Gallade Discussion

[ss234]

On first glance, Gallade doesn't seem to have much going for it. His fighting type brothers, Mienshao, Heracross and Scrafty, all have things going for them-while Gallade only has a small movepool advantage and good special bulk.

However, if you take a closer look, then you will find something that none of these fighters can do-in fact, nothing in UU can do. Gallade breaks through every single Pokemon in the tier with Stealth Rocks at +2 with a moveset of Swords Dance / Night Slash / Close Combat / Ice Punch.

Gallade (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 164 Spd / 92 HP
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Night Slash

This is the set that I am using at the moment, and it is basically impossible to switch into. 164 Spe evs and a Jolly nature means it outspeeds Modest Specs Chandelure, and 252 Att gives him a massive punch. A Lum Berry is useful I find to allow him to take Scald's comfortably, and destroy Cofagrigus with ease(Shadow Ball doesn't 1HKO Gallade, while Night Slash is a 2HKO). Close Combat is the STAB move of choice, doing huge damage to even resists after SR and at +2. Ice Punch nails Gligar, Nidoqueen and Zapdos for super-effective damage, 2HKOing all of them at the least(offensive Zappy is 1HKO'd). Night Slash hits Cofagrigus(one of the main advantages he has over SD Heracross) and Slowbro for big damage too-2HKOing both easily.

This set has basically 1 counter-Qwilfish, since Weezing is not really viable and sucks. If you prefer the extra power, Life Orb is an option over Lum Berry, although he will die faster. Lefties is also a good option, increasing his lifespan greatly in some cases.

 

[cim]

I wouldn't say "every single pokemon". Spiritomb wins against it. A Swords Dance Ice Punch only 2HKOing certain threats is actually not that great, since Gallade can't take many physical hits. Crobat wins most of the time due to the high Speed as well. Basically, I think you're overrating a slow Pokemon.

 

[ss234]

When was the last time you saw a Spiritomb in UU? And Crobat beats Scarf Heracross, Mienshao and Scrafty as well as Gallade. There still brilliant. All wallbreakers are vulnerable to revenge-killing. The fact is that Gallade beats nearly every wall in the tier bar Qwilfish at +2, living Zapdos's Thunderbolt and Cofagrigus's Shadow Ball. Gligar's Earthquake isn't even a 2HKO, Bronzong can't 1HKO with Gyro Ball and Arcanine loses since Lava Plume is a 4HKO. Nidoqueen is 2HKO'd by Ice Punch and can't KO back. If you can predict the switch to Crobat, Ice Punch does upwards of 50%, so is weakened enough so that Heracross for example can sweep.That's pretty much every wall in the tier and Gallade beats all of them one-on-one, and those that aren't will be weakened enough so that your late game sweeper can sweep easily.

 

[pokemonisfun]

Why should we use this Gallade set over Heracross who can run almost the same set while having essentially the same bulk and a tad bit more speed? Guts>>steadfast for an SD set and Heracross has almost certainly better typing. Heracross also likesScald burns and can run Leftovers then which is adds to his bulk.

Gligar loses to SD hera even though it lacks Ice Punch as Gligar can' really touch Heracross while Zapdos and Crobat are hit hard on the switch, harder than Ice Punch because Heracross can use Stone Edge. Cofagrigus is dismantled by boosted SE as well while I assume if Shadow Ball canot OHKO gallade Heracross' similar bulk (with leftovers too!) won't let it be 2hkod by Cofagrigus.

And since UU is quite offensive right now you don't particularly need a counter to this, nothing for instance can reliably counter SD Mienshao (because it ill just maul you or BP away) but that doesn't mean they are necessarily very good (ok bp mienshao is good but you get the point right?) or unbeatable because they have weaknesses and can be outsped. Your last post is more interesting to me, are you pairing this with Heracross, if so you might want to look at Pinsir as well.

