![[Image: sylveon.gif]](http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy/shiny/sylveon.gif)
"Caution: High Noise Area. Use Ear Protection!"
(VGC) or (Battle Spot Doubles) Sylveon - Attack (Special Attacker) 2 Options
Type: Fairy
Base Stats: 95 HP / 65 Attack / 65 Defense / 110 Special Attack / 130 Special Defense / 60 Speed
Weaknesses: Poison (x2) , Steel (x2)
Resistances: Dark (x0.5), Fighting (x0.5), Bug (x0.5)
Immunities: Dragon (x0)
Abilities:
Cute Charm: - If the target makes contact with the user, there's a 30% chance in which the user will become infatuated if the user is opposite gender that of the attacker.
Pixilate: - Changes all Normal-type moves into the Fairy type and receives an additional 1.3x boost before STAB.
Overview
Since its introduction in Gen 6, Sylveon is a popular Fairy-type Pokemon used by many competitive players having access to the Pixilate ability to change any Normal-type attacks like Hyper Voice, Quick Attack, and Hyper Beam into Fairy-type. The reintroduction of Hyper Voice as a move tutor for XY/ORAS-born Sylveon resulted in a large usage in the VGC format / Battle Spot Doubles with players realizing how powerful Sylveon hits with Pixilate Hyper Voice even as a spread damage. With the VGC 15 season coming to a close, Sylveon has proven itself to be the most powerful non-Legendary/non-Mega Fairy-type in the format just because its duel move-ability combo in Pixilate Hyper Voice, however Sylveon is not limited to screaming at its opponents. Coverage-wise, Sylveon has access to a wide support options like Helping Hand, Light Screen, Reflect, Calm Mind, Toxic, etc as well as a good amount of coverage to anything not super effective against Pixilate Hyper Voice. Even from a defensive standpoint with 95 HP / 65 Def / 130 SpD overall, Sylveon is relatively bulky enough to take nearly all special hits (not super effective) as well as strong physical attacks like Double Edge or Iron Head with the proper EV spread. Though its base 60 speed isn't as high as one would hope, its slow enough to be a threatening Trick Room sweeper in case Sylveon in partnered with one.
All that aside, Sylveon is always at a constant battle against Steel-type and Poison-types who can take most of its attacks and can either KO or wall the fairy entirely. As mentioned before, Sylveon is a slow special attacker so any potential double target or super effective target can take out Sylveon before it can even strikes with it Pixilate Hyper Voice. Despite these flaws, Sylveon is still a low risk, high reward Pokemon give the power of Pixilate Hyper Voice. If the opponent doesn't have a clear answer for Sylveon, there's a strong likelihood this Fairy will scream its way to victory.
Offensive Support
![[Image: sylveon.png]](http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy-fan/shiny/sylveon.png)
Sylveon @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 180 Def / 80 SpA / 20 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Shadow Ball
- Helping Hand / Reflect / Light Screen
- Protect / Detect
Milestones:
-Survives a Double Edge from Jolly 252 Atk Mega Kangaskhan 0.4% of the time and Mega Salamence's Double Edge 100% of the time
-Survives an Iron Plate / Metal Coat boosted Flash Cannon from Modest Aegislash 100% of the time.
-Survives a non-boosted Iron Head from Bisharp.
-Has a 81.3% chance OHKO 4 HP Jolly Mega Salamence (but can OHKO if Double Edge recoil is taken).
-2HKOees 252 HP Heatran with Hidden Power Ground.
-HP investment is optimized for Life Orb and sandstorm damage.
-Pixie Plate Pixilate boosted Hyper Voice can either 3HKO to 2HKO many neutral targets given spread damage.
Notice: If the IVs aren't "suitable" (for HP Ground), just run an EV spread as shown with the lowest possible attack and an ideal coverage move. The EV spread should be adjusted with a couple points to use afterward.
Given how powerful Pixilate Hyper Voice hits against both targets, this set will focus mostly on the other things Sylveon can do. As mentioned many times, Sylveon is one of the most powerful Fairy-type Pokemon in the game since Pixilate Hyper Voice is enough to often either 2HKO or 3HKO at least majority of the game bar resisted types like Steel-, Fire-, and Poison-type Pokemon. Pixie Plate is the intended item for this set given how there's a lack of Special Attack investment just to allocate enough effort values into HP and Defense. The new defensive investment allows Sylveon to take a Double Edge from both Mega Salamence and Mega Kangaskhan most of the time as well as a super effective Iron Head from Bisharp which is impressive. There's no need to invest too much into Special Defense since Sylveon already has a large base 130 SpD to take powerful strong special hits even from a Flash Cannon from Aegislash. As far as other coverage options goes, Hidden Power Ground is the best option given it hits both Fire-/Steel-types especially Heatran for a 2HKO. Shadow Ball is another option to run if Sylveon's team doesn't have great answers for Ghost-/Psychic-types like Mega Gardevoir, Aegislash, Gengar, etc for considerable damage. Generally speaking, Sylveon will far likely use its Pixilate Hyper Voice attack to inflict enough damage for either it or an allied partner can finish the weaken Pokemon.
