Pokémon Leavanny

[Yoshiblaze]

Base Stats: 75 HP / 103 Atk / 80 Def / 70 SpA / 80 SpD / 92 Spe
Abilities: Swarm / Chlorophyll / Overcoat
Notable Moves:
Sticky Web
Lunge
Leaf Blade
Knock Off
Swords Dance
Low Kick
Switcheroo
Trailblaze
Leaf Storm
Bullet Seed
Tera Blast

Full Movepool

Level-Up
Slash
Tackle
Razor Leaf
String Shot
False Swipe
Struggle Bug
Fell Stinger
Helping Hand
Leaf Blade
X-Scissor
Entrainment
Swords Dance
Leaf Storm

Egg
Screech
Snore
Synthesis
Worry Seed
Switcheroo

TM
Take Down
Charm
Agility
Protect
Low Kick
Struggle Bug
Trailblaze
Pounce
Facade
Magical Leaf
Endure
Sunny Day
Rain Dance
Bullet Seed
False Swipe
Shadow Claw
Air Slash
Sleep Talk
Seed Bomb
Reflect
Light Screen
Grass Knot
Poison Jab
Rest
Swords Dance
Substitute
Iron Defense
X-Scissor
Giga Drain
Energy Ball
Calm Mind
Helping Hand
Pollen Puff
Baton Pass
Grassy Terrain
Giga Impact
Leaf Storm
Bug Buzz
Hyper Beam
Solar Beam
Tera Blast
Knock Off
Bug Bite
Lunge
Grassy Glide

From Prevolution Only
Flail
Sticky Web

Pros:
- Leavanny's decent Speed, unique typing, and decent movepool allow Leavanny to function as a decent Sticky Web lead.
- Leavanny's typing naturally threatens the best Spinner in the tier in Great Tusk, allowing it to keep up Webs quite easily.
- The combination of either of its STABs in Lunge and Leaf Blade plus coverage in Low Kick and Knock Off provide shockingly good neutral coverage, making Leavanny a decent threat after a Swords Dance. Said coverage can also easily be shored up with Tera Blast.
- Chlorophyll allows Leavanny to fit right alongside Torkoal and all of the great Protosynthesis Pokemon as a potential Sun sweeper.

Cons:
- Pretty much anything Leavanny tries to do can be done better by something else, mainly that Ribombee's higher Speed makes it a better Webs setter and Lilligant-H's better typing and access to Sleep Powder and Ice Spinner make it a better a Chlorophyll abuser (not to mention other options like Shiftry or Scovillain).
- Bug/Grass is one of the worst type combinations in the game, saddling Leavanny with a numerous amount of common weaknesses like Flying, Fire, Ice, and Rock.
- While it has pretty decent coverage, Leavanny is unable to threaten a number of good physical walls like Corviknight, Moltres, and Zapdos.
- Leavanny's pretty poor bulk means that it doesn't take neutral hits particularly well either, which makes it difficult for it to Swords Dance up or do much after setting Webs.

Tera Potential
If you're using Leavanny as a Webs setter, you likely won't want to Terastalize it much, reserving it only for when it's absolutely required to get Webs up. As a Sun sweeper, it can use Tera both to shed its terrible defensive typing and help it get past counters that would otherwise prevent a sweep.

- Blocks Rapid Spin from removing Webs, as well blocking the rare Fake Out which could break your Sash

- Gives Leavanny a way to hit Corviknight, OHKOing at +2 in the Sun. Also generally makes Tera Blast a strong option in the Sun and hits the otherwise annoying Amoonguss.

- Can also help Leavanny break through Corviknight with Tera Blast while also hitting Moltres.

-Tera Bug in combination with Swarm makes Lunge a 240 BP move when Leavanny's at low HP, letting it deal decent damage after setting Webs.

Potential Sets
Sticky Web Lead
Leavanny @ Focus Sash
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Low Kick
- Knock Off
- Sticky Web
Simply lead off with Leavanny, click Webs, and then attack until you go down. Maximum Special Attack investment allows Leavanny to OHKO HP-invested Great Tusks with Leaf Storm, while Knock Off provides some utility in removing items like the Heavy-Duty Boots that Webs teams hate seeing. The last slot is sort of a filler slot, you can use Low Kick to deal solid damage to a Kingambit trying to get some early damage against your team, your choice of Lunge or Bug Buzz as a second STAB option (note that if you do run a Bug move you should run Swarm), or Pounce to slow the Pokemon in front of you down. Tera Ghost blocks Rapid Spin in an emergency. Max Attack EVs can be used instead of SpA to maximize the damage Lunge does, especially in Swarm range.

Sun Sweeper
Leavanny @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera Type: Fire / Electric
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off / Low Kick
- Tera Blast
With Sun support from Torkoal, Leavanny can potentially threaten a sweep with Chlorophyll, Swords Dance, and its decent 103 Attack stat. Leaf Blade is its main STAB option and hits the likes of Dondozo and Ting-Lu, Tera Blast with either Tera Fire or Tera Electric lets Leavanny get through Corviknight, with the latter also hitting Moltres and the former being a very strong Sun-boosted move. The last slot can be either Knock Off for utility and hitting Gholdengo without needing to Tera or Low Kick for hitting Heatran and Roaring Moon without needing to run Lunge for the latter.

Conclusion
Leavanny is very likely heading towards another stint in ZU after missing out last generation, simply being outclassed in everything it wants to do and not doing what it can do particularly well either. However, while many better options exist for Leavanny's jobs, you can also do much worse. So if you decide to use Leavanny anyway, it can still get the job done and it certainly has the potential to surprise you.

 

[Eeveeto]

A very painfully missed opportunity of giving this bug Sharpness. So sad.