Gallade (Analysis)

[Galladiator]

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[Overview]

<p>The introduction of BW wasn't too kind to Gallade; not only did he not gain much in the way of moveset options, he missed out on essentially the Holy Grail of Fighting STAB: Hi Jump Kick. Gallade also suffers from his relatively low base 80 Speed, being outrun by other common Fighting-types such as positive natured Lucario and neutral natured Infernape. Fortunately, Gallade is unique in that he has access to Will-O-Wisp and Shadow Sneak, which differentiates it from Lucario, and resists Stealth Rock, unlike Infernape. In addition, Gallade also boasts an impressive base 125 Attack and 115 base Special Defense, which allows him to sponge most neutral special attacks and hit back hard. Possibly Gallade's best niche, though, is his ability to run a fairly viable Bulk Up + Drain Punch set, taking advantage of his excellent Special Defense. All things considered, Gallade is not to be underestimated.</p>

[SET]
Name: Bulk Up
Move 1: Bulk Up
Move 2: Drain Punch
Move 3: Ice Punch / Stone Edge
Move 4: Shadow Sneak
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Careful
EVs: 240 HP / 40 Atk / 216 SpD / 12 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This is possibly the best set Gallade can run. With his amazing special bulk, Gallade can easily find an opportunity to Bulk Up. With the given EV spread he easily survives super effective special attacks such as Gengar's Shadow Ball and can subsequently finish it off with a Shadow Sneak. Drain Punch allows for instant HP recovery in addition to Leftovers. After one Bulk Up, Gallade reaches a huge 444 Attack, punching holes in almost anything. Ice Punch breaks most Gliscor after a Bulk Up, while Stone Edge protects Gallade against any Gyarados that might get greedy. Shadow Sneak provides insurance against Ghost-types and Latios, as well as a way to leave a dent on faster enemies in general.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>This set can also be run with an alternate EV spread of 240 HP / 16 Atk / 56 SpD / 196 Spe, allowing Gallade to outrun most Gliscor, along with Jolly Tyranitar and Adamant Breloom; however, this spread sacrifices considerable special bulk, greatly reducing Gallade's survivability. You could also replace Shadow Sneak with Substitute or Thunder Wave in the last slot if you want to try and stall out your opponent.</p>

<p>With 240 EVs in HP, Gallade reaches the point of maximum Leftovers recovery without wasting EVs. The 216 EVs in Special Defense allow Gallade to tank special hits, most notably Gengar's Shadow Ball, while 40 EVs in Attack allow him to 2HKO Gengar with Shadow Sneak after Stealth Rock damage. It follows, then, that Gallade appreciates a teammate that can set up Stealth Rocks.</p>

<p>As with all physical attackers, Gallade has great trouble with status afflictions, most notably burn. Jellicent in particular tends to mess Gallade up rather badly, taking little damage from Shadow Sneak and responding with Will-O-Wisp, even further reducing Gallade's attacking power. Gallade greatly appreciates a fast special attacker, such as Jolteon or Hydreigon, to come in, (comma) take the burn, (comma) while OHKOing with Thunderbolt or Draco Meteor, respectively and deal with Jellicent appropriately.</p>

[SET]
Name: Swords Dance
Move 1: Swords Dance
Move 2: Close Combat
Move 3: Ice Punch / Stone Edge
Move 4: Shadow Sneak
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Adamant / Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set made the jump to BW with very few changes. After just one Swords Dance, Gallade's Attack reaches a towering 766, allowing him to wreak havoc with STAB Close Combat. As with the previous set, the third slot depends on user preference; Ice Punch saves face against Gliscor and Landorus, whereas Stone Edge repels Thundurus and Gyarados. If preferred, Gallade can run this set with a Jolly nature to boost his mediocre Speed; however, this causes Gallade to lose some of his offensive ability, a drop that is greatly felt given Gallade's physical frailty.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While Gallade is starved for more power, Life Orb recoil piles up after only a couple of turns. As such, it is advisable to run a Wish passer alongside Gallade, preferably a bulky one like Vaporeon or Blissey. Vaporeon is fairly good at surviving physical attacks, while Blissey needs no introduction; her insane HP and Special Defense make her the ideal candidate to team with Gallade on more balanced teams.</p>

