Community POTW #146

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon of the Week, and as we approach Gen 5 in GO, we selected a Gen 5 Pokémon completely on purpose, not by sheer coincidence

It's Eelektross

https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-sm/604.shtml

Go nuts

 

[XaelOstigian]

Fun fact, the two things that scare me the most are electric eels and sea lamprey. I guess GameFreak must have lobotomized me in my sleep at some point before gen 5 because they created a beast that easily haunts my nightmares. Its Magikarp-esque pre-evolution is pretty cute though, even if it was a pain to raise:

My phobias aside, Eelektross doesn't quite live up to the same level of fear that its design and Gyarados-like evolution tree portrays. In competitive terms, Eelektross has always lacked that extra something that could shoot it to the higher tiers despite its expansive movepool, being able to attack from both the physical and special spectrum, and with the advent of Fairy types the ONLY Pokemon in existence to have zero weaknesses thank to Levitate and pure Electric typing. I still ran one for my playthrough of White, but even I had to admit it was more fun playing Galvantula and spamming Thunder when White 2 came out. Also, am I the only one who thought this Pokemon should have been named "Amprey"? (Amp + Lamprey)

Dennou Coil
Ability: Levitate
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
EV's: HP: 252 Attack 252 Sp.Def: 4

Moves:
Coil
Thunder Punch/Wild Charge
Aqua Tail
Fire Punch/Dragon Claw/Drain Punch/Iron Tail

Set Details:
A Coil set built for semi-bulkiness. Coil will boost not only your attack and defense, but also your accuracy which helps with a few of the coverage moves. Thunder Punch is probably your best STAB option simply because the recoil from Wild Charge can add up quickly. Though if the extra power is needed, just be weary of my warning. Eelektross may be immune to Ground attacks, but it doesn't change the fact that Electric attacks still have no effect on Ground types, so Aqua Tail is good for coverage and benefits from having the accuracy boost from Coil. The last move slot is a matter of preference in terms of coverage. Fire Punch hits Grass types that resist both your STAB and Aqua Tail and punishes the the x4 weak Bug/Steel types and Ferrothorn but leaves you blocked by Dragon types, so Dragon Claw is an option too if also only for general neutral coverage. Drain Punch is the only reliable way to restore your health but lacks power at times, and Iron Tail is a nasty surprise for Fairy types that might think they are safe against you. Leftovers is for passive recovery, Adamant nature boost offense as high as it can go, though you can opt for a more defensive build that pours all stats into HP and Sp. Defense with Coil's defense boost shoring up the rest.


Paralyzing Fear
Ability: Levitate
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Modest
EV's: HP: 4 Sp. Attack: 252 Speed: 252

Moves:
Thunderbolt
Flamethrower
Dragon Pulse/Acid Spray/Giga Drain
Thunder Wave

Set Details:
Why this thing doesn't learn Surf I will never understand...

Anyways, Eelektross's special attack is just as viable as its physical, and this set is built to be a sort of crippling special sweeper. Thunderbolt is the obvious STAB of choice, Flamethrower offers coverage against Grass types and has equally reliable power, Dragon Pulse has good neutral coverage, though Acid Spray gives Eelektross a means to break the opponents defenses and keep the pressure on them, and Giga Drain offers coverage against Ground types whilst providing recovery. The last slot is the only thing that allows Eelectross to become a sweeper, Thunder Wave. Paralysis allows it to outpace its competition while simultaneously giving you a chance at a free turn to strike. Also, if used in tangent with Acid Spray, opponents are likely to switch after their special defenses have been compromised which will give you a chance to paralyze other teammates on the opposition. Once again, Leftovers for passive recovery, and stats focused on special attack for max damage. The speed EV's are there to ensure and outspeed ever since the paralysis nerf.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

I've always been confused as to why Eelektross has never been good competitively despite having no weaknesses, a great attacking movepool and high attacking stats.

