Better than monkeys
Overview
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Meowth is blessed with a great ability in Technician, which patches up its mediocre attack stat by powering up Fake Out. It receives good attack options such as Knock Off, U-turn, and Covet. Meowth also reaches the coveted 19 speed, tying with threats such as Ponyta and Misdreavus. Even with this going for Meowth, it possesses downright crappy bulk and no resistances bar an immunity to Ghost-type moves, and a weakness to Fighting-type moves. All of this makes it incredibly difficult for Meowth to switch in reliably. Moreover, Fake Out spam is not reliable at higher level play due to the predictability of the strategy. Meowth also receives competition from Aipom, but Technician makes Meowth arguably better than Aipom.
Offensive
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name: Offensive
Move 1: Fake Out
Move 2: Covet / Return
Move 3: U-turn
Move 4: Knock Off
Ability: Technician
Item: Normal Gem / Life Orb
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
Nature: Jolly
Moves
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- fake out has high priority, can be used whenever meowth is sent in and hits very hard with STAB, life orb/normal gem and technician. This combination of boosts gives it easily the strongest fake out in the meta and outclasses some of the best fake outers such as mienfoo and meditite.
- Covet works great with fake out and normal gem as normal gem is used up by fake out, freeing up the item slot for covet to steal an item. Not to mention, covet is 60bp so it benefits from technician, and for this reason I'd say it is better than return/life orb. If meowth manages to steal an eviolite, it adds a huge amount to his bulk which can be very beneficial, but stealing berry juice would be a great positive too as it could be consumed later, allowing covet to steal another item.
- U-turn because meowth outspeeds most of the tier when Jolly, so it can be used as a pivot
- return is an alternative STAB and hits very hard with life orb
- knock off because it can knock eviolites off mons such as missy which is very handy. With life orb it hits exceptionally hard.
Set Details
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- 196 Spe brings it into 19 speed tier with Jolly, essential to tie with fast threats like misdreavus
- 236 Atk is obvious, as it is a physical attacker so moves hit as hard as possible
- 36 in HP and 36 in SpD is mostly filler, but gives it a few extra points of bulk to try and survive hits
- Normal gem is for covet as normal gem would be used up with fake out, freeing up your item slot to take one with covet.
- Life orb is to be used with return to hit as hard as possible. If you opt to use Life Orb, be sure to reduce your HP IVs to zero to minimize Life Orb recoil.
Usage Tips
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- Fake out whenever sent in, unless against a ghost
- U-turn whenever you can, allows you to use fake out again asap
- Meowth is incredibly frail due to the fact it has 0 resistances and just one immunity. This means it is very hard to switch Meowth in on anything bar ghost moves. This means meowth must be played carefully, and must be played to avoid as many hits as possible.
- Try to refrain from switching in meowth when you anticipate a damaging move, he is best when sent in after another mon faints, or on non-damaging moves that he doesn't mind such as taunt, but be careful not to switch in on statuses like Burn and Paralysis.
Team options
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- Any ghost type, to switch in on fighting-type attacks used on meowth
- Something to take out misdreavus, such as Pursuit Pawniard.
- Volt switch / u-turn support for constant pivoting. It is best to use slower yet bulky pivots as this allows them to take hits first and bring meowth in safely without him taking a hit himself. Examples of this include Chinchou and larvesta
Other Options
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- Switcheroo can be used to pass on crippling items such as flame orb, or an unwanted choice scarf, due to meowths high speed. (Would be even higher with a choice scarf first turn and almost guaranteed to pass it on)
- Double Edge for stronger STAB
- Feint is an option for a secondary priority attack to allow Meowth to strike with priority after the first turn.
- Seed bomb is great for hitting tirtouga hard with 4x damage, it also deals a great amount of damage to unsuspecting frillish and chinchou.
- Hypnosis can be great to gain momentum with U-Turn, but is unreliable.
Checks & Counters
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**Fighting-types**: Bulkier Fighting-types can take a hit and retaliate with their super-effective STAB attacks, which can cleanly KO Meowth. Timburr and Croagunk can attack Meowth with STAB priority. Scraggy can set up a Dragon Dance or KO Meowth with Drain Punch. Mienfoo can KO with Drain Punch and recover any lost health by switching out.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types resist Meowth's STAB and can generally hit Meowth hard. Pawniard can deprive Meowth of its item while cleanly KOing it. Ferroseed can paralyze it with Thunder Wave and hit it with Iron Head or Bullet Seed.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types can switch in on Meowth's STAB thanks to their immunity. They can then burn Meowth or hit it with a strong attack. However, Meowth's Knock Off can deter them from switching in, and it's high speed lets it outspeed or tie with most Ghosts.
**Status**: Particularly Paralysis and Burn. Status really wears down Meowth. Paralysis lowers its speed and Burn lowers its damage output.
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