[OVERVIEW]
* Even with the nerf to Pixilate, Sylveon remains a very threatening wall breaker in the UU tier with solid coverage options such as Psyshock and Shadow Ball and a spammable STAB Hyper Voice.
*Sylveon is a rather versatile Pokemon in the sets it can utilize, being able to effectively act as either a Cleric or a powerful wall breaker.
* Sylveon possesses the coveted Fairy-typing, which in conjunction with its solid HP stat and enormous Special Defense allows Sylveon to switch into powerful Dragon-, Dark-, and Fighting-type attacks such as Hydreigon's Dark Pulse, Kyurem's Draco Meteor, and Konmo-o's Focus Blast.
* However, Sylveon must beware of switching into the common Steel- and Poison-type coverage moves that these Pokemon often utilize such as Flash Cannon, Iron Tail, and Poison Jab.
* Sylveon faces massive competition from other Fairy-types, and is almost completely over shadowed by Clefable who offers superior Defense, support options such as Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave, Fire-type coverage to roast Steel-types, and can also perform the role of a Cleric with access to Heal Bell and insant recovery in Softboiled.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Shadow Ball
item: Choice Specs
ability: Pixilate
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Pixilate boosted Hyper Voice is hard hitting Fairy-type STAB with no drawbacks and is Sylveon's most spammable move.
* Psyshock hits Poison-types such as Nidoqueen and Tentacruel for super effective damage.
* Hidden Power Fire provides excellent coverage alongside Hyper Voice, hitting Steel-types such as Forretress, Scizor, and Klefki for super effective damage.
* Shadow Ball hits Bronzong and Metagross, two common switch-ins for Sylveon for more damage than Hidden Power Fire, while also providing super effective damage on Psychic-types such as Mew, Celebi, and Reuniclus.
*Hyper Beam is an option for the fourth move slot as when boosted by Pixilate, Hyper Beam becomes an incredibly powerful nuke that can OHKO almost any Pokemon that doesn't resist Fairy, and even some that do such as Nidoking and Entei after Stealth Rock damage. Hyper Beam does force Sylveon to re-charge after use however, which leaves Sylveon vulnerable as set up fodder or for the opponent to simply faint Sylveon.
* Quick Attack is an often unexpected option that allows Sylveon to pick off Pokémon such as Sharpedo and Hydreigon after some prior damage. Being locked into Quick Attack is often suboptimal, however, and leaves the Sylveon user in a vulnerable position.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Special Attack and Speed investment allows Sylveon to hit as hard and fast as possible.
* Pixilate is the ability of choice, converting Sylveon's Hyper Voice into a Fairy-type attack and boosting its power tremendously.
* A Modest nature is selected as it increases Sylveon's wall breaking potential and the extra Speed gained from a Timid nature only outspeeds a select few targets.
* A Timid nature is an alternative as it ensures Sylveon out-speeds Adamant Bisharp, Adamant Metagross, and all variants of Crawdaunt. If Sylveon's teammates are particularly weak to said threats, a Timid nature is likely optimal.
* Choice Specs allows Sylveon to hit incredibly hard, and has good synergy with Sylveon's very spammable Hyper Voice.
Usage Tips
========
* Choice Specs Sylveon is a very strong wall breaker and should look to spam Hyper Voice as much as possible throughout a battle. Aside from Blissey, the majority of Sylveon's checks and counters lack reliable recovery, so wearing them down with repeated Hyper Voice's throughout a battle is an effective strategy.
* Despite Fairy-typing giving Sylveon resistances to Dark, Fighting, and Bug, Sylveon should not be used to switch into powerful physical attacks of these types such as Choice Band Mienshao's High Jump Kick or Krookodile's Knock Off due to its abysmal Defense and lack of recovery.
* Similarly, beware of mindlessly switching Sylveon into Dragon-type's such as Hydreigon and Haxorus as they will often be carrying a Steel- or Poison-type move that will damage Sylveon heavily.
Team Options
========
* A majority of Sylveon's checks and counters such as Metagross, Scizor, and Amoongus are grounded so as such, Spikes support from the likes of Klefki, Forretress, and Froslass work very well with Sylveon to wear down its counters.
*Sticky Webs help patch up Sylveon's poor Speed stat and allow it to more easily Spam Hyper Voice. Pokemon such as Galvantula and Shuckle who have access to Sticky Web thus make for solid teammates.
* Sylveon is a very powerful wall breaker that takes great advantage of free switches, so Pokemon such as Scizor, Raikou, and Magneton that often carry U-turn and Volt Switch make for great partners as they generate momentum for Sylveon to come in freely.
* Magneton is an excellent partner for Sylveon in particular as it can trap the Steel-types that plague Sylveon with Magnet Pull.
