GRENINJA STRATEGY IN COMPETITIVE POKÉMON

We bring you a highly demanded Competitive Pokémon guide . Voted as the fan favorite Pokémon, today we are talking about the sixth generation starter: Greninja .

The first of the Mutatipo trio (or its Libero counterpart), Greninja is a very versatile Pokémon offensively, with great damage and fantastic stats. It is a Swiss Army knife, capable of giving the blow necessary for many situations. It is undoubtedly one of the favorite Pokémon of our writing, with an arc in the anime that is worth it.

Get out the type table and let’s learn everything you need to play the starting beast of Kalos.

? GRENINJA’S STATS

His stats add up to a total of 530 points , good statistics. But the distribution of him is very good:

• Health: 72.
• Attack: 95.
• Defense: 67.
• Special Attack: 103.
• Special Defense: 71.
• Speed: 122.

We start with its defensive part, its worst part. With 72 Health it is among the weakest Pokémon, to which must be added the problem of having 67 and 71 in Defense and Special Defense respectively. Greninja is paper, a hard hit will weaken our frog.

Offensively is another matter. Its 122 Speed ​​is very good, being one of the fastest Pokémon and with 103 Special Attack it will be able to hit very hard.

TYPE, RESISTANCES AND WEAKNESSES

Greninja is a Dark Water-Type , which gives it the following weaknesses and resistances:

• He is immune to Psychic.
• It is resistant to Fire, Water, Ice, Ghost, Dark and Steel.
• It is weak to Electric, Grass, Fighting, Bug and Fairy.

Great type mix for Greninja, with 6 resistances and an immunity. Even as a Pokémon that fulfills the role of sweeper, it is always good to have such good resistances.

5 weaknesses, 4 of them very uncomfortable:

• Electric : A very dangerous type, as many Electric Pokémon can be very fast. Regieleki and Tapu-Koko are great opponents.
• Grass : In grass type there are few very common Pokémon, but Venusaur (with Sun and Chlorophyll), Rillaboom (with its priority movement) and Meowscarada (with 123 base Speed) are very dangerous.
• Bug : Although this is the least dangerous weakness, since Bug-types see very little play, Pokémon like Volcarona or Reptalada (Volcarona’s paradox) can do surprising damage to us (if we don’t defeat them first).
• Fight : It is usually a more dangerous type due to coverage movements, but Pokémon like Lucario or Annihalape can be devastating for our little frog.
• Fairy : Having a weakness to one of the best (if not the best) types in the game is always problematic. Some examples of problem Pokémon are: Fluffmane , Sylveon , and Hatterene .

GRENINJA ABILITIES

Let’s now see their abilities and which ones could be interesting:

TORRENT

Like the rest of the Water-type starter Pokémon, Greninja has access to Torrent. This ability increases the damage of Water-type movements by 50% when our Pokémon has its Health equal to or below 1/3. It’s not a great ability, but it does have its uses with Band Focus.

STRONG AFFECTION (SIGNATURE SKILL – EVENT)

Ash’s typical Greninja ability may be one of the best Greninja has available. This ability has been changed since the 9th generation, suffering a nerf (or power drop), so its effect is now to increase Greninja’s Special Attack and Speed ​​by one level when it weakens an opponent, although only once per battle. It’s not bad at all, it’s like a Dragon Dance, although its nerf is quite hard.

MUTATYPE (HIDDEN ABILITY)

His Hidden Ability has also been changed with the release of gen 9. Greninja will change his type to the type of the move he is going to perform, thus gaining STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) damage on that move and changing his type, but now he will only do it once when on the field, resetting this if he returns to his type. Poke Ball. This ability gives Greninja a lot of versatility both offensively and defensively.

