HAY GUISE~ I would like to suggest one of the sets I was running in RU some time ago~
Ninjask @ Choice Band
Trait: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / Put the 4 remaining EVs where you wish but HP~
Adamant nature (-SAtk +Atk)
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- Night Slash
- X-Scissor/Metal Claw/Bug Bite/Frustration/...
One of the biggest defensive problems in current XY RU is Cresselia. Although on its own the Lunar Pokemon does not have a significant offensive presence on its own, it surely is defensively viable. And my answer was this little kid. It requires some support and prediction to use it well, but if it gets one hit against the opponent's pokemons, then their trainer will probably get confused when it comes to Ninjask since it is doing a job it does not usually do: To Baton Pass Speed and maybe Attack to a recipient that can put the boosts to good use. Either way, straight into the set, this is your standard Choice Band set. Ninjask does not have that much of a movepool, but it is not like it is going to use all of them anyway. The idea is to switch this thing onto Cresselia or another defensively weak pokemon using Substitute, ground moves, certain stat uppers (Cotton Guard would be one of the exceptions) or just a move you would not mind switching into (Toxic if at full health, Stealth Rock when it's being set up, 4x resistances), and attack. The selling points of this pokemon are its typing (Immunity to a common move and two handy 4x resistances, as well as offensive Super Effective STABS against some threats) and the blessing of Infiltrator, which means that Ninjask can actually exploit those Cresselia Substitutes by hitting behind them. Most of the time you will be spamming U-turns, which will become useful also for team scouting purposes. That, and it hits stuff like Cresselia, Tangrowth, Exeggutor, Malamar and what not. Aerial Ace is a secondary STAB that dispatches several defensively tough pokemons, like Gallade, Amoonguss, Hitmontop... Night Slash deals with those pesky Ghosts that think they can take your U-Turn and laugh at it, and the last move is a filler, more or less. X-Scissor provides a more powerful bug STAB attack, Bug Bite would be helpful if something with a Berry gets in your way (Like having issues with Belly Drum Sitrus Berry Unburden Slurpuff or pinch berry Unburden Hitmonlee, but it is really situational and not advised), Metal Claw is a poor attempt to destroy stuff like Rhyperior or anything Ninjask should just avoid sitting in front of. Last, but not least, is the speed of this little bug. 419 (Max speed without a positive nature) is not exactly a good number, it gets outsped by some Scarf users such as Cinccino or Zoroark, or by Sharpedo after one Speed Boost, but otherwise, it is nigh untouchable without priority (Either by hard hitting or by getting away with U-turn). The EV spread is the basic one and the remaining 4 EVs are to be placed anywhere but in HP because the EVs in HP would mean that its HP would be an even number, therefore being destroyed quickly by Stealth Rock.
How do you support this Ninjask? Well, Ninjask does take little damage (For a frail pokemon) from Grass and Fighting moves, but it gets severely hurt by rock moves and Stealth Rock. That said, Rapid Spin/Defog support would be mandatory. Rapid Spin is preferred for the following reason: Ninjask enjoys the fact that its opponent has entry hazards on their side of the field, they make a significant difference when scoring important hits. And then, the new overused movement of this generation: Knock Off. That move has three purposes regarding Ninjask efficiency, which are removing Leftovers recovery, removing Eviolite and removing Scarves from opponent pokemon so Ninjask can just outspeed everything else. There's also the big problem of priority. Priority moves not called Mach Punch nor Vacuum Wave hurt this little bug. And besides all of this, the only two pokemon that can reliably outspeed Ninjask are Timid Accelgor and Sharpedo after one Speed Boost.
Now, some calculations to see that this is not just another gimmicky set:
252+ Atk Choice Band Ninjask U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 186-222 (41.8 - 50%) -- 32% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Remember that Ninjask is supposed to take Cresselia under a Substitute, so the total account would be a little bit more, still not enough to straight OHKO.
252+ Atk Choice Band Ninjask U-turn vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Cresselia: 252-296 (56.7 - 66.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
More offensive variants of Cresselia get seriously hurt.
252+ Atk Choice Band Ninjask X-Scissor vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Cresselia: 288-338 (64.8 - 76.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
X-Scissor might get the job done after a Substitute.
