Trainers looking to become the very best in Pokémon Sun and Moon will have to employ some serious strategy in Generation 7. With breeding and EV training easier than ever before (not to mention the introduction of Hyper Training ) there will be plenty of strong trainers.
We here at iDigitalTimes have begun to look into what makes each Alola Region Pokémon great and come up with strategies in how best to use them.
This weekly series will dissect a different Pokémon’s battle prowess along with some of the sets that we feel will make the most out of each Pokémon in Sun and Moon . We will mainly be discussing Single Battles, but there will be talk of some strategies that can help in Double Battles as well.
Last week we talked about Incineroar and this week will be Decidueye. That means you should expect Primarina next.
Of course, there are a ton of other options and we want to hear yours in the comments section below.
OVERVIEW
The common theme of the new Gen 7 Pokémon is how slow they are and Decidueye definitely lacks speed.
With such a sleek design, it’s a shame Decidueye is not faster, but that leads to some very interesting movesets and strategies.What Decidueye lacks in Speed, it makes up in Special Defense and a balanced Attack and Special Attack stat leading to some mixed sets or an Attack or Special Attack-heavy set.
It also has access to a variety of different type of attacks that goes beyond its Grass and Ghost typing.
Decidueye’s typing makes for a great switch in to predicted Normal, Fighting, Water and Grass-type attacks.
ALL-OUT ATTACK
Hold Item: Choice Band/Decidium Z
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 252 Attack 252 Speed 4 HP
Moveset: Leaf Blade
Spirit Shackle/Sucker Punch
Brave Bird
U-Turn
This set makes the most out of Decidueye’s Attack stat and vast movepool to break Physical Walls and put a lot of pressure on your opponent.
Leaf Blade and Spirit Shackle are Decidueye’s strongest STAB moves with Spirit Shackle allowing those who want to use this Pokémon’s special Z-Crystal to unleash a one-time super attack.
Brave Bird lets Decidueye take down other Grass types and U-Turn lets Decidueye flee Pokémon that it doesn’t do well against. Still, this move is best for those trainers not locked into a move with a Choice Band.
Full investment in Attack and Speed works best for this sort of set. Adamant nature lets Decidueye hit the hardest but trainers can use a Jolly nature if they want to try and outspeed some Pokémon.
SPECIAL WALL
Hold Item: Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP 252 Spec. Def 4 Attack
Moveset: Leaf Blade
Roost
Spirit Shackle
Toxic/Curse
This set makes the most out of Decidueye’s Special Defense stat, allowing for trainers to switch it in to tank Special Attacks. This set also traps in Pokémon using Spirit Shackle so trainers can slowly dwindle a Pokémon’s HP using Toxic or Curse.
Toxic eliminates HP much faster but is not effective against Poison and Steel-type Pokémon, which is why trainers may want to consider running Curse.
Roost is Decidueye’s best recovery move from using Curse or tanking attacks while Leftovers gives this Pokémon a little more staying power as you try and stall out threats.
Be careful of Status Inflictions as it won’t be able to alleviate itself of them unless you want to run Rest, but we find it slows down this set.
