[OVERVIEW]
Abra's high Special, Speed, and Psychic typing make it an excellent special attacker. Its STAB Psychic 3HKOes the majority of the metagame, and its Speed lets it outpace every common threat besides Rapidash, Arcanine, Magmar, and Fearow. Abra is also the fastest viable Thunder Wave user, allowing it to effectively spread paralysis. However, Abra is held back by its horrendous physical bulk, which leaves it OHKOed by nearly every Hyper Beam, including those of the aforementioned common faster attackers. Slower physical attackers like Pinsir also have little difficulty OHKOing Abra. It's also very weak to paralysis, as it has to fear even slower physical attackers once paralyzed. While Abra's lack of coverage isn't a huge issue due to how excellent Psychic is, it notably leaves it with a terrible matchup against Drowzee and Slowpoke, which do not mind any of Abra's attacks except Seismic Toss; they can easily switch in to cripple it with Thunder Wave and target its low HP with Seismic Toss or Surf. Abra is among the most dangerous Pokemon in the metagame, but it desperately needs team support against physical attackers and Thunder Wave users to avoid being dead weight.
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Seismic Toss
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Substitute / Counter
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Psychic serves as Abra's primary attack, and it's very spammable thanks to Abra's high Special and how few Pokemon resist it. Seismic Toss is Abra's strongest attack against Drowzee, opposing Abra, and the rare Slowpoke. Thunder Wave lets Abra spread paralysis, though it should be used carefully given that the majority of the tier either has a strong physical attack or their own Thunder Wave; many are also more threatened by Abra's Psychic. Thunder Wave is best used when Abra forces something out or when letting Abra get KOed or paralyzed is worth paralyzing something back. Substitute is another tool to let Abra exploit switches, but it still leaves Abra vulnerable to paralysis. Counter can be used instead to punish foes using physical attacks like Body Slam to predict Abra switching out, but Hyper Beam will often OHKO Abra even at full health.
Rock-types, such as Omanyte and Graveler, are near-mandatory partners due to their ability to check Fire-types and Fearow, as those threats outspeed and usually OHKO Abra. Notably, the Rock-types force mind games where the faster threat must decide between using Hyper Beam to OHKO Abra before it can cripple them or using another attack against the incoming Rock-type to avoid having to recharge. However, Fearow can bypass this to some extent, since its Double-Edge has a 51.3% chance to OHKO Abra. These partners are particularly important if Abra is used as a lead, as the Fire-types are themselves common leads.
Abra can be used as a wallbreaker or cleaner. If used as a wallbreaker, Abra is best used to KO or weaken defensive checks to support endgame cleaners, such as Fearow and Pinsir. Abra can also use Thunder Wave to cripple defensive Pokemon, notably preventing Staryu from stonewalling Seaking and stopping Porygon from checking Nidoqueen. Beyond the threat of paralysis, Abra remains threatening to Recover users, since its Psychic can accumulate Special drops and eventually break past them. If used as a cleaner, Abra needs the opposing team sufficiently weakened and opposing Rapidash, Arcanine, Magmar, and Fearow paralyzed or KOed. In either role, Abra struggles to break past Drowzee and Slowpoke, and Porygon can paralyze it and wall the Rock-types, so support from physical wallbreakers, such as Fearow and Pinsir, is appreciated.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Reflect looks like an enticing option to increase Abra's physical bulk, notably letting it dodge OHKOs from the plethora of Hyper Beam users. However, Abra's lack of reliable recovery and the need for a free turn to set it up makes Reflect difficult to use, especially when most Hyper Beam users outspeed Abra. Additionally, Reflect is useless against Pinsir due to Slash, and it can often be useless against Rapidash and Fearow due to their high critical hit rates.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Psychic-types**: Drowzee and Slowpoke resist Psychic and are only 4HKOed by Seismic Toss. Both can paralyze Abra with Thunder Wave, and they don't Abra's Thunder Wave in return. Drowzee can also 3HKO Abra with Seismic Toss.
**Faster Threats**: Fearow, Arcanine, Magmar, and Rapidash outspeed Abra; the former two always OHKO with Hyper Beam, and the latter two have a very high chance to OHKO with Hyper Beam. Fearow also has a 51.3% chance to OHKO with Double-Edge. However, these threats have difficulty switching into Psychic and hate getting paralyzed.
**Physical Attackers**: While it's outsped and dislikes being paralyzed, Pinsir is only 3HKOed by Psychic and OHKOes back with Slash. Sandslash is immune to Thunder Wave, 3HKOed by Psychic, and OHKOes Abra with Earthquake 92.3% of the time. Abra outspeeds and 2HKOes Machamp and Graveler, but they can also tank a hit in a pinch and retaliate; the former OHKOes Abra with Hyper Beam, and the latter has a 76.9% chance to OHKO with Earthquake.