<p>Gallade could conceivably replace one of the above moves with Psycho Cut to hit Poison-types, especially Gengar, for more damage; however, Gallade rarely finds room for it, since Ice Punch / Stone Edge provides vital type coverage, and Shadow Sneak is almost required to ensure Gallade can at least get a hit in before fainting.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>As mentioned above, Psycho Cut is certainly viable on any of the above sets, but it requires the sacrifice of one of Gallade's greatly-needed coverage moves. Gallade has access to Wish via breeding; unfortunately, the move's new mechanics combined with Gallade's relatively low HP means it is not a very viable strategy, and the move is better left to more beefy Pokemon.</p>

<p>On the other hand, Gallade does get access to a few interesting support moves, (comma) such as Mean Look, Taunt, and Magic Coat, as well as Thunder Wave, Toxic, and Will-O-Wisp, allowing it to potentially run an odd "anti-lead" set. With the disappearance of true leads from the BW metagame, though, this type of set is less useful than in DPP.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>The easiest way to counter Gallade is to hit it with a powerful physical move. With only two weaknesses—one of which is rarely seen—Gallade can be a nightmare to take down, especially if it's running Bulk Up and Drain Punch on the same set. Faster Ghost-types like Gengar do get a bit of a leg up on the green gladiator though, assuming they survive the +1 boosted Shadow Sneak. Gallade also hates priority users such as Scizor, who deals hefty damage with a Choice Band-boosted Bullet Punch. The best counter to Gallade is status infliction. If Jellicent can quickly land a Will-O-Wisp, it easily survives a Shadow Sneak and can proceed to stall. If Ghost-types and/or status inducers aren't an option, try an Excadrill, which, under sandstorm and using Sand Force, can 2HKO Gallade through a Bulk Up boost with Earthquake.</p>

[Dream World]
<p>Justice Heart, Gallade's Dream World ability, gives him a nice one stage Attack boost every time he survives a Dark-type attack. On the whole, this ability will be fairly valuable once released; it can be used on either set to stack with Gallade's self-induced boosts.</p>

(2/2)

Thank you so much! I believe this is done.

 

[Oglemi]

You have to change everything on the left under [SET] to be uncapitalized, like

[SET]
name:
move 1:
item:
evs:

 

[Moo]

You mention WoW being a great advantage in the overview, yet it isn't on any of its sets...

Also, Destiny Bond should get a mention in Other Options

 

[Oglemi]

evs under [SET] should be lower-cased.

EVs in the analysis itself should be capitalized.

 

[Omega xElectric]

I personally use Fire punch on Gallade instead of Ice Punch, since I run an Electric-based team and am not afraid of things like Gyarados

 

[AccidentalGreed]

I personally use Fire punch on Gallade instead of Ice Punch, since I run an Electric-based team and am not afraid of things like Gyarados

Ice Punch is for Gliscor, not Gyarados. The likes for Ferrothorn and Skamory are already mauled by STAB Close Combat. Also, all sets assume that that the Pokemon in question is mostly self-reliant, so while you aren't really scared of Gyarados, other people may have troubles with it, and therein lies team support.

 

[Wobb]

Why isn't Hypnosis listed?

 

[PandorasBox]

Why isn't Hypnosis listed?

Because if it misses Gallade is done for.

 

[Lemonade]

Preface: I did read why TR got rejected by Bloo (Machamp is better, too fast).
However, Gallade is extremely notable in that it is a Physical Trick Roomer. When choosing TRers, one must consider a balanced spectrum to not get walled, and having all Specially based TRers (at least 3/6) can prove problematic. I think it's worth a mention in OO.

 

[silentdirg3]

^seconded, although dusknoir deos the same job better. using tr on gallade runs the risk that a strong physical attack will ko him before he can set it up. dusknoir has no such fear, and also has access to ice punch, in addition to being "faster" after tr. people do expect dusknoir as a physical trick roomer, though, so the surprise factor could still work for you. however, be prepared to be outsped by more than a few pokes after tr is up

 

[03jnb]

Doesn't Leaf Blade deserve a mention?

 

[Fatecrashers]

uploaded