[OVERVIEW]
Of RU's three best Electric-types, Xurkitree, Raikou, and Toxtricity, Xurkitree is commonly considered the most restrictive and consistently dangerous for one simple reason: Grass-type coverage. Its Heavy-Duty Boots set singlehandedly makes Seismitoad and Gastrodon, strong Raikou answers, insufficient for covering the metagame's Electric-types, and other Ground-types like Steelix and Flygon shaky at best. With Ground-types so hesitant to face Xurkitree, it's free to use Volt Switch on switch-ins like Grass-types and special walls, which are rife with weaknesses for teammates to exploit. It's at its strongest against bulkier cores, which often use slower, exploitable Pokemon like Togekiss and Water-types and which struggle to pressure it with passive damage thanks to its Heavy-Duty Boots. While its Speed and bulk aren't great against offensive teams, it can usually find at least one opportunity to threaten them as well, either by forcing a switch or taking a hit. Should its team call for it, it can use Choice Scarf for greater use against offense and potentially cleaning up with Beast Boost at the expense of threatening defensive cores. What generally holds Xurkitree back is its aforementioned bulk and Speed; it can't switch into many direct attacks, and it often has very little breathing room against offense, areas where Raikou beats it out. Its Choice Scarf set suffers from prediction reliance against Ground-types and failing to outspeed other Choice Scarf users like Mienshao and Flygon as well as sweepers like Slush Rush Arctozolt, limiting its ability to revenge kill and clean up. If you're looking for raw attacking power, you might prefer Toxtricity, whose Boomburst is easier to spam and much stronger than any of Xurkitree's individual attacks.
[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Volt Switch
move 3: Grass Knot / Energy Ball
move 4: Dazzling Gleam
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Heavy-Duty Boots Xurkitree uses its entry hazard immunity and great coverage to give bulky cores a hard time. Thunderbolt and Volt Switch are staple moves for an Electric-type pivot. A Grass-type move threatens Ground-types; Grass Knot also does the most damage to Steelix, Raikou, and other Xurkitree, while Energy Ball properly hurts the lightweight Diancie and always OHKOes Gastrodon. Dazzling Gleam covers Virizion and Dragon-types, most notably Flygon.
Pivot Xurkitree is pretty good at its job by default, so it usually gets put on a proactive team later in the building process to support others and pressure Togekiss. Steel-, Flying-, and Fire-types such as Metagross, Noivern, and Salazzle like having Xurkitree use Volt Switch as Grass-types like Roserade and Celebi switch in, and Fighting- and Ground-types like Mienshao and Flygon can take advantage of special walls such as Porygon2 and Registeel. Xurkitree is pretty slow and unwieldy against offense, so it should have at least a couple of fast teammates, some conventional examples including Noivern, Choice Scarf Mienshao, and Choice Scarf Flygon.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Volt Switch
move 3: Energy Ball
move 4: Dazzling Gleam
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Choice Scarf Xurkitree's increased Speed makes it more useful against offense and able to leverage Beast Boost late-game. Thunderbolt and Volt Switch are must-haves for most Electric-types, Energy Ball consistently covers Ground-types, and Dazzling Gleam handles Dragon-types while boasting decent neutral coverage for cleaning up.
Choice Scarf Xurkitree has a lot of opportunity cost compared to Heavy-Duty Boots Xurkitree, so it's only well merited when its team needs an Electric-type and a revenge killer in one. Given its focus on revenge killing and cleaning up, its teammates should include a wallbreaker or two like Life Orb Mienshao and Choice Band Metagross, which punish special walls and Grass-types. Water- and Grass-types like Seismitoad, Gastrodon, and Celebi can handle Ground-types when Xurkitree loses momentum to them. Roserade offensively checks them and sets Spikes, but it isn't a good Earthquake switch-in. Choice Scarf Xurkitree is still slower than Slush Rush Arctozolt and other Choice Scarf users, so a priority user such as Golisopod, Durant, or Bullet Punch Metagross will often be necessary on offensive teams using it.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Endure + Salac Berry has merit on Sticky Web teams, giving Xurkitree the simultaneous benefits of heightened Speed and attack freedom while blocking First Impression and outpacing Choice Scarf users not named Flygon. If you build around Indeedee-M, its Psychic Surge lets Xurkitree run Nature Power to OHKO Roserade and Vileplume.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Grass-types**: Roserade, Celebi, Vileplume, and Dhelmise are popular alongside Ground-types to minimize the damage Xurkitree can do, given their Electric resistance and neutrality-at-worst to its coverage. They're vulnerable to Volt Switch, though, so Xurkitree's team will often stay at an advantage, and Vileplume's and Dhelmise's lower Speed means Xurkitree doesn't even need to predict them.