**Thunder Wave Users**: Thunder Wave users such as Staryu, Porygon, and Dragonair can cripple Abra and leave it helpless against every physical attacker in the tier. However, they struggle to tank Abra's Psychic and hate being paralyzed themselves.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Abra's high Special, Speed, and Psychic typing make it an excellent special attacker. Its STAB Psychic 3HKOes the majority of the metagame, and its Speed lets it outpace every common threat besides Rapidash, Arcanine, Magmar, and Fearow. Abra is also the fastest viable Thunder Wave user, allowing it to effectively spread paralysis. However, Abra is held back by its horrendous physical bulk, which leaves it OHKOed by nearly every Hyper Beam, including those of the aforementioned common faster attackers. Slower physical attackers like Pinsir also have little difficulty OHKOing Abra. It's also very weak to paralysis, as it has to fear even slower physical attackers once paralyzed. While Abra's lack of coverage isn't a huge issue due to how excellent Psychic is, it notably leaves it with a terrible matchup against Drowzee and Slowpoke, which do not mind any of Abra's attacks except Seismic Toss; they can easily switch in to cripple it with Thunder Wave and target its low HP with Seismic Toss or Surf. Abra is among the most dangerous Pokemon in the metagame, but it desperately needs team support against physical attackers and Thunder Wave users to avoid being dead weight.
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Seismic Toss
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Substitute / Counter
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Psychic serves as Abra's primary attack, and it's very spammable thanks to Abra's high Special and how few Pokemon resist it. Seismic Toss is Abra's strongest attack against Drowzee, opposing Abra, and the rare Slowpoke. Thunder Wave lets Abra spread paralysis, though it should be used carefully given that the majority of the tier either has a strong physical attack or their own Thunder Wave; many are also more threatened by Abra's Psychic. Thunder Wave is best used when Abra forces something out or when letting Abra get KOed or paralyzed is worth paralyzing something back. Substitute is another tool to let Abra exploit switches, but it still leaves Abra vulnerable to paralysis. Counter can be used instead to punish foes using physical attacks like Body Slam to predict Abra switching out, but Hyper Beam will often OHKO Abra even at full health.
Rock-types, such as Omanyte and Graveler, are near-mandatory partners due to their ability to check Fire-types and Fearow, as those threats outspeed and usually OHKO Abra. Notably, the Rock-types force mind games where the faster threat must decide between using Hyper Beam to OHKO Abra before it can cripple them or using another attack against the incoming Rock-type to avoid having to recharge. However, Fearow can bypass this to some extent, since its Double-Edge has a 51.3% chance to OHKO Abra. These partners are particularly important if Abra is used as a lead, as the Fire-types are themselves common leads.
Abra can be used as a wallbreaker or cleaner. If used as a wallbreaker, Abra is best used to KO or weaken defensive checks to support endgame cleaners, such as Fearow and Pinsir. Abra can also use Thunder Wave to cripple defensive Pokemon, notably preventing Staryu from stonewalling Seaking and stopping Porygon from checking Nidoqueen. Beyond the threat of paralysis, Abra remains threatening to Recover users, since its Psychic can accumulate Special drops and eventually break past them. If used as a cleaner, Abra needs the opposing team sufficiently weakened and opposing Rapidash, Arcanine, Magmar, and Fearow paralyzed or KOed. In either role, Abra struggles to break past Drowzee and Slowpoke, and Porygon can paralyze it and wall the Rock-types, so support from physical wallbreakers, such as Fearow and Pinsir, is appreciated.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Reflect looks like an enticing option to increase Abra's physical bulk, notably letting it dodge OHKOs from the plethora of Hyper Beam users. However, Abra's lack of reliable recovery and the need for a free turn to set it up makes Reflect difficult to use, especially when most Hyper Beam users outspeed Abra. Additionally, Reflect is useless against Pinsir due to Slash, and it can often be useless against Rapidash and Fearow due to their high critical hit rates.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Psychic-types**: Drowzee and Slowpoke resist Psychic and are only 4HKOed by Seismic Toss. Both can paralyze Abra with Thunder Wave, and they don't Abra's Thunder Wave in return. Drowzee can also 3HKO Abra with Seismic Toss.
**Faster Threats**: Fearow, Arcanine, Magmar, and Rapidash outspeed Abra; the former two always OHKO with Hyper Beam, and the latter two have a very high chance to OHKO with Hyper Beam. Fearow also has a 51.3% chance to OHKO with Double-Edge. However, these threats have difficulty switching into Psychic and hate getting paralyzed.
**Physical Attackers**: While it's outsped and dislikes being paralyzed, Pinsir is only 3HKOed by Psychic and OHKOes back with Slash. Sandslash is immune to Thunder Wave, 3HKOed by Psychic, and OHKOes Abra with Earthquake 92.3% of the time. Abra outspeeds and 2HKOes Machamp and Graveler, but they can also tank a hit in a pinch and retaliate; the former OHKOes Abra with Hyper Beam, and the latter has a 76.9% chance to OHKO with Earthquake.
**Thunder Wave Users**: Thunder Wave users such as Staryu, Porygon, and Dragonair can cripple Abra and leave it helpless against every physical attacker in the tier. However, they struggle to tank Abra's Psychic and hate being paralyzed themselves.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Last edited:
