CanadianWifier
Run Away With Me
Thank god Swagpard isn't a thing anymore, I'd feel gross having to write about it :\
Also, to help set the mood, Catgroove:
Overview
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Offensive Pivot
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name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Encore
move 3: Sucker Punch / Thunder Wave
move 4: U-turn
ability: Prankster
item: Black Glasses
evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
nature: Jolly
Moves
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Usage Tips
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Team Options
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Weather Support
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name: Weather Support
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Encore
move 3: Rain Dance / Sunny Day
move 4: U-turn
ability: Prankster
item: Damp Rock / Heat Rock
evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
nature: Jolly
Moves
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Set Details
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Team Options
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Nasty Plot
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name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Substitute / Encore
move 4: Copycat
ability: Prankster
item: Black Glasses
evs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
nature: Modest / Timid
Moves
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Set Details
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Usage Tips
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Team Options
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Other Options
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Checks & Counters
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**Fighting Types** Gurdurr and Hariyama are perfect examples of bulky Fighting-types who can switch-in against Liepard and swiftly kill it.
**Fairy Types** Slurpuff actually enjoys having its item removed, and Granbull can pretty much shut down any momentum Liepard was trying to achieve.
**Pawniard** Pawniard can switch-in safely against any set and threaten Liepard with a powerful STAB Iron Head.
**Mental Herb** Set-up sweepers can recover from one use of Encore and hit Liepard with a powerful boosted attack.
Also, to help set the mood, Catgroove:
Overview
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- Is a black cat, bad luck for opponents.
- Access to prankster, one of the best support abilities in the game
- STAB Knock Off and Sucker Punch allow it hit very hard.
- Access to Nasty Plot prevents it from becoming too one-dimensional.
- Priority Encore / Taunt allows it to scare many set-up sweepers into not setting up / prevent it in the first place.
- Priority Thunder Wave can allow it to act as NU's Thundurus, saving the team from a potential sweep.
- Fast U-turn can be used to scout out opponents after crippling them, and avoid attacks directed at Liepard.
- Access to weather moves and Prankster makes it a very popular choice for a secondary 8-turn weather setter for teams.
- It's rather frail, can't take hits very well.
- It's very prediction reliant, as opposing set-up mons may just attack predicting Liepard
Offensive Pivot
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name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Encore
move 3: Sucker Punch / Thunder Wave
move 4: U-turn
ability: Prankster
item: Black Glasses
evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
nature: Jolly
Moves
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- Knock Off is the main offensive move Liepard has, as it both deals decent damage and disrupts teams by removing items.
- Encore is one of the best moves Liepard has to abuse with Prankster, as it can often lock set-up pokemon into their set-up moves, rendering them useless and forcing switches.
- Thunder Wave allows it to act as NU's version of Thundurus, as priority Thunder Wave can quickly put a stop to otherwise lethal sweeps. It's also very helpful for slower, bulkier teams, as anything faster than Liepard [Pyroar, Archeops, Sceptile] won't enjoy being paralyzed; and once it's slowed down, it can be handled easier by the rest of the team.
- Sucker punch is generally more useful on offensive teams, as they are normally faster than anything that Liepard would want to Paralyze anyway, and Sucker Punch allows it to act as a revenge-killer. It can pick off many weakened pokemon that either rely on priority attacks such as Feraligatr, or that are naturally faster, such as Pyroar, Archeops, and Sceptile.
- U-turn is very important on this set, as it guarantees you to keep up momentum after crippling something with Encore. The opponent will be forced to switch, and by having the ability to simply U-turn out, you can see what they bring out and act accordingly.
- Pursuit can also be used to play mindgames vs opposing sweepers who have to play around Sucker Punch / Pursuit, but generally U-turn, Encore, and Sucker Punch are more important.
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- Max speed allows it to outspeed basically every priority user in the tier, guarenteeing it to be able to cripple something with a status move.
- Blackglasses are used over Life Orb as the only attacking moves being used for damage are Dark-type, and there's no sense in wearing yourself down every turn for an extra 10% damage. Blackglasses are being used over Dead plate because they're cool fucking glasses.
Usage Tips
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- Many set-up sweepers will be afraid to set-up if they see you have a Liepard out of fear of being encored in the next turn, so they often just attack trying to predict Liepard switching in. Use these mindgames Liepard causes to your advantage.
- Try not to let Liepard take any direct attacks, as it's super frail and will likely die to any STAB neutral hit.
Team Options
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- Teams that appreciate not having to worry about set-up sweepers enjoy Liepard's support - be it balanced teams, or teams trying to set-up themselves before their opponents.
- Slower bulkier teams consisting of pokemon such as Samurott, Feraligatr, Luxray, Offensive Vileplume, and other slow but hard-hitting pokemon appreciate the Thunder Wave support from Liepard to slow down faster threats.
- Fast offensive teams with pokemon such as Slurpuff, Feraligatr, Mespirit, and Pyroar appreciate Liepard's Encore + Sucker Punch as it can disrupt Set-up sweepers trying to plow through the frail team.
- Poison-types are always good good partners for Liepard, as they resist all 3 of Liepard's weaknesses, and lure in Psychic-types which can grant Liepard the switch-in opportunities it needs. Qwilfish and Garbodor are especially nice as they can set up Spikes which are super nice to have with how many switches Liepard forces.