Helping Hand is a great support option for Sylveon with its +7 priority to power up any partner with a 1.5x boost. This support coverage is useful in case a key target needs to be OHKOed and if Sylveon likely faints the following turn. Sylveon has access to both Light Screen and Reflect to reduce the damage of either physical or special attacks by a third. This can allow Sylveon and its partners to take either physical or special hits better than usual and can sway the battle in their favor. Lastly, Protect is an option for Sylveon to have given how easily its a common Pokemon that gets double targeted due to Pixilate Hyper Voice threaten the opposing side. Detect can be used since Sylveon gets shut down by Imprison Mega Gardevoir so at least it can protect itself from incoming attacks, however it cannot retaliate back if Mega Gardevoir knows Hyper Voice which they do most of the time.
Damage Calculations
Offensive - Most of the damage calculations will focus on Pixie Plate-boosted Pixilate Hyper Voice, Hidden Power Ground, and Shadow Ball assuming Sylveon has about 80 SpA EVs with an SpA IV of 30.
Defensive - With 228 HP / 180 Def Modest Nature and 30 IVs in Special Defense.
Calm Mind
Sylveon @ Pixie Plate / Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 100 Def / 160 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Hyper Voice
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Shadow Ball / Substitute
- Protect
Notice: Sylveon must have 30 IVs in both special attack and special defense in order to have Hidden Power Ground.
Milestones
-Pixilate Hyper Voice with Pixie Plate strong enough to OHKO Mega Salamence, Terrakion, and AV Scrafty with relative ease.
-Can survive a Life Orb Aegislash Flash Cannon after Special Defense boost from Calm Mind.
-After Calm Mind boost can OHKO 108 HP Heatran with Hidden Power Ground.
-Survives up Jolly 252 Atk Mega Kangaskhan's Return all the time.
Calm Mind Sylveon has received a strong push in usage towards the end of the VGC 2015 / Battle Spot Doubles and with good reason. With arguably the strongest Fairy-type attack in the game, Sylveon can boost this attack along with both its highest stats (Sp. Atk and Sp. Def) into frightening levels thanks to Calm Mind. Now why would people use something like Calm Mind setup over something like an the immediate fire power of Specs or Life Orb. In some matchups where Sylveon is paired against low special attacking Pokemon like Rotom-W or Milotic, it can use this opportunity to setup as much Calm Mind boost. To top it off, Sylveon is already a decent special pivot and to boost its special defense even further while giving the player a clear win condition for a late game Hyper Voice sweep. Of course Sylveon won't be able to setup on the likes of a Amoonguss + Azumarrill, or a strong physical attacker, but once setup even the most bulkiest/resistant Pokemon will get hampered by the combination of Hyper Voice/HP Ground. The only notable move for this set are HP Ground and Shadow Ball as both allows Sylveon to bypass certain checks and counters. HP Ground lets Sylveon hit Fire-type Pokemon, notable Heatran for massive damage and with a Calm Mind boost or two, Sylveon can tank a resisted Flash Cannon from Heatran. Shadow Ball is in case the the player doesn't have access to an HP Ground Sylveon so Shadow Ball can be used to hit Aegislash and Mega Gardevoir for considerable damage. Remember the goal of this Sylveon set is to find a time where it up against targets it can threaten out or can't OHKO Sylveon, get as many Calm Mind boost (preferably two boost max unless you are greedy) necessary, and proceed with the end game sweep.
Now there are some alternatives for this set anyone can use for a Calm Mind Syleon. Substitute allows Sylveon to avoid status moves and with a couple of CM boost even some STAB special attacks won't break the Sub. Keep in mind that this takes too much setup and forfeits onf of Sylveon's coverage moves or Protect. Leftovers can be used in either Sub or non-Sub set given Sylveon can recover off residual damage and semi weak special attacks over time. While Sylveon loses out in attacking power from Pixie Plate (or Life Orb as some players use), Leftovers gives Sylveon a bit of sustainability over time to complement the Calm Mind boost.
Damage Calculations
Offensive - All the damage calculations were done with 160 SpA, Pixie Plate, and a +1 boost in special attack.
