How viable is Espeon in Gen 8 OU?

Question

I've seen it used a lot of times, and some people sweep with Espeon because of it's great Speed and Special Attack. I've used it a couple of times, some I win with it, but other I lose to it. I was beginning to wonder exactly how viable Espeon is...

I would like the pros and cons of Espeon please

BTW, the moveset I used with my Espeon all the time is this:

Espeon @Leftovers
252 SpA/252 Spe/4SpD
Nature: Modest
Ability: Synchronize
Shadow Ball
Psychic
Calm Mind
Dazzling Gleam

Comments

What's it's ability? Synchronize or Magic Bounce?

Answer 1

Well, apparently I am being told to do this because she updated it and no one else has pros and cons.

Pros

• Decent 110 base Speed
• High 130 base Sp Atk
• Fastest Magic bouncer
• Okay movepool
• Recovery in Morning Sun and Wish

Cons

• It's decent speed is now slow-ish, because of how fast the metagame is, and the slower attackers normally pack priority
• Bad HP and Defense, with 65 and 60 respectively
• Outclassed by Alakazam, in Speed and Sp Atk
• No bulk whatsoever
• Latios packs better bulk as well as the same Speed and Sp Atk stat

Other notes:

• It's magic bounce is shared with Hatterene and Xatu, both which are
  preferred for better bulk, Hatterene being offensive, and Xatu having
  pivot in Teleport
• Having 95 in Sp Def sounds ok, but paired with bad HP, its not very good

Basically:

• A special wallbreaker with access to setup works better with Alakazam
• Magic Bounce isn't great, but even then Xatu and Hatterene are better
• As a Psychic-type with a bit more bulk than Alakazam it is outclassed by Latios
• So its outclassed by mostly everything, and unfortunately has no place in OU.

Of course the other answers have some more details of it being outclassed so read those too

Comments

Still better than what?

Answer 2

There is absolutely NO REASON to use Espeon in OU for 2 major reasons. The first of which is that Espeon is completely outclassed Alakazam as a pure Psychic Special Sweeper who possesses the same coverage with higher Special Attack and Speed. Alakazam is better in every aspect with your set. Alakazam additionally has a much better ability than Espeon being Magic Guard. This allows it to be a very solid wallbreaker. Espeon does reflect many of these moves, but it is still outclassed by Magic Guard as an ability. Even if you wanted to use Espeon for its Magic Bounce Ability, it is still outclassed by Hatterene.

Now, let's say that you don't care that Espeon is worse than Alakazam, bring in the lovely Pokemon of the OU tier. Here, you have to deal with a faster Pheremosa that will OHKO you, Weavile that will OHKO you, Spectrier and Dragapault that OHKO among others. See what I'm getting at? Any faster threat that has offensive capabilities will OHKO before you can even get a move off. Because of this, Espeon should never be used in OU, bar any small niche you can find.

You asked for pros and cons, so here you go.
Pros-
Solid 130 SpA and 110 Spd.
Fun ability in Magic Bounce to disrupt walls like Toxapex as well as Hazard Setters.
Solid check to Urshifu (as long as it isn't scarfed)
Solid STAB and coverage in Psychic, Shadow Ball and Dazzling Gleam

Cons:
Refer to paragraphs above.

Comments

I would like to mention that Espeon is only a solid check to the lesser-seen Urshifu-R, the most common Urshifu is Urshifu-S, which is immune to Psychic thanks to its Dark typing, and has the guaranteed crit, STAB, super-effective Wicked Blow.

---

Well, most carry Dazzling Gleam so I consider it a Check.

Answer 3

Not viable at all

It doesn't even have a Gen 8 OU analysis, and its tiered NU. As a Magic Bouncer it is outclassed by Hatterene, who has higher Special Attack, more bulk, a much better typing offensively and defensively, and better utility options such as Nuzzle and Trick Room. Too frail, outsped by Dragapult, Spectrier, Pheromosa, scarfers like Landorus-T, Garchomp, Victini, outclassed as an offensive Psychic by Tapu Lele and Latios. Its cons are too noticeable and is not viable at all in OverUsed, just like all the other Eeveelutions

Pros

• Magic Bounce, its main selling point.
• Nice Special Attack, good Speed stat in most situations
• Large offensive movepool, with Psychic STAB in well, Psychic, as well as Psychock, as well as cool coverage options in Grass Knot for Swampert, Shadow Ball for stuff like Dragapult and Spectrier on the switch-in, Dazzling Gleam for Dragons, yada yada yada
• For support, it has Dual Screens, Wish, Yawn, Future Sight, even Charm and Fake Tears

Cons

• Reliably checked by major Pokemon in the metagame
• Low bulk
• Psychic isn't a very good offensive typing, with only 2 types weak to it and quite a few resists.
• Outclassed as a Magic Bouncer by the bulkier Xatu, which also has good support options like Teleport, Tailwind, Thunder Wave, among others, and the aforementioned Hatterene.
• Outclassed by other Psychics