Weather Support
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name: Weather Support
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Encore
move 3: Rain Dance / Sunny Day
move 4: U-turn
ability: Prankster
item: Damp Rock / Heat Rock
evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
nature: Jolly
Moves
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- Knock off is a great move to carry, as it's both powerful STAB, and also annoying utility as it removes items from opposing pokemon.
- Encore is a move Lipard really can't go wrong with running; being able to lock an opposing pokemon into their set-up move is fantastic team support. ]
- Whether you're running Rain or Sun, pick the corresponding weather move.
- U-turn can allow free switch-ins to Weather abusers, and keeps up momentum in general.
Set Details
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- Max attack is used to Maximize damage output from Knock off; even with max HP Liepard is very frail so there's no use investing in its lackluster defenses.
- The weather rock is there to maximize the amount of turns you can abuse your weather for.
- An alternate spread of 252 HP / 252+ Atk / 4 SDef with a Brave nature and 0 Speed IVs can be used to have a very slow U-turn, generally allowing Liepard to take the hit, and get your preferred weather abuser in safely. However Volbeat is slower than Liepard, and also gets priority weather, so slow U-turns are better left to that.
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- Bring it in on Ghosts / Psychics to scare them out with the threat of Knock off, etc
- Generally you're just going to get your weather up and die.
- Liepard shouldn't be your first weather setter, your first weather setter should have Stealth Rock and your weather move. Liepard should be saved until later in the game, to set your weather back up for a second time.
Team Options
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- If you're running Rain: Ludicolo, Qwilfish, Omastar, Carracosta, Seismitoad, Swanna.
- If you're running Sun: Victreebel, Sawsbuck, Typhlosion, Pyroar, Vileplume, Exeggutor.
- With either weather, Uxie is a great primary weather setter, as it gets access to both weather moves, Stealth Rock, and Memento.
Nasty Plot
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name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Dark Pulse
move 3: Substitute / Encore
move 4: Copycat
ability: Prankster
item: Black Glasses
evs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
nature: Modest / Timid
Moves
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- Nasty Plot allows Liepard to quickly boost its special attack and become an immediate threat.
- Dark Pulse is the only attacking move here. Because of how little resists there are to Dark-type attacks in XY, mono-dark STAB is move acceptable than ever.
- Substitute can be used on a predicted status move or switch. It also protects Liepard from attacks in case an opponent lives during its sweep.
- Encore can also be used, this time for puniching opponents for choosing the wrong move in order to get more Nasty Plot boosts.
- Copycat is the crux of this set [IT ACTUALLY IS, OKAY QC TEAM?]. After going for a Dark Pulse the previous turn, Copycat quickly becomes a priority attack that Liepard can abuse, dealing serious damage to any non-resists with +1 priority.
Set Details
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- Max speed it to allows Liepard to be faster than almost all other priority users in the tier, which protects it from something coming in and ruining the Copycat chain.
- Modest nature is preferred, as the power boost it provides is significant and if you're relying on Copycat's +1 priority speed isn't that necessary.
- Timid nature can be used it you're worried about pokemon faster than base 95 using a priority move and messing up the Copycat chain, however the power drop is noticeable.
Black Glasses areso much coolerthan Dread Plate, it's literally a pair of black sunglasses on a black cat; how fucking awesome is that?
Blackglasses are used over Life Orb as the only attacking move being used for damage is Dark-type, and there's no sense in wearing yourself down every turn for an extra 10% damage.
Usage Tips
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- Bring it in on pokemon that would generally be scarred out by Liepard, such as frail Psychic- and Ghost-types, and set up a substitute. From there you either boost, and sweep, or switch out if they sent in a counter.
- Try to avoid reveling your set too early, as most people wouldn't be expecting SubNP Liepard, and the surprise value is your friend.
- If you see bulky Dark resists, eliminate them before even trying to sweep - specifically Gurdurr, Hariyama, Slurpuff, and Granbull.
Team Options
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- Flying, Fairy, or Psychic types that can eliminate the Dark-type resists are crucial for this set to work.
- Bulky birds such as Dodrio, Pelipper, Xatu, or Swanna work well as they can switch into the Bug and Fighting attacks aimed at Liepard, and then threaten to KO the Fighting-type. Bulky Fairy-types such as CM Slurpuff, and Granbull also work.
- Poison-types such as Vileplume, Garbodor, or Qwilfish can switch in to all three of Liepard's weaknesses and eliminate the Fairy-types in question.
Other Options
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- Taunt to prevent set-up all together
- Play Rough to hit Gurdurr and other Fighting-type switch-ins hard
- Trick + Choice Band [QC, is this worth a set??]
- Yawn to force switches and gain momentum with U-turn
- Hone Claws + Gunk Shot to lure Granbull and other fairies.
Checks & Counters
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**Fighting Types** Gurdurr and Hariyama are perfect examples of bulky Fighting-types who can switch-in against Liepard and swiftly kill it.
**Fairy Types** Slurpuff actually enjoys having its item removed, and Granbull can pretty much shut down any momentum Liepard was trying to achieve.
**Pawniard** Pawniard can switch-in safely against any set and threaten Liepard with a powerful STAB Iron Head.
**Mental Herb** Set-up sweepers can recover from one use of Encore and hit Liepard with a powerful boosted attack.
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