[OVERVIEW]
Obstagoon's unique Normal / Dark typing makes it immune to Ghost- and Psychic-type attacks, giving it a unique niche as the only fully evolved Pokemon immune to Calyrex-S's STAB moves. Its decent Attack stat and Guts + STAB-boosted Facade give it a powerful offensive presence; coverage moves such as Knock Off, Switcheroo, and Ice Punch enable it to further threaten metagame staples such as Yveltal, Necrozma-DM, and Lunala. Obstagoon is severely limited by its susceptibility to chip damage from burn and entry hazards. In addition, its lack of useful resistances beyond its niche and a middling Speed means it will be is easily OHKOed or 2HKOed by most threats in the tier. Thus, it faces competition with most physical attackers in the tier, such as Marshadow, Zekrom, and Rayquaza, which will find more opportunities to switch in and threaten the opposing team. Obstagoon also cannot function as a team's sole Ghost-type answer and as such constricts teambuilding.
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Facade
move 3: Ice Punch / Fire Punch / Parting Shot
move 4: Switcheroo / Bulk Up
item: Flame Orb
ability: Guts
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Knock Off has a high chance to 2HKO specially defensive Necrozma-DM, OHKOes Calyrex-S, and has the great advantage of removing the foes' precious items, such as Ho-Oh and Yveltal's Heavy-Duty Boots, leaving them susceptible to Stealth Rock. Facade becomes extremely powerful once Obstagoon is burned, 2HKOing most foes that don't resist it, such as Eternatus, Yveltal, defensive Xerneas, and physically defensive Ho-Oh. Switcheroo lets it exchange its Flame Orb after it has been activated for a more useful item such as Leftovers, which mitigates the damage Obstagoon takes from its burn, greatly increasing its longevity. Meanwhile, Obstagoon can Bulk Up against Ghost-types that fail to damage it like non-Focus Sash Calyrex-S, physically offensive Giratina-O, and Shedinja, which makes it extremely menacing against most physical walls; at +1, Ice Punch OHKOes Zygarde before Power Construct, and Fire Punch Obstagoon OHKOes Ferrothorn. Obstagoon can opt for Parting Shot to become an offensive pivot. An Adamant nature maximizes its offensive presence, and once boosted, allows it to OHKO Lunala with Knock Off and offers a decent chance to OHKO Yveltal and specially defensive Necrozma-DM with a burn-boosted Facade or Knock Off, respectively. A Jolly nature allows it to Speed tie with Rayquaza and always outrun many foes with less than 95 base Speed like Groudon, Kyogre, Zekrom, and Ho-Oh; however, Obstagoon prefers the consistent wallbreaking power that an Adamant nature provides.
Obstagoon is mostly used on bulky offense teams, where its ability to threaten defensive staples like Xerneas, Lunala, Kyogre, and Yveltal is appreciated by offensive cleaners like Bulk Up Marshadow, Dragon Dance Zekrom, and Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM. Also, they break through Eternatus with more ease than Obstagoon, and in return, Obstagoon can either give its teammates more setup opportunities with Parting Shot or wear down its teammates' checks with its STAB moves. It also serves as the best answer to Choice-locked Calyrex-S; on top of being immune to both its Psychic- and Ghost-type moves, Calyrex-S will be crippled by Flame Orb if it uses Trick on Obstagoon, while Obstagoon can later Trick its received Choice item back to another foe thanks to Switcheroo. While using Obstagoon, it's extremely important to play cautiously around Knock Off users before it has activated its Flame Orb, as Obstagoon is dead weight prior to activation. Yveltal is able to choose between more offensive sets featuring Life Orb, Hone Claws, or even a Choice item because Obstagoon's presence relieves some of the pressure on it. Obstagoon is hindered by entry hazards, so it appreciates Defog support: Ho-Oh, in particular, melts entry hazard setters like Ferrothorn and Necrozma-DM and can Thunder Wave foes like Eternatus and Yveltal, which lets Obstagoon outspeed and 2HKO them reliably with Facade. Wish support from Clefable and Blissey vastly increase Obstagoon's longevity, letting it break through the opposing team more reliably. Blissey can also Thunder Wave foes like