[OVERVIEW]
Necrozma can be a frightening sweeper under the right circumstances. The introduction of Seeds allows Necrozma to boost very quickly and finish off teams with Stored Power in a matter of turns. Prism Armor is an excellent ability, making Necrozma almost impossible to break without the use of Toxic or team-specific Pokemon such as Kingdra in rain and Choice Band Tyranitar. Sadly, Necrozma relies on heavy team support if it does not want to be a matchup-based threat. Dugtrio, Toxic Spikes, and one of Tapu Bulu or Tapu Koko is a must. Necrozma does not bring much to the table defensively outside of checking Mega Medicham, which means Necrozma's team is basically starting a match with five Pokemon. Because of this, Necrozma is an unreliable pick compared to other bulky Calm Mind users such as Magearna, Reuniclus, and Mega Slowbro. While Necrozma takes advantage of a lot of Pokemon in the metagame, it struggles with other trends, mainly the surge of various Toxic users such as Heatran, Zygarde, and Mantine.
[SET]
name: Stored Power
move 1: Stored Power
move 2: Calm Mind
move 3: Rock Polish
move 4: Morning Sun
item: Grassy Seed / Electric Seed
ability: Prism Armor
nature: Bold
evs: 232 HP / 140 Def / 100 SpD / 36 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Stored Power only starts at 20 Base Power, but its power increases as Necrozma continues to set up, allowing it overwhelm the bulkiest of Psychic-resistant Pokemon such as specially defensive Jirachi. Calm Mind and Rock Polish are Necrozma's means of setup. The combination of Prism Armor and defensive boosts makes Necrozma nearly impenetrable without the use of status. Morning Sun lets Necrozma recover its health, but its low PP and vulnerability to sand and rain means Necrozma should only try to set up when there is a clear path for it to win.
Set Details
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A Grassy Seed or an Electric Seed can boost Necrozma's Defense by one stage in its respective terrain. This makes Necrozma incredibly hard to stop, as Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Mega Mawile cannot break it. The given Special Defense investment lets Necrozma take two Dark Pulses from Choice Specs Greninja after a Calm Mind boost, allowing Necrozma to defeat a poisoned Greninja. 36 Speed EVs are used so that Necrozma can outpace and knock out Mega Lopunny after a Rock Polish before it has the chance to use Encore on Necrozma. The remaining EVs are invested into Defense and HP with a Bold nature because Necrozma has no way of boosting its Defense outside of its item. Prism Armor is Necrozma's only available ability, and it's a great one, preventing Pokemon such as Greninja, Volcarona, and Gengar from breaking Necrozma with super effective attacks when paired with multiple Calm Mind boosts.
Usage Tips
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Necrozma should never be sent in early-game unless there is a dangerous threat such as Mega Medicham that it needs to check. Necrozma should only set up when its path to victory can be clearly seen. Necrozma will also need to set up when the terrain reflecting its Seed is active because the Defense boost is crucial to take hits from the plethora of physical attackers in the metagame. Remove or poison Dark-types before attempting to set up, as they will otherwise wall Necrozma. Generally, set up Rock Polish first because Calm Mind can easily be spammed when Necrozma is faster than the Pokemon it wants to set up against. If the opponent has a Toxic user, it may be beneficial to bait in another status condition such as burn, paralysis, or even a regular poison.
Team Options
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With a Seed being the primary option on this set, having either Tapu Bulu or Tapu Koko as a teammate is mandatory. Tapu Bulu is the preferred teammate because it brings Grassy Terrain to the table, allowing Necrozma to heal as it tries to set up. It can also pressure bulkier playstyles that Necrozma struggles with due to presence of Mega Sableye and multiple Toxic users. However, it should be noted that Grassy Terrain is a double-edged sword because it weakens Earthquake from Dugtrio, which is another mandatory teammate for Necrozma teams. Tapu Koko does not support Necrozma as much as Tapu Bulu, but it allows Necrozma to be used on a more offensive build. Tapu Koko also lures in a lot of bulky Grass-types, which give Necrozma a free turn to set up on. Dugtrio is one of Necrozma's best teammates and another mandatory one. It can trap the majority of Dark-types such as Tyranitar, Bisharp, and Alolan Muk, eliminate annoying users of Toxic such as Heatran and Chansey, which would otherwise end Necrozma's sweep, and trap and land a Toxic on Greninja if Dugtrio is holding a Choice Scarf or Focus Sash.
