Community POTW #001

[Serebii]

It's time. We have shifted to Scarlet & Violet for the Pokémon of the Week

This week, we start with the Grass Starter from Paldea, Meowscarada

Meowscarada #??? - Serebii.net Pokédex

Meowscarada Pokémon Serebii.net Pokédex providing all details on moves, stats, abilities, evolution data and locations for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

www.serebii.net

 

[Divine Retribution]

Meowscarada would have been pretty broken, had it existed a single generation earlier. However, SV brought a nerf to the ability Protean; the user now only changes type once after switching in, and must switch out and back in for Protean to activate again. It's still a fantastic ability, but not exactly a broken one.

Meowscarada @ Choice Band
Jolly - Protean
252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Defense
Tera Type: Dark / Grass
-Flower Trick
-Knock Off
-U-Turn
-Low Kick / Play Rough / Thunder Punch / Sucker Punch


Despite Protean's nerf, Meowscarada is still a difficult Pokemon for many teams to switch into. Grass/Dark, while terrible defensively, is not horrible offensively, especially when backed up with Protean-boosted U-Turn and coverage moves such as Low Kick.

Flower Trick is Meowscarada's signature move; it's a 70 base power move that never misses and always crits. Effectively a 105 base power move that can't miss and ignores boosts to the opponent's Defense and drops to the user's Attack for most purposes. This is quite strong, and makes up for Meowscarada's somewhat timid base 110 Attack, which is good but pales in comparison to some of the monsters it finds itself competing with in SV.

Knock Off had its distribution gutted in SV, and Meowscarada is one of fairly few Pokemon who gets the move now. It's still just as good as ever, but now even more valuable with fewer users.

U-Turn synergizes very well with a Choice Band set, being essentially unaffected by the Protean nerf on Choice-locked Pokemon and allowing you to scout opposing switches and deal some pretty serious chip damage thanks to getting STAB from Protean.

The last slot usually goes to Low Kick, which hits most Steel and Dark-type opponents like Ferrothorn, Kingambit, and Iron Treads hard. Play Rough hits a couple notable targets like Roaring Moon and Grimmsnarl harder, while Thunder Punch specifically targets Corviknight. Sucker Punch can be used to deal some serious damage to the handful of faster threats such as Dragapult, Iron Bundle, and Flutter Mane, as well as Scarf users.

​

 

[Lucario At Service]

Protean & Libero nerf is probably because of the Terastal phenomenon.

 

[Mestorn]

I can see Meowscarada having a bit of utility in VGC/Doubles. Just like Urshifu Single's Wicked Blow in the previous generation, Flower Trick ignores Intimidate and Parting Shot, STAB Knock Off is always fantastic, and a base 123 Speed is quite fast, enabling it to get the jump on most of the competition. Immunity to Prankster before Protean activates is just icing on the cake.

However, Cinderace and Greninja only saw sparing usage for good reason. While Protean/Libero is an amazing ability, fast frail Pokémon can struggle in VGC, where their lack of bulk is all the more apparent. It is hard for Meowscarada to stick around for repeated attacks.

It Takes Two to Tango
Meowscarada
Ability: Protean
Item: Clear Amulet
-Protect
-Knock Off
-Flower Trick
-U-Turn
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk)

Meowscarada can act as an early game hit and run artist with a lot of utility. Protect is as always the best move in doubles, scouting out attacks, stalling out opponents setup, foiling double targeting, etc. Knock Off provides great Item disruption. Getting rid of Leftovers, opposing Clear Amulets, Covert Cloaks ,etc. can be game changing. Flower Trick's laurels have been stated earlier and U-Turn enables Meowscarada to counter predicted switches and get out when the going's good.

 

[XaelOstigian]

Everyone was hoping/praying that Sprigy Kitty would remain on four legs, but despite dashing these hopes, Meowscarada arguably has the best design of the three fully evolved starters being a masquerade magician. Protean's nerf was a shame, but it is still a top tier threat in this new metagame regardless.

Kitty got Claws
Ability: Protean
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
EVs: (HP 4) (Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Hone Claws
Flower Trick
Knock Off
Low Kick/U-Turn/Thunder Punch/Play Rough

Set Details:
Set up Hone Claws to boost offense, spam Flower Trick to take full advantage of your 100% crit hit move which effectively gives you a base 105 STAB with no drawbacks and a means to bypass accuracy checks, Knock Off is even more spammable allowing for item removal and wider offensive coverage, and finally we have your choice of additional coverage.

 

[Yveltal91057]

The Masked Cat Returns

EV Spread

252 HP/252 Speed/4 Attack

Moveset

Acrobatics
Petal Blizzard
Aura Sphere
Dark Pulse

Other moveset options

Chilling Water
Night Slash
Grassy Terrain
Agility
Trailblaze
Thunder Punch
Shadow Ball
Toxic Spikes
Power Gem
Giga Drain
Energy Ball
Nasty Plot
Solar Beam

 

[Aduro]

ITs too early for damage calcs so I'm not sure about the EV spread. But here's a Meowscarada set designed to lead, as it can stop rocks with taunt, set up spikes, or switch out with u-turn to keep up momentum. It also threatens a lot of rocks and spikes users thanks to the frankly pretty broken move, Flower Trick.


Ecatuate the Dancefloor

Meowscarada @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Flower Trick
- Taunt
- Spikes


Partners are really anything that can soak up its numerous weaknesses. Mimikyu can be handy because it blocks rapid spin, and can switch into fighting and bug types relatively safely. Azumarill resists fire, ice, bug and fighting, which could make them a strong core.

 

[Tsukuyomi56]

Everyone was hoping/praying that Sprigy Kitty would remain on four legs, but despite dashing these hopes, Meowscarada arguably has the best design of the three fully evolved starters being a masquerade magician. Protean's nerf was a shame, but it is still a top tier threat in this new metagame regardless.

Kitty got Claws
Ability: Protean
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
EVs: (HP 4) (Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Hone Claws
Flower Trick
Knock Off
Low Kick/U-Turn/Thunder Punch/Play Rough

Set Details:
Set up Hone Claws to boost offense, spam Flower Trick to take full advantage of your 100% crit hit move which effectively gives you a base 105 STAB with no drawbacks and a means to bypass accuracy checks, Knock Off is even more spammable allowing for item removal and wider offensive coverage, and finally we have your choice of additional coverage.

Only thing is once you use Hone Claws, Meowscarada changes into a pure Dark-type (rather than staying Grass/Dark) so you lose the STAB on Flower Trick unless you use Flower Trick first to “set” its type as Grass. Protean always changes you into a mono-type even if you use a move that matches the user’s original typing.

 

[XaelOstigian]

Only thing is once you use Hone Claws, Meowscarada changes into a pure Dark-type (rather than staying Grass/Dark) so you lose the STAB on Flower Trick unless you use Flower Trick first to “set” its type as Grass. Protean always changes you into a mono-type even if you use a move that matches the user’s original typing.

Ahh...didn't realize Protean triggered even with status moves since I always ran 4 offensive attacks on my Greninja and Cinderace sets. Perhaps a 4 offensive moveslot with U-Turn would be the best option then in light of the Protean nerf.