**Special Walls**: Bulky Pokemon like Diancie, Registeel, Assault Vest Reuniclus, Porygon2, and Umbreon stand up well to Xurkitree's unboosted attacks but are total Volt Switch fodder. They need Heavy-Duty Boots Xurkitree statused or itemless to win a battle of attrition.
**Ground-types**: Steelix's Grass neutrality makes it the best Ground-type Xurkitree switch-in, though it quickly loses to repeated Grass Knot or Energy Ball. Flygon can take Dazzling Gleam once with the right EVs. Other Ground-types such as Gastrodon and Seismitoad usually switch out when Xurkitree appears in fear of Grass-type moves but can punish overeager uses of Volt Switch. Any Ground-type is a serious problem for Choice Scarf Xurkitree, creating a cost for locking into Electric-type moves.
**Electric-types**: With resistance to Electric and neutrality to Grass and Fairy, other Electric-types like Raikou, Toxtricity, and Xurkitree itself make for decent early-game switch-ins to Xurkitree. Only Toxtricity threatens much damage back, however, and none of them are eager to keep losing HP.
**Faster Pokemon and Priority**: Offensive teams featuring a lot of fast Pokemon give Heavy-Duty Boots Xurkitree few easy entry points and seldom lose more than one Pokemon to it. Faster Choice Scarf users like Mienshao and Heracross can revenge kill weakened Choice Scarf Xurkitree. The same goes for strong priority from the likes of Golisopod and Durant.
**Alolan Marowak**: Lighting Rod Alolan Marowak is unique in that it's immune to Electric and resistant to both Grass and Fairy, making it a major early-game obstacle to Xurkitree, but it's uncommon, very flawed, and fairly easy to wear down.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [CryoGyro, 331519]]
- Quality checked by: [[zizalith, 410251], [Lunala, 409096]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Estronic, 240732]]
Of RU's three best Electric-types, Xurkitree, Raikou, and Toxtricity, Xurkitree is commonly considered the most restrictive and consistently dangerous for one simple reason: Grass-type coverage. Its Heavy-Duty Boots set singlehandedly makes Seismitoad and Gastrodon, strong Raikou answers, insufficient for covering the metagame's Electric-types, and other Ground-types like Steelix and Flygon shaky at best. With Ground-types so hesitant to face Xurkitree, it's free to use Volt Switch on switch-ins like Grass-types and special walls, which are rife with weaknesses for teammates to exploit. It's at its strongest against bulkier cores, which often use slower, exploitable Pokemon like Togekiss and Water-types and which struggle to pressure it with passive damage thanks to its Heavy-Duty Boots. While its Speed and bulk aren't great against offensive teams, it can usually find at least one opportunity to threaten them as well, either by forcing a switch or taking a hit. Should its team call for it, it can use Choice Scarf for greater use against offense and potentially cleaning up with Beast Boost at the expense of threatening defensive cores. What generally holds Xurkitree back is its aforementioned bulk and Speed; it can't switch into many direct attacks, and it often has very little breathing room against offense, areas where Raikou beats it out. Its Choice Scarf set suffers from prediction reliance against Ground-types and failing to outspeed other Choice Scarf users like Mienshao and Flygon as well as sweepers like Slush Rush Arctozolt, limiting its ability to revenge kill and clean up. If you're looking for raw attacking power, you might prefer Toxtricity, whose Boomburst is easier to spam and much stronger than any of Xurkitree's individual attacks.
[SET]
name: Offensive Pivot
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Volt Switch
move 3: Grass Knot / Energy Ball
move 4: Dazzling Gleam
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Heavy-Duty Boots Xurkitree uses its entry hazard immunity and great coverage to give bulky cores a hard time. Thunderbolt and Volt Switch are staple moves for an Electric-type pivot. A Grass-type move threatens Ground-types; Grass Knot also does the most damage to Steelix, Raikou, and other Xurkitree, while Energy Ball properly hurts the lightweight Diancie and always OHKOes Gastrodon. Dazzling Gleam covers Virizion and Dragon-types, most notably Flygon.
