Benzo
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[GAL=53341] Genesect [/GAL]
Requested by member: Porri Sams
Art work: Found in the Gallery!
In a few ways, this Pokémon is a bit difficult to fully review due to the amount of versatility this Pokémon can have. Like Arceus, depending on the hold item you have multiple choices for building this Pokémon for your use in battle. I will try to give Genesect a review that will show the many versatile ways it can be built, considering the way that Genesect is designed and what it has behind it to make it so well suited for battles. Even though Genesect is not allowed for VGC play, it can still be built for purposes to bring excellent coverage for a team, or as a stand alone monster that has so many tactical ploys at it's disposal for gaining KO's with nice and rewarding results.
This Pokémon was modified by Team Plasma in order to take advantage of the special attack Techno Blast. Take a 3000 year old Pokémon and attach a cannon to it's back: Why not? And have it be able to change the attack type at will? Certainly!In order to make a Pokémon be versatile in battles, having a move that changes that is based on a held item to influence the type can be something of desire for battles to gain an advantage over an opponent in the heat of battle. Techno Blast will change type according to the item held by Genesect. These held items can really add up in the damage department to rack in the KO's in many situations, and Genesect can be built to further compliment the team as long as it is equipped with the corresponding held item that changes Techno Blast's attack type.
Genesect can hold one of four different "Drives", the held items utilized for modifying the attack to be ice, water, fire, or electric type, making it possible to score super effective hits against opposing Pokémon at the switch of a "Drive" change. This makes Genesect more of a threat on the battle field, allowing the trainer to have access to making this Pokémon suited for teams to be able to have support or for countering threats that make the team weak in some areas that need coverage to keep your strategy solid and well rounded out for balance.
The four "Drives" are called: Shock, Burn, Chill and Douse. Shock being electric, Burn being fire, Chill being ice, and of course Douse being Water. In order to take full advantage of Techno Blast, you will want to build Genesect as a Special Attacker to gain the most use of Techno Blast's versatility to be switched up for type matching for the "Drive" that you select for Genesect to hold.
Looking at Genesects Base Stats, your looking at:
Hit Point: 71 reaching a max at 346
Attack: 120 reaching a max at 372
Defense: 95 reaching a max at 317
Special Attack: 120 reaching a max at 372
Special defense: 95 reaching a max at 317
Speed: 99 reaching a max at 326
In order to build the best Genesect, there are many things to consider. Do you want an all out attacker? Or would your prefer Genesect to be a supporter for countering threats against your team? Can Genesect stand alone in single battles? Is it best to utilize Genesect in a team? A Pokémon such as Genesect with so many options as to having Techno Blast attack leaves the door open to many options to consider, so let's take a look into what all this Pokémon has to offer such as move pool and STAB without Techno Blast in the mix.
The ability Genesect has is Download. It is the only ability available for Genesect at this time. Downloads effect is: Attack is increased when the foe’s Defense is lower than its Special Defense or increases Special Attack when the foe’s Special Defense is lower than its Defense when Genesect comes onto the field. This ability is something to consider when your looking to build a good Genesect for battles, and must be planned carefully when you decide what sort of battler your wanting to have for your team or for single battles.
For single battles, you will want to look at your team and see if you need Genesect to be built to switch into an opposing Pokémon that will give your team a hard time due to weakness that your team has as an over all threat. If your team has an issue with handling certain Pokémon like a heavy defense Pokémon that could stall you out, you can build Genesect to gain full advantage of it's ability to punch a hole in that bulky opponent in order to regain some ground if you find yourself backed into a corner.
Genesect's duel type being Bug/Steel is an interesting combination, not really giving techno Blast bonus STAB it needs to be more effective in hitting for more damage, but it does give it some good resistance to most attacks tossed at it. It does have one major weakness, which is Fire as it will receive X the amount of damage taken while most attacks will hit for half the damage taken from attacks that Genesect does resist. In a way, the typing makes up for the loss of STAB that it can have with Techno Blast in it's move set, gaining only the possible X damage if Techno Blast is super effective when hitting foes.
The Attack and Special Attack base stats are the same, making it so that when you decide on what type of attacker you will wield easier to not worry about one stat being higher then the other. The two defense base stats are equal as well, making it easier for your to decide which stat to invest your EV's into depending on what you choose to have Genesect participate in: Single or Double battles.
