Sunday, May 18, 2014

What do you want out of the ORAS move tutors?

Personally, I'm watching out for a few gen 6 Pokémon that still don't have access to many of the recurring tutor moves, especially since as a rule gen 6 Pokémon have absolutely terrible egg moves.

- With Diggersby having the OU cut-off line within arms' reach (and just to give you an idea how close it is, its arms aren't particularly lengthy), it may well be that the additional versatility provided by moves such as the elemental punches, Iron Head, Knock Off, Drain Punch or Superpower might be enough for it to actually make it.

- All those moves may also be a great asset for Pangoro, who's one of those lousy Pokémon that have the exclusivity of a move that has the potential to be really great, in this case Parting Shot. Drain Punch and Superpower in particular would be nice; at the moment there's no real consensus as to what should be its Fighting move of choice, with Storm Throw, Hammer Arm, Sky Uppercut, Circle Throw, Power-Up Punch and Brick Break all getting some use. (Not sure why you'd use Sky Uppercut or Brick Break with Storm Throw completely outclassing them, but hey, I'm not using Pangoro either, so I wouldn't know.)

- Of all the Pokémon in the entire game, Malamar is the one with the most potential for improvement. Currently, its Contrary + Superpower combo is being squandered on a movepool where the best STAB options are Psycho Cut and Night Slash. No Earthquake, no Stone Edge, in fact its non-STAB movepool is really barren too, with the likes of Return, Rock Slide and Aerial Ace being the most notable ones. (I would like to remind everyone that this is an aquatic Pokémon without any Water moves, least of all Waterfall.) Heck, Topsy-Turvy and Foul Play are often seen in the fourth moveslot. For a Pokémon that's supposed to be an offensive powerhouse, this is embarrassing. Okay, so the elemental punches are off-limits, but something like the newly-buffed Gunk Shot would make sense. But the big prizes would be Zen Headbutt, and especially Knock Off. Oh god could you imagine how awesome Knock Off Malamar would be? I'm really hoping it doesn't just stay in the realm of fantasy. I love you, Malamar, and I really want to use you, but right now you're just not good enough.

- Why does Tyrantrum not get Outrage? Sure, it's much more of a coin toss decision with Dragon Claw now that Fairies are around, but it should at least be an option. Oh well, if Outrage returns as a tutor, which it probably will, Tyrantrum getting it will be a guarantee.

- Aurorus would really like Hyper Voice. Right now the only ways to abuse Refrigerate are Hyper Beam, which sucks, and Nature Power, which is easy to miss when looking through its movepool. Also, if there's any chance we might get a Power Gem tutor (unlikely, but still), Aurorus would love it so much. Anyway, enlighten me. Why is Freeze Dry so goddamn popular on this thing? Sacrificing 20 power compared to Ice Beam (there's also Frost Breath to consider) is just too heavy of a price to pay to hit Water-types super-effectively, WHICH THUNDERBOLT ALREADY DOES ANYWAY. And remember, Refrigerate Nature Power has 104 power, compared to Ice Beam's 90, Frost Breath's effective 90, and Freeze Dry's 70. Oh, and guess what the second most popular Ice move on Aurorus is? The aforementioned Hyper Beam. Yep, clearly Aurorus users are as dumb as a rock. Sure, as I said, Nature Power is easy to miss, but what about Ice Beam and Frost Breath? Jesus.

- Hawlucha can punch. Power-Up Punch is there to prove it. So why not some elemental punching goodness for it too? Of course, right now Power Herb Sky Attack really is the only viable way to get Unburden to trigger, but whenever the Flying Gem returns that'll be an automatic free moveslot that could be filled. Hell, if you don't want to run Swords Dance having more options than Stone Edge and U-Turn might be fun.

- Diancie would rather like something to make its extra attack points over Carbink be worth something. Especially if that something's called a Play Rough tutor. But honestly, it'll use anything at this point. That movepool is just so bad.

19 comments:

  1. I thought it was weird that Aurorus, A BIG GODDMAN SAUROPOD, couldn't learn Strength. Yeah, there should be better options, but having access to an 80 Power, 100 Accuracy Ice move (thanks to Refrigerate, which also means STAB, I believe. I'm not sure if the Ability-altered moves count) with consistent damage output could really help. Couple that with your suggestions, and the things starts to have more of a movepool.

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    1. Aurorus is a special attacker, first and foremost, and even if it DID have Strength, Return is simply better in every conceivable way.

