Welcome to Pokemon of the Week #5. This week we will be discussing Reuniclus.
Reuniclus is a nightmare to face when not properly prepared. Once he gets up to +2, he's hard to stop. Psychic and Focus Blast provide great type coverage, and Magic Guard is an amazing ability, canceling all entry hazard and Toxic damage. Combine that with a great Sp Attack, reasonable bulk, and horrible speed (you'll see), you've got yourself a heck of a boosting sweeper and a mop.
Reuniclus' only viable moveset (unless you're running Trick Room) is as follows.
Reuniclus @ Leftovers
Magic Guard
Bold Nature
252 HP/252 Def/4 Sp Att
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Psychic/Psyshock
- Focus Blast
This set is very easy to use and very effective when Reuniclus' counters (who will be mentioned later) are eliminated. The basic idea is to switch in on something like Conkeldurr, and Calm Mind up to +2. As a side note, switching Reuniclus into Conkeldurr is safe because Reuniclus is slower than Conkeldurr, so Payback will barely do anything. Back on topic, this set, when used effectively, is very hard to beat. Psychic+Focus Blast provide excellent coverage, hitting pretty much everything (bar Lati@s) for neutral damage. You can run Psyshock over Psychic if Blissey, Chansey, or CM Lati@s are giving you problems. Recover is your means of instant recovery, making Reuniclus even bulkier and sharply increasing his longevity.
What makes Reuniclus so dangerous? One good reason is the fact that he's so good against stall. Magic Guard keeps him from entry hazard, sandstorm, Leech Seed, and Toxic damage, meaning Reuniclus will laugh in the face of things like Ferrothorn, Chansey, Blissey and Stallscor who try to set up hazards and Toxic the embryo. The only thing that stall can really do against Reuniclus is phaze, unless they run something like Sigilyph who is fairly uncommon on stall teams, or in OU altogether. Reuniclus also has insane bulk when he gets a few Calm Minds up his belt.
While Reuniclus may be extremely dangerous, he certaintly isn't without counters. Scizor and Tyranitar can switch into Psychic and OHKO with Bug Bite and Crunch respectively. However, both should be wary of Focus Blast, who will OHKO Tyranitar and do a heap of damage to Offensive Scizor. Bulky Psychic types such as Mew, Deoxys D, Victini, and Specially Defensive Jirachi can take Psychic and Focus Blast with relative ease. If you are really obsessed with countering Reuniclus, Spiritomb and Sableye are immune to both of Reuniclus' standard attacks, forcing Reuniclus to switch out.
In this thread, discuss Reuniclus. What do you use to support Reuniclus? Would you rather use Reuniclus in stall of offense? What new and creative moveset have you come up with? Discuss!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a side announcement, I will be accepting art for PoTW from now on. As you can see, safariblade has already stepped up to the plate (more like I asked him to ) However, if you want to have your artwork featured in PoTW, shoot me a PM. Also, if you want to write an analysis for a future PoTW, first you must PM me stating your interest. Then, if I give you the go ahead, PM me a draft and I'll let you know if it'll work out. Thanks everyone, and happy discussing