252+ Atk Choice Band Ninjask U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 182-216 (45 - 53.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Of course you're not going to stay after U-Turn, but this certainly paves the way for another hard hit, should Tangrowth not switch.
252+ Atk Choice Band Ninjask Aerial Ace vs. 252 HP / 100+ Def Gallade: 284-336 (83.5 - 98.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
This means that 104 EVs and positive nature are what Gallade needs for ensuring the 2HKO.
252+ Atk Choice Band Ninjask Aerial Ace vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Amoonguss: 228-270 (52.7 - 62.5%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
Yes, Amoonguss can not help the 2HKO even with max Defense.
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Ninjask Aerial Ace vs. 252 HP / 60+ Def Hitmontop: 152-180 (50 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
4 more EVs and Hitmontop might survive the 2HKO.
252+ Atk Choice Band Ninjask Night Slash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Bronzong: 128-152 (37.8 - 44.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Bronzong 2HKOs in return with Gyro Ball, but not many Bronzong run max defense and positive nature.
Note that these calculations were done with unorthodox EV spreads just to demonstrate the damage Ninjask does. And yes, I suppose there are questions regarding this set.
- Why not Swords Dance over the filler move and another item? By the time I constructed this set, Raikou and especially Shaymin were around the RU metagame and could threaten Ninjask with a SE hit during the setup turn (Or even something else with a neutral hitting move, Ninjask is frail anyway). And I say especially Shaymin because its Seed Flare is a great opening for Ninjask to switch in (252 SpA Shaymin Seed Flare vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Ninjask: 70-82 (26.6 - 31.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO). Also, a Choice item makes Ninjask a valid Trick recipient so the opponent will stick with another Choice item.
- Why does Ninjask not use a positive Speed nature? While Jolly makes Ninjask the fastest unboosted pokemon in the game bar Deoxys-Speed (And it even outspeeds max speed neutral nature Sharpedo after one Speed Boost), it still fails to outspeed max speed positive nature Sharpedo after one Speed Boost. Also, Ninjask has only base 90 Attack, so it needs all the power it can get without boosts.
- The calcs you display do not show any reliable OHKO. Why should I use it? I explained most of the use of Ninjask as something that physically creates important holes against certain defensive stuff. Just imagine what it could do against weaker stuff that doesn't outspeed it such as Meloetta, Cinccino, Malamar, Ambipom, Smeargle, Leavanny, Zoroark... and not to mention that U-turn both punches a hole and gives you the upper hand by placing something else to deal the (Possible) final blow. And remember I mentioned that Ninjask likes entry hazards on your opponent's side.
- Ninjask does not deal with stuff like Rhyperior or Registeel. Why should I use it? Pokemon is a game where you build a team that can deal with several other pokemon. In your team you should have something else to deal with such bulky stuff. Ninjask punches notable holes on certain stuff, but do not expect it to destroy gargantuan defenses, there are other pokemon for that, such as Slaking.
- Offensively speaking, what are good pokemon to pair with Ninjask? I've had excellent results with Scarf Zoroark also running U-turn. Most notably using it as a lead and Ninjask as last, to make Illusion work accordingly. Priority users also finish the job cleanly after a U-turn should the opponent pokemon survive.
- Why not a Life Orb version? Good luck with that. You will either want a turn of setup (Swords Dance, which will create an opening for the opponent to attack directly) or just start attacking (And some good switches might kill Ninjask quickly, given there are pokemon such as Ferroseed or Rough Skin + Rocky Helmet Druddigon, or just the Life Orb recoil). If there is no setup, you will lack power.
- Why do you not use Speed Boost? Ninjask gets Baton Pass to use along with Speed Boost, so the standard support oriented version is advised (And it is so sad that U-turn does not pass the boosts while you switch). Also, Infiltrator bypasses Substitute (Which is one of the main selling points of this set, given there is stuff like SubCM Cresselia), and also Reflect.
- Why did you choose Ninjask anyway? Why not? It certainly is not one of my favorite pokemon, but it has done good for me (And others) and it also packs the surprise factor.
