[SET]
name: Mixed
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Hidden Power Ground
item: Expert Belt / Life Orb
nature: Naive
Ivs: 29 HP
evs: 48 Atk / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> Not forgetting Entei has a huge Attack stat, Entei can cause some great damage on both ends of the spectrum. Stone Edge is Entei's best physical option, since it can deal heavy damage to the likes of Zapdos, 2HKOing even without Stealth Rock's assistance. Calm Mind pushes Entei's Special Attack even higher to deal great damage with Flamethrower or Fire Blast. Hidden Power Ground is probably your best choice for the last slot, as a +1 Hidden Power Ground can OHKO Heatran with Stealth Rock support, and other grounded Fire types
don't like it much either. Hidden Power Ice can also be used deal with those pesky dragons, although Salamence and Dragonite will take a lot from Stone Edge. Blissey will also be a problem, since Stone Edge is a 3HKO at best.</p>
<p>If you fear Water types, Hidden Power Grass is an option since it deals great damage, especially on Swampert. Bite deals more to Psychic types than Stone Edge, and is more reliable, although you will have to catch the faster ones on the switch. Return is also viable, but it is best paired with Hidden Power Grass for best results, or Hidden Power Ground if you fear Empoleon. Entei does not have a huge amount of options available to him, but this set
utilizes his most offensive ones.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm SunnyBeamer
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
move 3: Sunny Day
move 4: SolarBeam
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> This is one of Entei's most destructive sets, and can really catch people off-guard. The idea is to feign like your running a standard Calm Minder until your opponent's Bulky Water
Pokémon comes in to play. Most of the time, Entei and other Fire
Pokémon are completely walled by Bulky Waters, but this set is nearly
guaranteed to beat all of them. As soon as Vaporeon, Suicune, and Milotic come
into play, brighten the sky with Sunny Day, effectively
halving the power of their Water attacks while allowing you to use
SolarBeam every turn. After a Calm Mind, Vaporeon's Surf will only be able to muster a maximum of 32%, while you can retaliate with a +1
SolarBeam, doing a minimum of 92% to the standard Vaporeon. For
Suicune that choose to Calm Mind up with you while you Sunny Day,
SolarBeam will still hit offensive versions for a minimum of 69%, easily 2HKOing even if they went for a second boost.</p>
<p> After eliminating your opponent's Bulky Water counter, Entei is free to sweep with its Fire STAB, which should decimate most
Pokémon as it is boosted by Calm Mind and the Sun. Flamethrower is here for reliability, but Fire Blast gives even more power, allowing you to OHKO a 385 HP Salamence with Stealth Rock damage over 50% of the time. It also has a 17% chance to 2HKO Calm Blissey with Stealth Rock, just to give you an idea of its power.</p>
<p> This set is most effective when paired with a Dugtrio to eliminate Tyranitar and Heatran, two
Pokémon that give this set problems.</p>
[SET]
name: Special Choice
move1: Eruption / Overheat
move2: Hidden Power Ground
move3: Stone Edge
move4: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
item: Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
nature: Naive
Ivs: 29 HP
evs: 80 Atk / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> Entei's offensive strength lies in its two very powerful fire moves: Overheat and Eruption. Although the common presence of Stealth Rock makes using Eruption fairly difficult, some prediction can get Entei in on slower Stealth Rockers like Hippowdon or Bronzong to unleash a massively powerful attack. However, Overheat is a much more reliable alternative and fits the hit-and-run nature of choice sets.</p>
<p>Hidden Power Ground provides coverage, and hits pesky Heatrans hard. Entei's huge Attack stat shouldn't be forgotten, as Stone
Edge is a fearsome weapon for taking out Zapdos, Gyarados, and Salamence, 2HKOing all three with Stealth Rock Support. The final slot is for late-game sweeping; the difference between Flamethrower and Fire Blast always comes down to Power vs Accuracy. </p>
<p>The Speed EVs allow Entei to outspeed most
Salamence, as well as positive natured base 90s.</p>
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move1: Calm Mind
move2: Flamethrower / Lava Plume / Fire Blast
move3: Substitute
move4: Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 184 HP / 148 SpAtk / 176 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> Entei's high HP makes it one of the few special attackers that can conceivably attempt to overcome Blissey through special attacking alone. Calm Mind boosts Entei's average base 90 Special Attack and mediocre base 75 Special Defense enough that it should eventually be able to at least 2HKO everything in the game. One of Entei's greatest assets is its ability to create Substitutes that are worth over 100 HP, thereby forcing Blissey to use two Seismic Tosses to break each one; combining this with Entei's Pressure ability will wear at Seismic Toss's PP rapidly.</p>
<p>The choice between the Fire moves and the Hidden Powers is interlocked between the two slots. Lava Plume has a high burn chance with which to threaten Salamence, Tyranitar, Gyarados, and others before Entei has many Calm Minds, while Fire Blast is much more powerful but not nearly as reliable. Ultimately, Flamethrower is the best option for an Entei that intends to sweep with six Calm Mind boosts, because it is both very accurate and the attack that lets Entei beat Blissey most easily, as it has a good chance of 2HKOing, all Calm Minds considered. Hidden Power Ice is good for Salamence and Flygon, while Hidden Power Grass hits Rhyperior harder and 2HKOes Swampert without any boosts. With Hidden Power Grass, Lava Plume's viability increases because Entei then can't hit Dragons. Either way, Lava Plume is decent for Tyranitar, who takes only 26% at maximum from an unboosted Hidden Power Grass and less from Fire Blast or Flamethrower.</p>
