HolyChipmunk
California's finest chodesmuggler
[Overview]
<p>Leavanny's above-average Attack, decent base 92 Speed, and access to a fantastic ability in Chlorophyll make it a dangerous threat under the sun. Its unique typing also gives it two powerful STAB moves in Leaf Blade and X-Scissor, allowing it to hit a lot of threats pretty hard along with its coverage options. Unfortunately, Leavanny's typing will also prove to be its downfall most of the time, giving it weaknesses to common Rock-, Fire-, and Flying-type attacks. Leavanny also becomes nearly useless without sun support, as its average base 92 Speed leaves it outsped by common threats such as the genies and Hydreigon, not to mention the multitude of Choice Scarf users such as Chandelure. Despite these flaws, Leavanny should not be underestimated, as with the right support, it can be hard to stop.</p>
[SET]
name: Sun Attacker
move 1: Leaf Blade
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Return / Shadow Claw
move 4: Protect
Item: Focus Sash / Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Typical, three attack/protect set. Thanks to Chlorophyll, under the sun, Leavanny is almost impossible to outspeed without boosts. Leaf Blade is your strongest STAB attack, hitting more bulky water types such as Jellicent and ground type pokemon extremely hard, and comes with a high critical hit ratio. X-Scissor is your second STAB move, hitting Psychic and Dark types such as Reuniclus, Hydreigon, and Musharna, and opposing grass type pokemon. Return can be used to hit Fire and Flying type pokemon for neutral damage. Shadow Claw hits Chandelure, which can be a huge threat. Protect can be used to help stall out Trick Room, or to protect yourself against a super effective move while your partner faints the threat. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Thanks to Chlorophyll, Leavanny is almost impossible to outspeed under the sun without boosts, making it a fine sun attacker. Leaf Blade is Leavanny's main STAB attack, hitting common threats such as Krookodile and Jellicent very hard if not OHKOing. X-Scissor is Leavanny's secondary STAB move, hitting Psychic- and Dark-types such as Reuniclus and Hydreigon for massive damage. It also makes Leavanny a fine check to Trick Room teams reliant on Psychic-types to set up the field effect. There are two options for the third moveslot. While Return hits the Fire- and Flying-types who resist Leavanny's STAB moves hard, Shadow Claw allows Leavanny to do massive damage to the ubiquitous Chandelure, a major threat to Leavanny in general, while still giving it excellent neutral coverage.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Swords Dance can be used to allow Leavanny to set up and sweep, but it finds it difficult to set up unharmed. The same goes for Agility as well. Leavanny also has access to Baton Pass, but the fast-paced VGC metagame generally makes this strategy a poor option. Leavanny can also set up Sunny Day itself, but it will more often than not get KOed the turn it sets up, and sun support can be provided more reliably by teammates such as Whimsicott. A mixed set may be run with Leaf Storm in place of Leaf Blade.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Leavanny works best under the sun, so Whimsicott is your best partner, setting up sunny day faster than any other pokemon and providing support. As Many teams pack Tailwind, which may allow certain pokemon to outspeed Leavanny in the sun, consider running Tailwind on Whimsicott as well, for a double speed boost. Pairing Leavanny with Flash Fire Chandelure makes opposing Chandelure more reluctant to Heat Wave, possibly helping your Leavanny survive a bit longer.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Though it is almost impossible to outspeed it under the sun, Leavanny's poor defensive stats, only decent Attack stat, and weaknesses to many common attacks make it relatively easy to counter. Tornadus can take all of Leavanny's attacks with ease, and OHKOes with Acrobatics. Chandelure only fears Shadow Claw, and can incinerate Leavanny with a STAB Heat Wave. It can also set up Trick Room to make Leavanny's high Speed a liability. In general, bulky attackers who can take a hit and KO back in return make excellent checks to Leavanny.
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This is my first stab at an analysis. I wrote this a while ago, changed it to match Smogon's format, and I added a few things to it.