboosted attacks have no problem utterly destroying it, and offenses so weak that opponents don't need Defense boosts to wall it flat out. Thanks, Game Freak.
Simple
What the ability does
The effect of stat boosts are doubled on this Pokémon. The maximum amount a stat can be boosted is still +6.
Who should get it
Simple just screams to be used with any Pokémon who have access to Dragon Dance! How broken would it be if Gyarados, Salamence, Kingdra, Tyranitar, or even Feraligatr had Simple? Sure, Gyarados and Mence would lose Intimidate, and Tyranitar would lose Sand Stream, but getting +2 Attack and +2 Speed in one turn is insane. With just one move, all of these Pokémon would probably be able to sweep teams clean. Other Pokémon who could put this to great use are Infernape and Azelf, who already outpace the majority of Pokémon and have access to Swords Dance and/or Nasty Plot. +4 in one stat after one turn of set up? Yes, please.
Who actually gets it
Bibarel, whose only boosting moves are Curse, Charge Beam, Defense Curl, and Amnesia. >__>
Solid Rock
What the ability does
When the user is hit by a super effective attack, the damage is reduced by 1/4.
Who should get it
Just imagine Solid Rock Tyranitar and try not to recoil in horror. Those 100/110/100 defenses look even sexier when you introduce the ability to shrug off even super effective hits with ease. With Solid Rock, Dragon Dance Tyranitar wouldn't even need Babiri Berry, as Bullet Punch would do a measly 77.5% damage maximum. In a sandstorm, Choice Specs Latias' Surf fails to 2HKO! Of course, Tyranitar loses the ability to set up its own Sandstorm, but that's what Hippowdon is for.
Other notable candidates include Gyarados, which would never be OHKOed by an unboosted HP Electric from offensive Suicune or defensive Vaporeon, and Dragonite, which cannot be OHKOed by Choice Scarf Heatran's Dragon Pulse or HP Ice, and is also not OHKOed by non-LO Starmie's Ice Beam.
Who actually gets it
Rhyperior and Camerupt. The former has Special Defense so poor that even with Solid Rock it can barely take most super effective special attacks, and the latter is barely capable of taking hits in the first place. Solid Rock is at least marginally useful on specially defensive Rhyperior in sandstorm, but given that UU's only source of sandstorm is Hippopotas, its viability is iffy at best.
Honorable Mentions
Poison Heal
What the ability does
Heals 1/8 HP per turn when poisoned.
Why it's fine where it is
The only Pokémon in the game with access to Poison Heal is Breloom, who is actually the perfect candidate for this fantastic ability. With access to Spore, Substitute, and Leech Seed, Breloom can be a true menace to eliminate if he comes in on something he's faster than. By using Spore, you can activate Toxic Orb, which will heal twice as much as Leftovers thanks to Poison Heal, then use Substitute and Leech Seed. Now Breloom will likely be at full health, and is extremely annoying to take out. If this were on any other Pokémon, I would probably say, "Poison Heal needs to be given to something that can Leech Seed!" but Game Freak actually got this one right!
Who could it break?
After giving this some thought, one Pokémon instantly came to mind as something I would love to see with Poison Heal: Snorlax. With its ability to already tank hits like a champion, healing up 12.5% per turn would be amazing for Snorlax! He would also be immune to other status effects, and his residual healing cannot be stolen away by being Tricked; even after a Pokémon loses Toxic Orb, they still remain poisoned. To top this all off, though, Snorlax would be given a STAB-boosted Facade which, backed by his 110 base attack, would hit devastatingly hard. Curselax would be a top-tiered Pokémon if it had Poison Heal, guaranteed!
Pure Power / Huge Power
What the ability does
Doubles the user's Attack stat.
Why it's fine where it is
Have you seen the Attack stats of the Pokemon that get these abilities? We're looking at Pokemon with 60 and 50 Base Attack becoming stronger than monsters like Slaking here, and the only reason they're anywhere near bad is because most of their other stats are simply "not good". Even then, Azumarill manages to be a beast in UU, sponging attacks from all over while hitting off of a massive 438 Attack. Medicham hits harder than pretty much anything in the tier with good prediction, and Choice Band variants are nearly impossible to wall. If these abilities were on anything with an even remotely serviceable Attack stat, they'd be banned in an instant.
Who could it break?
Ignoring the obvious ones (lol pure power slaking), there are a lot of less spectacular attackers that could be rendered monstrous by Pure Power. Let's take something like Togekiss, which would gain the same amount of power as Azumarill, but with a STAB priority move that is twice as powerful, immunities to Ground and Ghost to take advantage of, and the ability to stomp teams with a combination of powerful priority and a huge special movepool. STAB ExtremeSpeed backed by Brick Break, Grass Knot, Aura Sphere, and Fire Blast, anyone? Anything decent above around 65 Base Attack would just become such an absolute monster attacker that it'd just be out of the question.
Shadow Tag
What the ability does
Enemy Pokémon cannot switch out unless they have the ability Shadow Tag.Why it's fine where it is
This ability has been the reason that Wobbuffet has been banned in both generations where abilities exist, and for good reason. In ADV, Shadow Tag prevented Wobbuffet vs. Wobbuffet from EVER ending due to the way Struggle recoil worked and Wobbuffet's excellent defenses compared to its non-existant offenses. However, in DP, Wobbuffet truly shone when people found out just how obscenely effective the combination of Shadow Tag + Encore is. By Encoring a trapped opponent, the Wobbuffet user is able to definitively guarantee exactly what the opponent's next move will be, making it easy to set up any sturdy Pokemon that resists that move (or pretty much anything on a support move). Counter and Mirror Coat almost seems like side details compared to Encore Tag's extreme power.
Who could it break?
There are really two classes of Pokemon that Shadow Tag would render absolutely broken: quick Encore users and powerful setup Pokemon with solid immunities. Alakazam would be amazing with Shadow Tag, as it would gain the ability to switch in on pretty much ANY support move in the metagame, Encore it, and then start either setting up Calm Minds itself or switch to some other setup Pokemon. Jumpluff would also be an amazing Pokemon with Shadow Tag, Encore, Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, Substitute, Protect, and other silly stuff like Worry Seed and Memento. You could also take something like Shadow Tag Gyarados or Salamence and watch Choiced Ground-type attacks literally disappear from the metagame. Shadow Tag Curselax would make Choiced Draco Meteor take the high road and roll on out of the metagame. Scarfed Rotom would never use Shadow Ball again without fear of becoming Snorlax bait.
Wonder Guard
What the ability does
Only super effective attacks harm this Pokémon.
Why it's fine where it is
Okay, we all know this ability is simply amazing. It's no wonder Game Freak only gave it to a Pokémon who has a max HP of 1 (Shedinja). With Wonder Guard, Shedinja can only be hit by five attacking types in the game! It's a shame that the little Ghost / Bug is still damaged by entry hazards and damaging weather effects, or else I'm sure many more people would utilize Shedinja. Wonder Guard is a really neat ability, and Game Freak did a great job at ensuring it is balanced.
Who could it break
I'm sure most Pokemon players are familiar with the ever-amazing WonderTomb! That's right, back in the day, hacking a Spiritomb (Ghost + Dark has no weaknesses!) with Wonder Guard was all the rage, and it's how a lot of people cheated their way through the Battle Tower (and even in WiFi matches, for the less noble players!). Aside from Spiritomb, though, I would venture to say that this ability would be broken on literally any Pokemon in the game. With the right support, even the 1 HP Shedinja can be a pain to take out, so imagine if something with even the slightest bit of bulk had Wonder Guard. Yeah... let's leave this ability where it is.
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