<p>184 HP EVs gives Entei 417 HP total, which has been chosen for a very specific reason. Assuming there are no adverse weather conditions, Entei and Blissey enter the field simultaneously, and Blissey uses Seismic Toss immediately regardless of what Entei does, Entei can make 7 Substitutes before its HP is cut too low. As Blissey is incapable of breaking a single Substitute from Entei with one Seismic Toss, Entei is free to use Calm Mind once after each Substitute turn. Therefore, by the time Entei is making its seventh Substitute, it will have Calm Minded six times, and after Blissey uses Seismic Toss the same turn, its Substitute will remain intact. Entei would now have a 46.4% chance of 2HKOing Blissey with Flamethrower after including the burn chance, which granted isn't the most appetizing risk because if it doesn't 2HKO Blissey it will faint. However,Entei would also have wasted 28 of Seismic Toss's 32 PP by the time its seventh Substitute breaks, so a portion of preparing Entei to sweep should be eliminating at least four of Blissey's Seismic Toss PP, which isn't too complicated to accomplish. A safer course is to simply begin using Flamethrower after 5 Calm Minds, which is a guaranteed 3HKO;Entei will gain enough Leftovers recovery while Blissey uses Softboiled to make more Substitutes. Fire Blast will always 2HKO Blissey at five Calm Minds, but risks missing and subsequently being stalled out of PP.</p>
<p>The Speed, along with the Timid nature, is sufficient to outrun all Pokémon at base 90 Speed. Along with that also come Garchomp and neutral Speed nature base 100 Pokémon, and Jolly Heracross. The rest is invested in Special Attack to give Entei's unboosted attacks a bit more force.</p>
[SET]
name: Physical Choice
move1: Fire Fang
move2: Stone Edge
move3: Return
move4: Iron Head
item: Choice Band
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p> Entei's physical movepool received a significant boost with the addition of Stone Edge, but it still is very limited, with just barely enough to round out a Choice Band set. Stone Edge is for type coverage, and Fire Fang is a lackluster STAB move. Strangely enough, Return is the most powerful non-Giga Impact physical move that Entei gets, and is a vanilla move to hit Pokémon in general. Iron Head is for the 2HKO on Tyranitar, who likes to switch in to this all day.</p>
<p> An Adamant nature will boost Entei's Attack and ensures that Stone Edge will 2HKO bulky Gyarados after Intimidate, but a Jolly nature lets Entei outrun all 90 and 95 base Speed Pokémon. Either way, Entei should have maximum Attack and Speed.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Shadow Ball or Bite can hit Gengar and Starmie harder than Entei's other moves. Reflect is usable on the standard defensive set, but Will-O-Wisp essentially does the same thing and Entei is usually better off attacking. Aside from that, Entei has nothing else of worth that hasn't been mentioned.</p>
[EVs]
<p> In most cases, Entei's poor defensive typing make any attempts at defensive EVing futile. Therefore, when in doubt, just run 252 Speed on Entei and maximize an offensive stat. The specifics of the more finely tuned EV spreads have been discussed in the appropriate sets.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Entei received numerous improvements in D/P, but nothing spectacular enough to boost it from its seat in low BL. It still suffers from a sub-par movepool and is a Fire-type upon which bulkiness is wasted. Taking 25% from Stealth Rock without an immunity to Spikes is poor, not being immune to Sandstorm makes it worse, and having common weaknesses in Water, Ground, and Rock seals Entei's fate.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Water-types that use their Special Attack such as Milotic, Vaporeon, and Starmie are usually the best counter to Entei, but should be
wary of the Sunnybeamer. Tentacruel works especially well because it is completely immune to Toxic and shakes off SolarBeam with its Poison typing; it also has excellent Special Defense and ties with Entei in Speed.</p>
<p> Flygon ties in speed with Entei, but can hit it hard with Earthquake. Aerodactyl dislikes Stone Edge, but is much faster than Entei and OHKOes with Choice Banded Stone Edge. Salamence fears burns less, because it has many viable special attacks with which to hit Entei, including Hydro Pump and Draco Meteor. Dragonite is easily the least apt Dragon for countering Entei due to lack of Intimidate and a Rock weakness, but it can survive a Stone Edge and reply with Earthquake. Hariyama has a natural Rock resistance and essentially a Fire resistance thanks to Thick Fat and can Cross Chop or Stone Edge Entei, but like many others, it hates burns. Snorlax also has Thick Fat and often sports Rest to clear itself of status, and can Curse and Earthquake.</p>
<p>Tyranitar can easily take any offensive attack from Entei barring a burning Lava Plume, and its Sand Stream ability completely incapacitates the Sunny Day set. Additionally, Tyranitar has decent Special Defense, which is boosted further by Sandstorm, and consequently can counter the Calm Mind set. Rhyperior dislikes burns and Hidden Powers, but has very high Attack and Defense, so even Iron Head is no obstruction. Ground-types like Donphan and Hippowdon counter the Choice Band set well.</p>
<p> With no way to boost the power of its physical attacks, Blissey can stall out most Entei sets but must be careful of Calm Mind in
conjunction with Substitute.</p>