Pivot Xurkitree is pretty good at its job by default, so it usually gets put on a proactive team later in the building process to support others and pressure Togekiss. Steel-, Flying-, and Fire-types such as Metagross, Noivern, and Salazzle like having Xurkitree use Volt Switch as Grass-types like Roserade and Celebi switch in, and Fighting- and Ground-types like Mienshao and Flygon can take advantage of special walls such as Porygon2 and Registeel. Xurkitree is pretty slow and unwieldy against offense, so it should have at least a couple of fast teammates, some conventional examples including Noivern, Choice Scarf Mienshao, and Choice Scarf Flygon.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Volt Switch
move 3: Energy Ball
move 4: Dazzling Gleam
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Beast Boost
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Choice Scarf Xurkitree's increased Speed makes it more useful against offense and able to leverage Beast Boost late-game. Thunderbolt and Volt Switch are must-haves for most Electric-types, Energy Ball consistently covers Ground-types, and Dazzling Gleam handles Dragon-types while boasting decent neutral coverage for cleaning up.
Choice Scarf Xurkitree has a lot of opportunity cost compared to Heavy-Duty Boots Xurkitree, so it's only well merited when its team needs an Electric-type and a revenge killer in one. Given its focus on revenge killing and cleaning up, its teammates should include a wallbreaker or two like Life Orb Mienshao and Choice Band Metagross, which punish special walls and Grass-types. Water- and Grass-types like Seismitoad, Gastrodon, and Celebi can handle Ground-types when Xurkitree loses momentum to them. Roserade offensively checks them and sets Spikes, but it isn't a good Earthquake switch-in. Choice Scarf Xurkitree is still slower than Slush Rush Arctozolt and other Choice Scarf users, so a priority user such as Golisopod, Durant, or Bullet Punch Metagross will often be necessary on offensive teams using it.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Endure + Salac Berry has merit on Sticky Web teams, giving Xurkitree the simultaneous benefits of heightened Speed and attack freedom while blocking First Impression and outpacing Choice Scarf users not named Flygon. If you build around Indeedee-M, its Psychic Surge lets Xurkitree run Nature Power to OHKO Roserade and Vileplume.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Grass-types**: Roserade, Celebi, Vileplume, and Dhelmise are popular alongside Ground-types to minimize the damage Xurkitree can do, given their Electric resistance and neutrality-at-worst to its coverage. They're vulnerable to Volt Switch, though, so Xurkitree's team will often stay at an advantage, and Vileplume's and Dhelmise's lower Speed means Xurkitree doesn't even need to predict them.
**Special Walls**: Bulky Pokemon like Diancie, Registeel, Assault Vest Reuniclus, Porygon2, and Umbreon stand up well to Xurkitree's unboosted attacks but are total Volt Switch fodder. They need Heavy-Duty Boots Xurkitree statused or itemless to win a battle of attrition.
**Ground-types**: Steelix's Grass neutrality makes it the best Ground-type Xurkitree switch-in, though it quickly loses to repeated Grass Knot or Energy Ball. Flygon can take Dazzling Gleam once with the right EVs. Other Ground-types such as Gastrodon and Seismitoad usually switch out when Xurkitree appears in fear of Grass-type moves but can punish overeager uses of Volt Switch. Any Ground-type is a serious problem for Choice Scarf Xurkitree, creating a cost for locking into Electric-type moves.
**Electric-types**: With resistance to Electric and neutrality to Grass and Fairy, other Electric-types like Raikou, Toxtricity, and Xurkitree itself make for decent early-game switch-ins to Xurkitree. Only Toxtricity threatens much damage back, however, and none of them are eager to keep losing HP.
**Faster Pokemon and Priority**: Offensive teams featuring a lot of fast Pokemon give Heavy-Duty Boots Xurkitree few easy entry points and seldom lose more than one Pokemon to it. Faster Choice Scarf users like Mienshao and Heracross can revenge kill weakened Choice Scarf Xurkitree. The same goes for strong priority from the likes of Golisopod and Durant.
**Alolan Marowak**: Lighting Rod Alolan Marowak is unique in that it's immune to Electric and resistant to both Grass and Fairy, making it a major early-game obstacle to Xurkitree, but it's uncommon, very flawed, and fairly easy to wear down.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [CryoGyro, 331519]]
- Quality checked by: [[zizalith, 410251], [Lunala, 409096]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Estronic, 240732]]
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