There are a couple of things holding it back. It's very slow. It has good attacking stats but not outstanding attacking stats and it doesn't get a good way of boosting. It gets Coil but that's essentially Bulk Up with a situational accuracy boost, it doesn't get something like Dragon Dance or Swords Dance or Nasty Plot or even Calm Mind, something to really get it a lot of offensive potential quickly. Also, on the physical side it suffers from a lack of good STAB moves, a problem it shares with other physically oriented Electric types like Electivire and Luxray. Wild Charge has decent power but comes with recoil, and is just not quite powerful enough to justify that, while Thunder Punch is relatively weak. If your attacking moves have poor base power that seriously hampers your offensive potential, base power of your attacking moves, especially STAB moves, is immensely important when you want to deal damage.

 

[Mestorn]

Yeah, Eelektross's main problem is that it's stats are balanced (aside from it's speed which is poor), allowing it to fill a variety of rolls, but lacking the specialization or movepool to truly use them well. Eelektross cannot function as a mixed sweeper due to its poor speed and the fact that its better ATK stat has a poor STAB while its barely above benchmark SATK has the better STAB. 80/80/80 defenses don't really cut it any more. In short, while Eelektross has fantastic coverage, it is too weak to OHKO most things, not defensive enough to take multiple hits (while no weaknesses is great, Eelektross also doesn't have many resistances either to help it tank hits) and too slow to outspeed anything (while being too fast for conventional trick room). EV Investment can fix this, but Elektross can only invest fully into two stats, leaving glaring holes where the investment is missing.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

I wouldn't say it's too fast for Trick Room, it just doesn't have the offensive might to be very useful there, both because of its lack of high base power moves and good-but-not-outstanding offensive stats. Trick Room is only active for a short period of time and there are simply other attackers with a lot more power, like Mega Ampharos (which also has more bulk, a secondary STAB, and ignores Lightning Rod), Belly Drum Snorlax, Z-Curse Tyranitar (or Weakness Policy Curse Tyranitar), and Alolan Marowak, that can inflict significantly more damage during that short Trick Room window. And lacking weaknesses also means it can't use Weakness Policy strategies to give itself an offensive boost either.

 

[Divine Retribution]

In NU, Eelektross generally is outclassed by other electrics, such as Vikavolt and Heliolisk, but its unique movepool and stat spread can give it some niches that set it apart. I've used the following set to some decent success in the past, but I'm not sure I'd call it viable now as the current NU metagame trends towards faster, more offensive teams that Eelektross struggles to break down. That being said, with its superb coverage it can still do quite a bit of damage if given the opportunity.

Eelektross @ Assault Vest
Modest - Levitate
172 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 84 Speed
-Thunderbolt
-Giga Drain
-Flamethrower
-Acid Spray

Assault Vest augments Eelektross's naturally decent bulk, allowing it to better survive moves such as Alolan Exeggutor's Draco Meteor, Sceptile's Leaf Storm, and Magmortar's Z-Fire Blast. Electrium-Z and Life Orb are both options I've toyed around with a bit, but Electrium-Z isn't all that consistent in a tier dominated by Grasses and things like Rhyperior and Heliolisk, and he's neither fast nor naturally bulky enough to make good use of a Life Orb, and in either case he sorely misses the added bulk from Assault Vest. Thunderbolt is his best STAB option. If you really desire a pivoting move, switching Thunderbolt for Volt Switch can be an option but leaves you without a strong STAB move that doesn't force you out after use. Carrying it over Flamethrower or Acid Spray can be tempting as well, but at that point you're pretty much better off using Vikavolt. Giga Drain nails Rhyperior and deals solid damage to Palossand and Piloswine, as well as allows him to recover some HP. Flamethrower rounds out his coverage, toasting Grass-types such as Sceptile and Delmise, as well as Steelix. Acid Spray is the move I usually carry in the last slot as it's an incredibly useful utility move that really screws over a lot of otherwise solid switchins, such as Mega Audino, Alolan Exeggutor, and Piloswine. Knock Off and Volt Switch are potential options to consider, but Knock Off's utility is arguably overshadowed by Acid Spray's in a lot of matchups, and running Volt Switch leaves him more or less outclassed by other options such as Vikavolt. Hidden Power Ice is one last option to consider to deal with a healthy Alolan Exeggutor, but it's hard to justify a moveslot for it when it really only hits one Pokemon. In addition, Eelektross naturally outpaces Alolan Exeggutor and the combination of Acid Spray and Flamethrower will 2HKO it.



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