It's been done. Spoiler ==Overview== Gallade is one of the more unique Fighting-types. With a dual typing that leaves Gallade with two uncommon weaknesses, and great special bulk that allows Gallade to take hits while it sets up, Gallade finds itself being one of LU's better Fighting-type sweepers. Its movepool is very good, having an option to hit nearly every threat in LU. It also has access to a priority move in Shadow Sneak. This lets Gallade be one of LU's premier set-up sweepers, with both Swords Dance and Bulk Up. Gallade, however, has major competition for a teamslot from LU's other Fighting-types. They all have somthing that Gallade wishes it could; Hitmonchan has a great ability for its movepool alongside Rapid Spin; Hitmonlee has amazing power and Reckless; Medicham has Pure Power. Gallade also has middling Speed, sitting at only 80, which isn't bad for LU, but puts it between a lot of dangerous Pokemon. Gallade also suffers from a lack of usuble coverage, there is always something that can attempt to wall Gallade with any combination of moves. Overall, Gallade is a very solid Pokemon in LU, finding itself commonly in the top twenty or so, and isn't a threat to pass over, but still has flaws and requires support to do its job. ==Sets== ===Bulk Up=== {{set|name=Bulk Up |pkmn=Gallade |nature=Careful |item=Leftovers |ability=Justified |ev=236 HP / 216 SpDef / 56 Spe |move1=Bulk Up |move2=Drain Punch |move3=Substitute |move4=Night Slash |move41=Stone Edge }} Bulk Up is one of Gallade's two viable boosting options. This makes great use of Gallade's assets (Special Defense and Attack) while boosting its poor Defense to passable levels. After a few Bulk Ups, Gallade can break holes in walls or attempt a sweep, while still being very hard to kill. Substitute allows Gallade to set-up on many of LU's weaker Pokemon and on status users. Moves like Scald from Slowking, or Giga Drain from (Defensive) Tangrowth fail to break the Substitute, and can give Gallade an opportunity to set-up multiple Bulk Ups. Drain Punch is perfect for this set, as it augments Gallade's bulk with extra healing power. The final move is extremely flexible. Night Slash hits all of the Ghost-types of LU for at least neutral damage, and has perfect coverage in LU (aside from Croagunk). Stone Edge hits harder than Night Slash, and has pretty good coverage as well, but it has a bad habit of missing 20% of the time. This set appreciates having powerful physical threats out of the way, as Pokemon like Entei can still do massive damage even with a Bulk Up boost. Things like Omastar, Tangrowth (not against Entei specifically), and other physical walls and pivots, can make great partner to weaken these threats to Gallade. Alongside this, Gallade appreciates having anything with Roar or Whirlwind out of play before attempting a sweep. Because most of the Pokemon that run phazing moves are walls, a good wallbreaker is recommended to weaken them. Durant can 2HKO nearly every wall in the metagame, and Bulk Up Gallade can set up on Poliwrath, one of the few things that gives Durant serious trouble. Kabutops and Entei can play similiar roles. ===Swords Dance=== {{set|name=Swords Dance |pkmn=Gallade |nature=Jolly |nature1=Adamant |item=Life Orb|item2=Lum Berry |ability=Justified |ability1=Steadfast |ev=4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd |move1=Swords Dance |move2=Drain Punch |move21=Close Combat |move3=Psycho Cut |move31=Leaf Blade |move4=Shadow Sneak }} This Gallade set is all about power. After a Swords Dance, Gallade hits 698 Attack with a Jolly nature or 766 Attack with an Adamant nature. Life Orb alongside Drain Punch can keep Gallade healthy, but Close Combat is extremely powerful. Psycho Cut receives STAB and has fairly powerful and has decent coverage. Leaf Blade hits Slowking and is one of the more powerful neutral options for Spiritomb, which walls Gallade STAB moves. Shadow Sneak is Gallade's priority move and hits many of LU's frail Pokemon that would attempt to revenge kill Gallade. One important thing to remember, is that this set is more likely to break walls and break apart cores for another to sweep, than it is to sweep by itself. The choice of Jolly or Adamant is up to preferences; Jolly allows Gallade to outspeed (or speed tie) Jolly Medicham, Jolly Kabutops, Jolly Absol, Modest Moltres, and Jolly Bravairy. Adamant is more powerful and can hurt a few things with extra powerful, but will rarely matter without both Life Orb and hazards. Zen Headbutt is usable in place of Psycho Cut as it trades power for accuracy, alongside the trade of a critical hit chance for a flinch chance. Steadfast can be used for the rare chance to boost Gallade's speed but is very situational in LU. Since this set can weaken a number of common walls, such as Slowking. Pokemon that appreciate these walls being eliminated or weakened are great partners. Moltres, Entei, and Magmortar all appreciate Slowking's absence. This set also lures Spiritomb, and assuming Leaf Blade is used, can take it down to very little health or OHKO it (depending on the item, nature, and the damage role). Other Fighting- and Psychic-type Pokemon enjoy the support, though they have fairly poor synergy type-wise. ===Choice=== {{set|name=Choice |pkmn=Gallade |nature=Adamant |nature1=Jolly |item=Choice Band|item2=Choice Scarf |ability=Justified |ev=4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd |move1=Close Combat |move2=Night Slash |move21=Leaf Blade |move3=Psycho Cut |Move31=Stone Edge |move4=Trick |Move41=Shadow Sneak }} This Gallade sets aside set-up moves in exchange for the power provided by a Choice item. This set can lure in some of the common counters and hit them extremely hard with a boosted move. Moreover, Gallade is resistant to Stealth Rock, so it can repeated switch to break down common walls. With a little bit of prediction, this set can punch holes in common LU cores. The moves are very situational and can be altered depending on the team. Close Combat is a stable for all choice sets, and has a huge amount of power and a fairly minor drawback for a hit-and-run Pokemon. Night Slash hits the Ghosts and Psychics in LU, like Uxie. Leaf Blade hits a little bit harder, especially on Slowking. Psycho Cut has STAB and hits pretty hard. Stone Edge is Gallade's most powerful move to hit Spiritomb, possibly 2HKOing max HP Spiritomb. Trick can cripple many common switches. Shadow Sneak can kill weakened or frail Pokemon. Choice Scarf can be used to make Gallade a potent revenge killer. While it does face competition from Primeape for a Fighting-type revenge killer, Gallade boasts a higher Attack and the ability to hit Ghost-types much harder. Unfortunately, Gallade doesn't have U-turn to gain momentum. The Choice Band set can run extra bulk with less speed to become a powerful tank. This Gallade appreciates the same support as the Sword Dance set. Pursuit is also really helpful to remove Ghosts that will attempt to sponge Gallade's Close Combat. Pokemon like Houndoom, Spiritomb, and Bisharp are very useful for taking these Ghosts out of play. Since this set forces a lot of switches, Spikes support is extremely helpful. Omastar, Crustle, and Accelgor are all good partners for this support. ===Defensive=== {{set|name=Defensive |pkmn=Gallade |nature=Careful |item=Leftovers |ability=Justified |ev=236 HP / 216 SpDef / 56 Spe |move1=Wish |move2=Drain Punch |move3=Will-O-Wisp |move4=Protect |move41= Taunt }} This set takes advantage of Gallade's fantastic special bulk to become a wall. With Wish and Will-O-Wisp, Gallade can augment its bulk even further. Will-O-Wisp can cripple many of offesive switches. Gallade can also pass Wish to teammates, despite the Wishes being fairly small, the healing will help pretty much anything. Protect guarantees that Gallade can receive a Wish, but Taunt can stop opposing teams from healing and makes wearing down opposing pokemon easier. Protect also allows Gallade to scout Choice users and then switch to an appropriate resist. The EVs allow Gallade to outspeed Omastar and Crawduant, if neither of these are a nuisance, max HP and max SpDef are the best choice. Gallade also has a number of other status options to use. Thunder Wave can slow down opposing teams for those who run slower sweepers like Druddigon. Hypnosis can put something that threatens Gallade's team out of the match for a while. ==Other Options== Gallade can run Substitute with three Attacks to prevent statuses and prevent a revenge kill. Ice Punch can be used to hit a few things. Encore, Taunt, Snatch, and Magic Coat all make good disruption moves. Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Healing Wish and Trick Room all support various teams. Hypnosis, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Destiny Bond, and Charm can all cripple Pokemon in LU. Gallade gets both screens and can set them up reasonably well; it can also use Memento to make setting up a sweeper much easier. ==Checks & Counters== Many of Gallade's best checks are Ghost-types. Dusclops, Dusknoir, and Spiritomb can take most of the attacks that Gallade will throw at it. They are all immune to Close Combat; Spiritomb is even immune to Psychic. Tangrowth can also take most of Gallade's attacks, but can be 2HKO'd by a Choice Band Close Combat. Bulky Psychic-types like Uxie can generally take most of Gallade's attacks and cripple with a Thunder Wave or Psychic. They do need to be wary of Gallade's Bulk Up set, as they can become set-up bait. Faster physical attackers, like Entei, Choice Scarf Bravairy, and Swellow can all revenge kill a Gallade without a Substitute.[/HIDE]
Talk about the HP EVs on the Sub Set. Tangrowth is 2HKO'd by Banded CC. Mention Wish maybe? Looks pretty good to me.
Yeah, I second Wish, even if it's only a mention. Because people forget that Gallade can even use it, and it can catch them off guard pretty easily. As for sets themselves... I'd personally put Adamant above Jolly every time, especially with the Swords Dance set. It's got Shadow Sneak for whatever's faster than it, so Jolly isn't especially needed imo.
Yeah, Wish is part of the defensive set that I mentioned. @ Adamant vs Jolly Its really up to preference, but it is really important to remember that even with a boost, Shadow Sneak isn't that strong and anything with semi-decent bulk can take at least one SS, so shit like Kabutops and Bravairy can revenge kill it before it can do serious damage.
Gallade has dual screens and Memento / Healing Wish, if you're into that kind of thing. Anyway, Approved.