Here is an example Special Attack Genesect with consideration to the attack Techno Blast in the move set:
Nature: Modest - Special Attack up, Attack down
Held item: Any one of the 4 "Drive" items, depending on your team or single strategy.
EV Spread: This is sort of tricky, since Single or Double battle will decide the build behind the EV spread. For a supporting team mate Genesect, you could invest 252 into Special attack, 120 into Hit Point, 120 in either defense stat, and the rest into speed for making Genesect move first before your partnered Pokémon. For Single battles, you could invest a little less into Hit Points and into the Speed stat to outrun other threats to make sure to get in a hit that is possibly a X effective hit.
Move set:
Bug Buzz
This attack gets STAB, as well as being a great solid accurate attack that can also lower your opponents Special Defense stat. This little side effect bonus could make your opponent switch out a Pokémon, thus disrupting their plan a little #or a lot# if the effect kicks in and puts that added weakness in defense into dangerous zone level for them. Grass, Psychic, and Dark Pokémon will suffer some serious damage from this, so the added little Special Defense drop could mean a possible retreat in the future from this attack.
Tri Attack
Some may say that Tri Attack is not all that great, but it does have a secondary effect of inducing Burn, Freeze, or Paralysis with a 20% chance. Do some damage, possible stays infliction. Decent combination I would say.
Techno Blast
This is the signature move that Genesect has that can be inter-changeable at you own will. This move allows you to change things up with out having to rebuild Genesect from scratch. This move is a great choice, since it does allow that level of versatility that I mentioned above. No need to go to the move deleter, no need to switch in and out TM's, and no need to be stuck with one solid choice for the type. In team building or Single Battles- you have a way to adjust this guy to fit right in and assist or just be plain flexible for the strategy.
Magic Coat
A move learned by a tutor in BW2, this is a good defensive choice to avoid getting spammed in battle by heavy status inflicting teams designed to wreck havoc on you that cripples your abilities to fight back. This move can reflect back 68 #if I counted right!- a lot!# attacks onto those who try to put a damper on your progress to victory. This is a great move to have for double battles, and in singles it will make your opponent think twice about relying heavily on disrupting your crew.
Some other options for moves can be as follows for the Special Attacker:
Flash Cannon: Solid attack with STAB, and can lower the Special Defense sta as well
Thunder Wave: A more solid crippling attack that is not as risky as Tri Attack.
Toxic: Same as Thunder Wave, just severe creeping pain for those pesky walls that do not resist it.
Giga Drain: Recovery! Want to stick around a bit longer, here ya go!
For a physical fighter, your looking to switch the nature to Adamant. Place the 120 EV's into the defense of your choice and the rest into speed.
Move set:
Iron Head
Hits for STAB, and the best Steel type of attack that does the most bang for the buck. Solid indeed, and not to bad of a choice and can cause Flinch as well.
X-Scissor
Hits hard, hits with STAB. All around great attack to have on this guy.
Hone Claws
With Genesects typing, it can handle a good amount of onslaught of attacks. You could boost your attack once or twice, and begin to pounce in retaliation. Since Genesect does not get Swords dance, this boosting move will work to gain some strength if your in need to do so.
U-Turn
Hit and Run tactic with some STAB behind it. It can also get you out of a tough spot if you encounter one, and will give you some relief if you need to step out to regain some ground just in case.
Other moves:
Flame Charge: Not too hard of a hitting move, but a boost in your speed could help out in the clutch.
Shadow Claw: Getting spooked? Swing a Claw with eerie power to hit them Ghost types where it counts.
Thunder Wave: To slow to get a hit in? Paralysis can fix that.
Zen Head butt: Adds a little to the type coverage for teams, and adds the Flinch factor for fun.
Genesect has some really great move pool options for all sorts of fun and games, and a good typing that will let it stick around to compete and fit into so many team slots that the options are endless. Fire type opposing Pokémon can put Genesect into a world of hurt, let alone Fire type attacks in general. You'll need to keep this in mind when you choose to use the cannon carrying critter for battles, so make sure that what ever Genesect can not handle that you have back up or a partnering Pokémon to keep it from becoming a crispy treat that will make you feel sun burnt after the battle.
Over all, Genesect is not the greatest of Pokémon, but with the examples above you can give this guy a try by building one that will fit into your strategy based on the needs your looking to fill in with from Genesect's versatility.
Is it just me, or does Genesect look like Sableye and Megatron had a baby? Anyways, how would you build your cannon infused Pokémon?