Toxic Spikes, namely from Toxapex and Greninja, are great to use with Necrozma because they poison a lot of Dark-types that Necrozma struggles with. Pokemon that can pressure bulkier playstyles such as SubToxic Heatran, Zygarde, Mega Mawile, and Alolan Marowak are required, as Necrozma has a poor matchup against them. Mega Charizard Y is an interesting pick as well, since it already pairs well with Dugtrio and improves Necrozma's matchup against rain teams. Necrozma will need some kind of hazard control for Toxic Spikes, which will prevent it from sweeping. Mega Scizor, Mew, Skarmory, Mantine, Zapdos, and Tapu Fini are fine Defog users, while Toxic Spikes absorbers such as Toxapex, Amoonguss, Gengar, and Mega Venusaur can do the job as well.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Necrozma can use Charge Beam over Calm Mind to boost its Special Attack while hitting Dark-types such as Greninja. It is best to pair Charge Beam with Electrium Z to eliminate the best stops to Necrozma in the tier—Mantine and Mega Sableye. Holding Electrium Z also makes Necrozma immune to Trick. However, Necrozma will lose a valuable Defense boost provided by a Seed, preventing it from preying on many offensive and balanced builds. Next, Necrozma can function as a niche Trick Room setter, as it has access to Stealth Rock, unlike Cresselia. Other items and moves such as Weakness Policy and Iron Defense can be utilized, but Necrozma lacks the space to put them on its set.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Mega Sableye**: Necrozma has no way to defeat Mega Sableye due to its Dark typing, its ability to bounce back Toxic from Necrozma's teammates, and its inability to be trapped by Dugtrio thanks to its Ghost typing.
**Toxic**: Heatran, Zygarde, and Mantine are relevant Pokemon in the tier that can switch into Necrozma before it accumulates too many boosts and place it on a timer with Toxic. A lot of Pokemon on bulkier playstyles, particularly Chansey, Alomomola, Gastrodon, and Quagsire, can tank a Stored Power and land a Toxic on Necrozma; however, many of these Pokemon can be trapped by Dugtrio. Toxic is also not a sure-fire stop to Necrozma, as it can net multiple KOs before going down if these Pokemon are not paired with a Dark-type teammate. Necrozma can also be played in a way to absorb a different status early-game such as a regular poison, paralysis, or burn so that it cannot be badly poisoned later in the game; keep this in mind before spamming moves such as Scald and Toxic Spikes.
**Dark-types**: Dark-types such as Ash-Greninja, Weavile, and Mega Gyarados are immune to Stored Power and wall Necrozma completely. However, Necrozma can easily stall these Pokemon out if Toxic Spikes are on the field. Bisharp is a good counter because it is immune to Toxic Spikes, while Choice Band Tyranitar can defeat Necrozma even if it is poisoned because the sand it sets reduces Morning Sun's recovery. Alolan Muk is another option because it absorbs Toxic Spikes and walls Necrozma completely. However, all of these Pokemon can be trapped and eliminated by Dugtrio, so they must be played carefully.
**Stat-resetting Moves, Phazing, and Trick**: Amoonguss, Mantine, and Toxapex can switch in right after Necrozma enters the field and reset its stats with Clear Smog or Haze. Skarmory and Hippowdon can phaze Necrozma before it gathers too many boosts. Trick from the likes of Choice Scarf Latios, Jirachi, and Hoopa-U will stop Necrozma in a pinch.
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