IVS, EVS AND NATURE

The perfect Iv’s, and we will see that we will use classic EV’s for an attacker, with a Physical variation and a Special one:

• EV’s : We will use 252 in Special Attack (or Attack for its variant), 252 in Speed ​​and 4 in Health.
• Nature : We will carry Fearful (+Speed, -Attack) and Happy (+Speed, -Special Attack) Nature in the physical variant.

RECOMMENDED ITEM

These are the objects that we recommend for Greninja:

• Choice Scarf : Increases the Pokémon’s Speed ​​by 50%, but forces us to use only one movement.
• Choice Glasses : Increases Special Attack by 50% in exchange for forcing us back to only being able to use one move. (Only for a Special Attack set).
• Vidasfera : Enhances the damage produced by 30% and damages our Pokémon for 10% of its life. A great alternative to still have high damage and retain versatility.
• Focus Band : This object will leave us at 1 point of Health if an attack is going to weaken us with 100% Health.
• Expert Ribbon : This item increases the damage of super effective attacks by 20%. It gives us great synergy with Mutatipo, having a lot of versatility.
• Tricked Dice : Increases the chance for multi-hit moves like Icicle to hit a high number of times.

WATER SHURIKEN ( WATER SHURIKEN ): ITS SIGNATURE MOVE

• Type: Water.
• Special.
• Power: 15.
• Precision: 100.
• Effect: Hit between 1 and 5 times. Has Priority.

This movement has also undergone many changes with the release of Scarlet and Purple. In its current state, we have a priority move, with STAB damage and medium base stats. If we carry the Tricked Dice we have a 50% chance to hit 4 times (which would give us a power of 60) and 50% to hit 5 times (would give us a power of 75), which can be interesting.

BEST MOVES FOR GRENINJA

These are the movements that we recommend for our little frog:

• Water Shuriken : His exclusive Water STAB, although he has other very good ones. It will hit Fire, Rock, and Ground-type Pokémon very effectively. Fantastic for Pokemon like Incineroar , Tyranitar , or Groudon .
• Umbrio Pulse : Dark STAB, Special, 80 Power, 100% Accuracy, and has a 20% chance to Frighten the opponent. Very effective against Ghost and Psychic. Our very effective damage against Pokemon like Skeledirge , Hatterene , or Chandelure .
• Ice Beam : Ice, Special, 90 power and 100% accuracy. Has a 10% chance to Freeze the target. It is very effective damage against Dragon, Grass, Ground and Flying types. It will do massive damage to Pokemon like Salamence , Amoonguss , Gastrodon, or Kilowattrel .
• Hydro Pump : STAB Water, Special, 110 power and 80 accuracy. It is a riskier alternative due to its accuracy, but it will do tremendous damage.
• Gunthrower : Poison, Physical, 120 power and 80% accuracy. Has a 30% chance to poison the target. It is very effective damage against Grass and Fairy types. It is the physical coverage against the Fairies, very useful against Pokémon like Maneleteo, Togekiss or Azumarill .
• Shadow Slash : Dark STAB, Physical, 700 Power and 100% Accuracy. Has a 12.5% ​​critical chance. It is our Dark STAB for the physical set.
• Barbs : Earth, State. Places a Spike Trap on the opponent’s field that deals damage to the opponent as it enters the field, except to Pokémon with Flying or Levitation (such as Rotom ). More than one layer of Spikes can be placed, thus increasing the damage. In this way the damage will be:
  • If there is 1 layer of spikes the Pokémon will lose 1/8 (12.5%) of its maximum Health.
  • If there are 2 layers of spikes the Pokémon will lose 1/6 (16.67%) of its maximum Health.
  • If there are 3 layers of spikes the Pokémon will lose 1/4 (25%) of its maximum Health.
• Round Trip : Bug, Physical, 70 power and 100% accuracy. The Pokémon returns to the Poké Ball after attacking. It is a way to pivot our Pokémon doing some damage and recovering our Mutatipo. It is very effective against Grass, Psychic and Dark. It gives us an answer for Pokemon like Meowscarade, Umbreon , or Treetree .
• Protection : Normal, Status, and 100% Accuracy (but can fail if used consecutively). Prevents all damage or status moves to the Pokémon using it.