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  2. I would like to see every move that was once a TM/HM/Tutor that got removed return as a tutor move. In addition I think the following moves introduced in gen 6 would do well as new tutor moves.

    Freeze-Dry (( Some ice types who don't get Thunderbolt may like it ))
    Moonblast (( Togekiss really wants this ))
    Parting Shot (( This move has potential, but only Pangoro gets it right now ))
    Petal Blizzard (( Could give some physical grass types something to use ))
    Sticky Web (( Hey, spread the new entry hazard to better users ))

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    1. Please, for the love of Arceus no Sticky Web tutor. It's clearly one of those moves that should stay the hell away from any competent Pokémon. Besides, do we really want to be making Bisharp any better?

      As for Moonblast... eh. Do we really want to give Togekiss the ability to easily cripple any special attacker it comes across, all while dealing significant damage in the process? It's safe to say Serene Grace Moonblast wouldn't be too far off from a special equivalent to Sacred Fire.

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  3. D-Dance and Q-Dance? Probably a bad idea, just like a Sticky Web tutor. But hey, you asked.

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  4. E-Speed(Extreme Speed) move tutor
    Then again if that goes to Pinsir .... well you know what would happen
    And oh my lord if garchomp somehow gets acess to that well we will probably be seeing him even higher on the ou usage ladder

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  5. Malamar screams was potential, Game Freak, I encourage you to put Move Tutors in OR and AS so Malamar can recieve that one Dark move he was begging for.

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  6. So I heard you like Malamar? Outdated memes aside, I somehow doubt that Knock Off will save it. The thing's stats are lame and it has no resistances.

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    1. It's got one immunity and two weaknesses, not too far off from every mono-Normal in existence. And I would hope the stats of something with a 120-power move that also boosts attack and defense would be bleh. Its movepool is so barren as it is, I'm convinced good tutors would get it maybe not in OU, but still much closer than it is now.

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  7. Freeze Dry is popular in RU because of Gastrodons, Ludicolo, etc. lots of bulky things get smashed by it

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    1. I was talking more about OU.

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    2. Even then, the spread of things Freeze Dry can hit is much better than the spread of things Thunderbolt can.

      I dunno what I want as a tutor, aside from the old moves. Maybe we could get Body Slam back on everyone? Pinsir would probably be happy at the very least.

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    3. Well... Return is almost always favored over Body Slam in cases where both are available. (Which isn't the case for Pinsir, since Body Slam is illegal with Quick Attack.)

      And you have to keep in mind you have to give up no less than 20 power (34 in Aurorus' case) on everything that isn't Water, just to give you that extra oomph against Water-types. I'm just not willing to make that much of a sacrifice. Why isn't it more powerful, anyway? Everything that learns it is either bad, terrible, a joke, or a physical attacker.

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  8. Boomburst move tutor anybody
    if mega gardevoir or sylveon can get this ............ well hyper voice will be void and this move would send them both to OU

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    1. You mean ubers? They're already OU, comfortably so in Sylveon's case...

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  9. Well remember that crits were hit with the nerf bat and now are only 1.5x damage, so frost breath on Aurorus is no. My best explanation for hyper beam being used so much is the fact that Refrigerate and Pixilate (where is sees use) give it a +30% boost to the move, which outdamages Moonblast and Ice beam, even over two turns with the recharge. But Hyper Voice on Mega Gardevoir is better, and we should apply the Slaking principle here.

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    1. Frost Breath was buffed to 60 power to compensate, so it was an overall buff from 80 effective power to 90 effective power. So it's as powerful as Ice Beam, with a few technicalities: its damage can't be increased further via crits since it always crits to start with, it sucks against Battle/Shell Armor users and it can't freeze, but it also ignores special defense buffs and special attack drops. Overall none of these matter greatly, but it just goes to show Frost Breath is very workable if you really hate Calm Mind users, you fear Moonblast hax or something.

      And I'm well aware that Hyper Beam gets a nice boost with Refrigerate, but my point is that so does Nature Power, and as you said the Slaking principle applies here.

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    2. Ah. I feel dumb now. I personally would still go with Ice Beam for no other reason than 100 accuracy, though stat boosts being null and void are nice. And I guess that Hyper Beam is going to be no forever, regardless of how much it is buffed. Noob traps are always nice. And I posted my reply in the wrong spot again, meaning that I am in fact a noob. You'd think that I'd catch it while entering the Captcha.

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