Foul play or punishment for sableye?

Question

what is better for sableye. is it better to use swagger foul play or swagger punishment which is more reliable and gives reasons too. also should I add will o wisp or does it ruin the build of punishment and foul play.

Answer 1

With Swagger I would suggest this:

Sableye@Focus sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Atk / X / X
Nature: Adamant
-Fake Out
-Swagger
-Punishment
-Sadow Sneak

The explanation for the set is provided in the first link I posted, but to sum it up, Swagger boosts Punishment and potentially nets you an additional turn thanks to the confusion, plus with Prankster you attack first.

It's generally difficult for a psychic 'mon to have high Atk status, it's more likely they'll have stronger Sp.Atk, thus in my opinion Punishment is better.

if you're planning on mega evolving, take a look at this Smogon set:

Sableye@Sableite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpA
Nature: Bold
-Calm Mind
-Recover
-Dark Pulse/Shadow Ball
-Will-O-Wisp

for more ideas check out those links:
http://pokemondb.net/pokebase/5163/what-is-a-good-moveset-for-sableye
http://www.smogon.com/dex/xy/pokemon/sableye

Hope this helped!

Comments

Foul play is better imo

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Do you mean it's a better combo with swagger or it's better as a move over punishment?

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Punishment, unlike Foul Play, has to come through Sableye's measly attack stat (even mega has like, 85 attack). Foul Play can grab hold of the opponent's current attack, which can potentially do a lot more damage. Just stay away from special attackers though.

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Its still useful on special attackers. It doesn't get to use the boost of the attack and it still can do a lot because of +2 attack with foul play

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Special attackers tend to have miserable attack stats, and Foul Play will usually deal much less damage than what they can deal to you. Also Swaggering one is almost useless, the damage they do to themselves is negligible.

Answer 2

As per request, I'm answering this question a few days late.

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Punishment or Foul Play, that is the question.

Well, Punishment is virtualy never used competitively, as it requires the opposition to boost before it can be of any use, and the more they boost the more dangerous they are, and your Punisher will most likely wind up dead. Not to mention that Dark is resisted by several common setup sweepers, such as Mega Gyarados.

Foul Play, on the other hand, it the saving grace of some defensive Pokémon like Mandibuzz and Amoongus. These two have pitiful offensive presence, and Foul Play lets them use the high Attack stats of the Pokémon they wall against them, and keeps them from being total Taunt-bait.

Foul Play is often used in tandem with Swagger, to form a move combo knows as SwagPlay, which is common on Prankster users like Klefki. Sableye has been known to run a SwagPlay set itself, and is successful to some extent. It does not, however, typically run Punishment (nor does anything else).

TL;DR Foul Play > Punishment

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Here is a set for a SwagPlay Sableye (WARNING: If you are paying on Smogon tiers, then the move Swagger is banned):

Sableye@ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 232 SDef / 24 Def
Sassy Nature
- Swagger
- Foul Play
- Will-o-Wisp
- Recover

If you are planning on using SwagPlay on Mega Sableye, then don't. Mega Sableye's most used and most annoying and stally set is Shadow Ball / Will-o-Wisp / Recover / Calm Mind. While it can potentially run a SwagPlay build, this is far inferior to simply being able to shut down Physical attackers with a Burn.

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