* Similarly, Krookodile can trap counters to Sylveon such as Bronzong and Metagross with STAB Pursuit, and can threaten the Poison- and Fire-types that resist Sylveon's Hyper Voice with STAB Earthquake. Meanwhile, Sylveon can combat Krookodile's checks and counters such as Chestnaught, Hydreigon, and Mandibuzz.
*Late-game cleaners such as Mega-Aerodactyl, Choice Scarf Keldeo, and Mega-Sharpedo make for excellent teammates alongside Sylveon as they can potentially sweep after Sylveon has weakened the opposing team.
[SET]
name: Cleric
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2 :Heal Bell
move 3: Wish
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Pixilate
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Hyper Voice is strong and reliable Fairy-type STAB with no drawbacks.
* Heal Bell allows Sylveon to properly perform its role as a cleric and provides immense utility to a team.
* Wish is Sylveon's only form of reliable recovery, and can also be used to heal teammates.
* Protect works well in conjunction with Wish, and is also useful for scouting Choice locked pokemon such as Choice Band Entei, Mienshao, and Choice Specs Keldeo.
Set Details
========
* Maximum HP and Defense investment along with a Bold nature allows Sylveon to be as physically bulky as possible.
*Pixilate is the selected ability, converting Sylveon's Hyper Voice into a Fairy-type attack and boosting its power significantly.
*Leftovers is the item of choice as it increases Sylveon's longevity over the course of battle.
Usage Tips
========
* Despite the defensive nature of this set, Sylveon still needs to be weary of powerful neutral physical attacks such as Choice Band Entei's Sacred Fire, Choice band Krookodile's Earthquake, and Bewear's Return as Sylveon is promptly 2hko'd by them all.
* Using Wish often has very little drawbacks, as Sylveon can either heal itself or pass the wish to a weakened teammate.
* Even without investment, Hyper Voice is fairly spammable thanks to the 1.2X boost from Pixilate and Sylveon's naturally decent Special Attack stat. Use Hyper Voice when Sylveon does not need to alieve the team of status ailments or heal itself with Wish.
* This Sylveon set combats Dark-, Dragon, and Fighting-types such as Mega-Sharpedo, Hydreigon, and Conkeldurr well, but still must beware of the Steel- and Posion-type coverage moves these Pokémon tend to carry.
Team Options
========
* Bulky Pokémon that lack reliable recovery such as Forretress, Tentacruel, and Blastoise all make for solid teammates alongside Sylveon as they greatly appreciate the large Wishes Sylveon can pass to them.
* Entry Hazard removal from Pokémon such as Latias, Decidueye, and Starmie work well with Sylveon as they can keep away the hazards that whittle Sylveon throughout a battle and make it more difficult for Sylveon to preform its role as a cleric consistently.
* Bulky Water-types such as Suicune, Swampert, and Mega-Blastoise can combat the Fire-, and Steel-types such as Entei, Arcanine, and Metagross that give Sylveon trouble and beat it 1 on 1. These Water-types also appreciate the Wish and Heal Bell support Sylveon provides.
* Steel-types such as Coballion, Bronzong, and Empoleon synergize well with Sylveon as they can combat the Poison- and opposing Steel-types that plague Sylveon. Similarly, Sylveon can take on the Fighting-types that bother these Steels while also healing them throughout the battle with Wish.
* Magneton is an excellent partner in particular for Sylveon as it resists Steel- and Poison and can even trap the Steel-types that bother Sylveon.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* A Pixie Plate set utilizing Calm Mind is sound in theory as it can bluff a Choice Specs set and surprise the opponent with a super effective Hidden Power Fire or Psyshock. This set works particularly well in luring in Steel-types such as Forretress and Scizor. In practice, however, it is often very difficult to set up a Calm Mind with Sylveon due to its low Speed and Defense stats, and the drop in immediate power from not holding the Choice Specs is noticeable.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Metagross, Scizor, and Bronzong resist Sylveon's Hyper Voice and can hit it hard with their respective Steel-type STAB moves or potentially use Sylveon as set up fodder.
**Poison-types**: Poison-type Pokemon such as Nidoqueen, Amoongus, and Tentacruel take little damage from any attack Sylveon carries aside from Psyshock and can damage Sylveon heavily with their Poison-type STAB moves.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Entei, Arcanine, and Chandelure resist Sylveon's STAB and unlike its other checks and counters, Sylveon has access to no viable moves to hit Fire-types for super effective damage.
**Phazers**: Pokémon with access to Roar and Whirlwind such as Hippodown, Empoleon, and Mandibuzz can all prevent Sylveon from properly healing itself with Wish by forcing it out.