GRENINJA STRATEGIES

Greninja’s role is always an Attacker ( sweeper ), although we bring you his classic Special set and a Physical one that will surprise many:

GRENINJA SWEEPER SPECIAL (SINGLES/DOUBLES VGC)

• IVs: Perfect.
• EVs: 252 Special Attack, 4 Health, 252 Speed.
• Nature: Fearful.
• Item: Choice Glasses / Life Orb / Tricked Dice.
• Ability: Mutatipo / Strong Affection.
• Movements:
  • Water Shuriken / Hydropump.
  • Shadow Pulse.
  • Ice Ray.
  • Barbs / Protection.

Although Greninja is a classic sweeper , focused on taking down opposing Pokémon before they hit him, his way of playing is very different depending on our choices. In this way, depending on whether we have Mutatipo or Strong Affection, our use of the ninja frog will be very different . With Mutatipo we will look to put Greninja on the field, threaten or weaken an opposing Pokémon thanks to our type versatility and return to the Poké Ball to recover our Mutatipo for another matchup. Conversely, with Strong Affection we’re looking to get Greninja onto the field when he can safely KO an opponent and thus boost our stats. And once our ninja has that boost , do as much damage as possible.

The choice of item is up to you, although for the Strong Affection set we don’t recommend wearing Choice Glasses, it will lock you in a movement and the opponent can force you to remove Greninja from the field, losing our boost . The Tricked Dice is a very interesting tech for our Water Shuriken to always hit hard.

Spikes and Protection is for Singles and Doubles respectively.

GRENINJA SWEEPER PHYSICAL (SINGLES/DOUBLES VGC)

• IVs: Perfect.
• EVs: 252 Attack, 4 Health, 252 Speed.
• Nature: Cheerful.
• Item: Focus Band / Vidasfera / Election Scarf.
• Ability: Mutatipo / Strong Affection.
• Movements:
  • Throw Goo.
  • Umbrio Slash.
  • Round trip.
  • Barbs / Protection.

It is a set very similar to the Special, but with which to surprise the opponent with physical damage. Pokemon that expect to take our damage comfortably can be KOed by this Greninja, especially Fairy-types thanks to Gunk Launcher. We’ve loved Choice Scarf on this set, so we’re making heavy use of Back and Forth to take advantage of Mutatipo.

Be careful if you are running Strong Affection, as our most powerful move has an accuracy of 80 and can be problematic.

GRENINJA TERACRYSTALLIZATION

• Venom Teratype

Even though Venom is one of the worst types in the game, it works like a charm on Greninja. Defensively he protects us from Plant and Fairy, his most problematic weaknesses, but offensively he is tremendous; on the Special set he will give us an answer to Fairy-types with Terablast and on the Physical set he will increase our Gunk Launcher damage even more.

• Teratype Water

Even though Greninja doesn’t have perfect Water STABs, a set with Strong Affect, Dice, and Tera Water can be very surprising and overwhelm the opponent for heavy damage. That x2 of STAB to the Water Shuriken (or to the Hydropulse if you prefer) can give us the damage we need to weaken the opposing Pokémon and activate our ability, making Greninja an even more fearsome Pokémon

HOW TO DEFEAT GRENINJA AND COUNTERS

Let’s look at the best ways to deal with Greninja:

• Weak Him Before Mut-Type : Greninja doesn’t activate his ability until he uses a move, so Pokemon faster than him will be able to hit his weaknesses before it changes type. Tapu-Koko will knock him out in one hit before he can move, Meowscarade is faster, and Rillaboom will hit him priority with Phyto Rush (with the Grass field).
• Mist / Clear Mist : These moves remove all stat mods from the target, removing the boost from Strong Affect. We recommend using Amoonguss with Clear Fog.