Defensive - With 228 HP / 100 Def / 8 SpD Modest Nature (Neutral) and 30 IVs in Special Defense (with CM Boosts)
Potential Teammates include, but aren't limited to;
- Speed Control: Sylveon is an incredibly slow Pokemon in the VGC / Battle Spot Doubles format so it needs speed control from either Trick Room, Thunder Wave, Tailwind, Icy Wind, etc. Trick Room setters Pokemon like Cresselia, Gothitelle, Jellicent, and others can reverse the speed order so Sylveon can move faster than its usual checks and fire fast Hyper Voices. Thunder Wave support won't grant Sylveon an overall speed advantage like Trick Room, however once a key target like Mega Salamence or Terrakion is paralyzed, Sylveon can easily outspeed them and get a potential knock out with Hyper Voice. While Sylveon isn't known for its speed, by investing in about 116 Spe EVs, a Tailwind setter (Zapdos, Talonflame, Salamence, Suicune, etc just to name a few) can outspeed at most max speed Mega Salamence an get some surprise knockouts.
- Intimidate + Fake Out: Pokemon like Landorus-T, Gyarados, Mawile, Salamence, Scrafty, Arcanine, etc are examples of Pokemon who can drop the physical attack of both targets to patch up Sylveon's rather low defense stat and increase its longevity. Fake Out users like Mega Kangaskhan, Scrafty, Hitmontop, Mega Lopunny, etc can provide one guarantee turn of flinch against a target so Sylveon can either setup with Calm Mind, or go straight for Hyper Voice.
- Fire-type Pokemon Given some of Sylveon's best counters (Aegislash, Mega Mawile, Mega Metagross, Ferrothorn, Bisharp, etc) are Steel-type Pokemon, having a Fire-type like Mega Charizard Y, Volcarona, Entei, Heatran, Arcanine, Rotom-H, etc can help mitigate its weakness a bit. Sylveon can threaten out some Dragon-type Pokemon like Garchomp, Kingdra, some variants of Mega Salamence, and even take a special Water-type hit for a for a Fire-type partner due to its fantastic special bulk. One last thing to mention is the combination of Fire-type STAB + Pixilate Hyper Voice means there are very few Pokemon how can switch into the battle aside from taking a strong neutral hit.
Threats
- Steel-type Pokemon: Steel-type Pokemon like Mega Metagross, Mega Mawile, Bisharp, Scizor, Heatran, Aegislash, etc can all take an incoming Hyper Voice with ease and potentially OHKO it back with a super effective Steel STAB. Be weary that Sylveon can have another coverage option like HP Fire/Ground or have its partner deal with them.
- Poison-type Pokemon: There are only a handful of Poison-type Pokemon who can come into Sylveon's Pixilate Hyper Voice and can at least 2HKO it with their Poison STABs. Mega Venusaur, Crobat, Amoonguss, Gengar, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, etc are some of the few Pokemon who can either 2HKO Sylveon with their respective Poison-type STAB, take a Hyper Voice, or setup for its own teammate by spreading status conditions.
- Physical Attackers (In General): With a rather low base defense of 65, Sylveon will often faint due to the opponent using strong physical attackers like Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Salamence, Mega Metagross, Landorus-T, Mega Mawile, etc. Literally the best way to deal with Sylveon if one doesn't have a way to at least neutralize it is to overwhelm it with powerful physical attacks before it can fire its own Pixilate Hyper Voice.
- Bulky Fire-types: Another Pokemon type Sylveon cannot beat without using a different coverage option is the Fire-type due to its resistance to Fairy-type attacks. Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y, Heatran, Rotom-H, Volcarona, Entei, Arcanine, and others can easily come in on Hyper Voice while either spread Will-O-Wisp burns, Snarl, setup, or even attack with their STAB Fire-type moves.
- Wide Guard : If Pixilate Hyper Voice is an issue with your entire team, Wide Guard such as from Aegislash, Swampert, Aerodactyl, Conkeldurr, Hitmontop, etc can provide protection from this attack and other notable spread damage for consecutive turns.
Other Notable Moves
Here are a list of notable attacks in Sylveon can utilize well:
- Moonblast - A base 95 Fairy-type single target attack used to bypass Wide Guard user predicting a Hyper Voice.
- Shadow Ball - A base 80 Ghost-type attack and coverage for Aegislash, Gengar, and Mega Gardevoir.
- Reflect - Cuts the damage of all physical attacks by one-third in doubles.
- Light Screen - Cuts the damage of all special attacks by one-third in doubles.
- Hyper Beam - A base 150 Normal-turned-Fairy move (Pixilate) which deals massive damage, though at the cost of recharging for one turn.
- Sleep Talk - Allows the user to attack while they are asleep. Useful in case Sylveon takes a Spore or Dark Void.
- Quick Attack - A base 40 Normal-turned-Fairy move (Pixilate) which allows Sylveon to attack first.
- Psyshock - A base 80 Psychic move that calculates against defense instead of special defense. Used for Amoonguss, Gengar, and Mega Venusaur.
For those who got this far thanks for reading this article! Wanted to make this as short as possible given we already have a couple of Sylveon post from last year though I'll admit those are a bit outdated for Battle Spot and the current VGC format. I'm likely going to take a break from doing these and post some set suggestions for the new 2016 metagame so look for some sets about the current VGC meta there for the time being.