* Even with the nerf to Pixilate, Sylveon remains a very threatening wall breaker in the UU tier with solid coverage options such as Psyshock and Shadow Ball and a spammable STAB Hyper Voice.
*Sylveon is a rather versatile Pokemon in the sets it can utilize, being able to effectively act as either a Cleric or a powerful wall breaker.
* Sylveon possesses the coveted Fairy-typing, which in conjunction with its solid HP stat and enormous Special Defense allows Sylveon to switch into powerful Dragon-, Dark-, and Fighting-type attacks such as Hydreigon's Dark Pulse, Kyurem's Draco Meteor, and Konmo-o's Focus Blast.
* However, Sylveon must beware of switching into the common Steel- and Poison-type coverage moves that these Pokemon often utilize such as Flash Cannon, Iron Tail, and Poison Jab.
* Sylveon faces massive competition from other Fairy-types, and is almost completely over shadowed by Clefable who offers superior Defense, support options such as Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave, Fire-type coverage to roast Steel-types, and can also perform the role of a Cleric with access to Heal Bell and insant recovery in Softboiled.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Shadow Ball
item: Choice Specs
ability: Pixilate
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Pixilate boosted Hyper Voice is hard hitting Fairy-type STAB with no drawbacks and is Sylveon's most spammable move.
* Psyshock hits Poison-types such as Nidoqueen and Tentacruel for super effective damage.
* Hidden Power Fire provides excellent coverage alongside Hyper Voice, hitting Steel-types such as Forretress, Scizor, and Klefki for super effective damage.
* Shadow Ball hits Bronzong and Metagross, two common switch-ins for Sylveon for more damage than Hidden Power Fire, while also providing super effective damage on Psychic-types such as Mew, Celebi, and Reuniclus.
*Hyper Beam is an option for the fourth move slot as when boosted by Pixilate, Hyper Beam becomes an incredibly powerful nuke that can OHKO almost any Pokemon that doesn't resist Fairy, and even some that do such as Nidoking and Entei after Stealth Rock damage. Hyper Beam does force Sylveon to re-charge after use however, which leaves Sylveon vulnerable as set up fodder or for the opponent to simply faint Sylveon.
* Quick Attack is an often unexpected option that allows Sylveon to pick off Pokémon such as Sharpedo and Hydreigon after some prior damage. Being locked into Quick Attack is often suboptimal, however, and leaves the Sylveon user in a vulnerable position.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Special Attack and Speed investment allows Sylveon to hit as hard and fast as possible.
* Pixilate is the ability of choice, converting Sylveon's Hyper Voice into a Fairy-type attack and boosting its power tremendously.
* A Modest nature is selected as it increases Sylveon's wall breaking potential and the extra Speed gained from a Timid nature only outspeeds a select few targets.
* A Timid nature is an alternative as it ensures Sylveon out-speeds Adamant Bisharp, Adamant Metagross, and all variants of Crawdaunt. If Sylveon's teammates are particularly weak to said threats, a Timid nature is likely optimal.
* Choice Specs allows Sylveon to hit incredibly hard, and has good synergy with Sylveon's very spammable Hyper Voice.
Usage Tips
========
* Choice Specs Sylveon is a very strong wall breaker and should look to spam Hyper Voice as much as possible throughout a battle. Aside from Blissey, the majority of Sylveon's checks and counters lack reliable recovery, so wearing them down with repeated Hyper Voice's throughout a battle is an effective strategy.
* Despite Fairy-typing giving Sylveon resistances to Dark, Fighting, and Bug, Sylveon should not be used to switch into powerful physical attacks of these types such as Choice Band Mienshao's High Jump Kick or Krookodile's Knock Off due to its abysmal Defense and lack of recovery.
* Similarly, beware of mindlessly switching Sylveon into Dragon-type's such as Hydreigon and Haxorus as they will often be carrying a Steel- or Poison-type move that will damage Sylveon heavily.
Team Options
========
* A majority of Sylveon's checks and counters such as Metagross, Scizor, and Amoongus are grounded so as such, Spikes support from the likes of Klefki, Forretress, and Froslass work very well with Sylveon to wear down its counters.
*Sticky Webs help patch up Sylveon's poor Speed stat and allow it to more easily Spam Hyper Voice. Pokemon such as Galvantula and Shuckle who have access to Sticky Web thus make for solid teammates.
* Sylveon is a very powerful wall breaker that takes great advantage of free switches, so Pokemon such as Scizor, Raikou, and Magneton that often carry U-turn and Volt Switch make for great partners as they generate momentum for Sylveon to come in freely.
* Magneton is an excellent partner for Sylveon in particular as it can trap the Steel-types that plague Sylveon with Magnet Pull.