Marshadow and Yveltal on an anticipated switch in, which Obstagoon can capitalizes on to KO them. Glare Zygarde is another great paralysis spreader that switches into Marshadow for Obstagoon, while Substitute + Dragon Dance Zygarde takes advantage of burned foes like Yveltal, Necrozma-DM, and Groudon to use Substitute. SubSeed Calyrex-S and SubSeed Calyrex-I take advantage of burned foes like Yveltal and Necrozma-DM to put immense pressure on the opposing team; also, they can OHKO Eternatus with their STAB moves. The latter especially likes the support Obstagoon offers in dealing with opposing Calyrex-S. Obstagoon can also be used in Sticky Web teams, which make up for its middling Speed and makes a Guts-boosted Obstagoon extremely difficult to stop. In return, Obstagoon is an excellent Calyrex-S switch-in, one of the best anti-offense tools which can easily revenge kill Obstagoon's teammates. It also threatens the most common Defog users in the tier, such as Yveltal, Ho-Oh, and Lunala, but can't switch into them repeatedly.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
An alternative EV spread of 168 HP / 248 Atk / 92 Spe lets Obstagoon survive a +2 Draining Kiss from Calyrex-S and increases its overall bulk while outrunning Adamant Dracovish, but the loss in Speed is detrimental and makes it potentially slower than common threats like offensive Ho-Oh, offensive Calm Mind Kyogre, Groudon, and Zygarde. Fling can be added to this spread to offer a chance for Obstagoon to take on Focus Sash Calyrex-S on one-on-one, which has a 75% to OHKO Calyrex-S thanks to the burn damage.
Check and Counters
====
**Steel-types**: Ferrothorn is one of the best checks to Obstagoon: while it does not want to take a Guts-boosted Fire Punch, physically defensive Ferrothorn is able to tank Knock Off and OHKO Obstagoon with Body Press or deplete Obstagoon's HP with chip damage from Iron Barbs and entry hazards. Skarmory and Corviknight can mitigate any damage taken from Obstagoon with Roost and also OHKO it with Body Press. Finally, Zamazenta-C is resistant to Obstagoon's STAB moves and Fire Punch fails to 3HKO it, meaning Zamazenta-C can use Obstagoon as setup fodder.
**Chip Damage**: All forms of chip damage heavily cripple Obstagoon, as it does not have any form of recovery and is slowly chipped already by its burn; thus, Rocky Helmet damage, Iron Barbs, and Leech Seed damage from foes like Toxapex, Tangrowth, and Ferrothorn can all quickly reduce its longevity. While SubSeed Calyrex-S cannot damage Obstagoon directly with its STAB moves, Leech Seed + Substitute in combination with the burn damage drain its HP fast enough to force Obstagoon out.
**Strong Attackers**: Obstagoon is relatively fragile by the Ubers standards, and is threatened by most neutral moves in the tier, such as Zekrom's Bolt Strike, Eternatus's Dynamax Cannon, and Yveltal's Oblivion Wing.
**Zygarde**: While it does not appreciate receiving a Flame Orb and cannot take a +1 Guts-boosted Ice Punch, Zygarde completely walls Obstagoon otherwise and can use it as setup fodder with its Coil set.
**Faster Threats**: Due to its middling Speed and insufficient defensive stats, Obstagoon is extremely weak to any foes that outrun it. For example, Marshadow is immune to Facade and OHKO it with Low Kick or Close Combat, even though it has to be cautious to not take a Knock Off and doesn't like Parting Shot. A Speed boosted Zekrom can OHKO Obstagoon with Bolt Strike, and Life Orb Eternatus can heavily damage Obstagoon and shrug off some of the damage it takes in return thanks to Recover.
**Super Effective Coverage**: While it does not appreciate taking Facade, U-turn Yveltal severely weakens Obstagoon, and pivots to faster teammates that force Obstagoon out. Choice-locked Calyrex-S is usually completely walled by Obstagoon, but Nasty Plot Calyrex-S can easily OHKO it with a +2 Draining Kiss, and rarer options like Pollen Puff on Choice Specs variant can claim a surprise OHKO on Obstagoon.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Eledyr, 415367]]
- Quality checked by: [[FatFighter2, 526363], [Lasen, 273339], [Aberforth, 249382]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Isaiah, 375662], [UT, 523866]]
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