 

[ss234]

Yeah I'm pairing him with Heracross, and Gallade is a great lure and wallbreaker for him. I wanted to build a team around Scarf Heracross, and I needed a wallbreaker-and Gallade beats all of them nicely. Mienshao can switch to a counter yes, but Mienshao can't break through Cofagrigus at all. SD Heracross can, but then you can't run Moxie Heracross as your late game sweeper. Gallade does pretty much all that SD Heracross does-he doesn't really need Guts to smash through walls. He gets all his 2HKO's with a Jolly nature and a Lum Berry. Heracross was only going to be revenge killed anyway right after he had taken out a wall. The speed issue isn't that big, since Heracross runs Adamant I think, and Nidoking who is at the same speed tier is going to destroy him anyway(which can't be said for Gallade who wins), and they both out speed Specs Chandelure. There isn't anything in between the gap between 80-85.

Also, UU isn't really that offensive right now-not when compared to RU or OU. Roserade and Bronzong are both in the top 4, Blastoise is at number 7 and Hitmontop is at number 11. I think Arcanine is very high as well.

About that typing thing. Heracross is neutral to rock, takes bigger damage from fire type moves, and has a much bigger weakness to flying. Gallade has neutrality to dark(although those give him a +1 in attack if you go Justified), and a weakness to ghost and a neutrality to bug. There aren't many ghost type moves around, and outside of Heracross and Flygon bug moves are quite rare as well. I'd say that's pretty equal(neither of them are going to be switching in a lot anyway to take fighting moves for example). Heracross only has a slightly better offensive typing. However, Gallade kills everything with his coverage moves and STAB Close Combat, so he doesn't nee to use a secondary STAB move.

I never said you needed a counter to it. Basically anything that can out speed and is physical will make quick work of him, but the same can be said of Heracross. If Gallade is unnecessary in a match and isn't needed to take out a wall, then you know Heracross will be able to sweep easily.

 

[DoomDarkrai]

Currently i have a gallade that i'm currently am using

Gallade (M)
Held item: Life Orb
Nature:Adamant
Ability:Justified
EVs: Hp/4 Attack/252 Speed/252

Moves:
Sword Dance
Close Combat
Shadow Sneak
Stone Edge

It's pretty much the same as the Analysis here but i use stone edge instead of night slash for flying coverage to compensate its weakness to it, that and to take care of any ice and bug types. overall when i have used it, it works well

 

[Cesterp]

Gallade is too darn slow to be worth using in UU. It can only switch in AND set up on walls, as 90% of attackers in UU can outspeed and 2HKO it while not getting OHKO'd by an unboosted move. Hyper offense (which is a very common site in UU) ruin Gallade's chances of doing anything, as it won't be able to set up or outspeed, and the best it's going to do is KO a weakened threat that can't OHKO Gallade back, then either get revenged or be saved as death fodder. The ONLY reason Gallade should be close to viable is the niche that is Life Orb / Banded Shadow Sneak, which isn't on the set.

The ONLY scenario I'm seeing Gallade truly winning is being able to switch in on an Umbreon or Slowbro, SD as the opponent stays in for whatever reason, SD'ing again/KO'ing, and then getting lucky because the opponent doesn't have a Zapdos/Crobat/Shaymin/Raikou/Togekiss/Darmanitan/Mienshao/Flygon/Kingdra/Nidoking/TechniTop/Arcanine. I bold the opponent staying in because even if they don't know what Gallade is going to do, if Gallade was switched in on a wall, it's going to do something to ruin that wall's day, and the wall needs to be switched out to something that can manage Gallade and/or to fodder (that will of course not die to a Swords Dance and can then land a hit before dying).

As the others have said, the plethora of other fighting types in the tier are simply better. Heracross, Mienshao, Scrafty, Hitmontop, and even Hitmonlee are going to be better substitutions.

 

[Stagnant]

Gallade (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 164 Spd / 92 HP
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Coverage Move
- Reflect
- Light Screen

This is my favorite Galade set. Whimsically fire-off base 125 attack Close Combats. On predicted switch, Slowbro/Gligar/etc throw-up an appropriate screen and give your switch-in a huge advantage. Best paired with Substitute abusers.