* Similarly, Krookodile can trap counters to Sylveon such as Bronzong and Metagross with STAB Pursuit, and can threaten the Poison- and Fire-types that resist Sylveon's Hyper Voice with STAB Earthquake. Meanwhile, Sylveon can combat Krookodile's checks and counters such as Chestnaught, Hydreigon, and Mandibuzz.
*Late-game cleaners such as Mega-Aerodactyl, Choice Scarf Keldeo, and Mega-Sharpedo make for excellent teammates alongside Sylveon as they can potentially sweep after Sylveon has weakened the opposing team.
[SET]
name: Cleric
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2 :Heal Bell
move 3: Wish
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Pixilate
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Hyper Voice is strong and reliable Fairy-type STAB with no drawbacks.
* Heal Bell allows Sylveon to properly perform its role as a cleric and provides immense utility to a team.
* Wish is Sylveon's only form of reliable recovery, and can also be used to heal teammates.
* Protect works well in conjunction with Wish, and is also useful for scouting Choice locked pokemon such as Choice Band Entei, Mienshao, and Choice Specs Keldeo.
Set Details
========
* Maximum HP and Defense investment along with a Bold nature allows Sylveon to be as physically bulky as possible.
*Pixilate is the selected ability, converting Sylveon's Hyper Voice into a Fairy-type attack and boosting its power significantly.
*Leftovers is the item of choice as it increases Sylveon's longevity over the course of battle.
Usage Tips
========
* Despite the defensive nature of this set, Sylveon still needs to be weary of powerful neutral physical attacks such as Choice Band Entei's Sacred Fire, Choice band Krookodile's Earthquake, and Bewear's Return as Sylveon is promptly 2hko'd by them all.
* Using Wish often has very little drawbacks, as Sylveon can either heal itself or pass the wish to a weakened teammate.
* Even without investment, Hyper Voice is fairly spammable thanks to the 1.2X boost from Pixilate and Sylveon's naturally decent Special Attack stat. Use Hyper Voice when Sylveon does not need to alieve the team of status ailments or heal itself with Wish.
* This Sylveon set combats Dark-, Dragon, and Fighting-types such as Mega-Sharpedo, Hydreigon, and Conkeldurr well, but still must beware of the Steel- and Posion-type coverage moves these Pokémon tend to carry.
Team Options
========
* Bulky Pokémon that lack reliable recovery such as Forretress, Tentacruel, and Blastoise all make for solid teammates alongside Sylveon as they greatly appreciate the large Wishes Sylveon can pass to them.
* Entry Hazard removal from Pokémon such as Latias, Decidueye, and Starmie work well with Sylveon as they can keep away the hazards that whittle Sylveon throughout a battle and make it more difficult for Sylveon to preform its role as a cleric consistently.
* Bulky Water-types such as Suicune, Swampert, and Mega-Blastoise can combat the Fire-, and Steel-types such as Entei, Arcanine, and Metagross that give Sylveon trouble and beat it 1 on 1. These Water-types also appreciate the Wish and Heal Bell support Sylveon provides.
* Steel-types such as Coballion, Bronzong, and Empoleon synergize well with Sylveon as they can combat the Poison- and opposing Steel-types that plague Sylveon. Similarly, Sylveon can take on the Fighting-types that bother these Steels while also healing them throughout the battle with Wish.
* Magneton is an excellent partner in particular for Sylveon as it resists Steel- and Poison and can even trap the Steel-types that bother Sylveon.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* A Pixie Plate set utilizing Calm Mind is sound in theory as it can bluff a Choice Specs set and surprise the opponent with a super effective Hidden Power Fire or Psyshock. This set works particularly well in luring in Steel-types such as Forretress and Scizor. In practice, however, it is often very difficult to set up a Calm Mind with Sylveon due to its low Speed and Defense stats, and the drop in immediate power from not holding the Choice Specs is noticeable.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Metagross, Scizor, and Bronzong resist Sylveon's Hyper Voice and can hit it hard with their respective Steel-type STAB moves or potentially use Sylveon as set up fodder.
**Poison-types**: Poison-type Pokemon such as Nidoqueen, Amoongus, and Tentacruel take little damage from any attack Sylveon carries aside from Psyshock and can damage Sylveon heavily with their Poison-type STAB moves.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Entei, Arcanine, and Chandelure resist Sylveon's STAB and unlike its other checks and counters, Sylveon has access to no viable moves to hit Fire-types for super effective damage.
**Phazers**: Pokémon with access to Roar and Whirlwind such as Hippodown, Empoleon, and Mandibuzz can all prevent Sylveon from properly healing itself with Wish by forcing it out.
Last edited:
