Espathra Movesets & Competitive Sets

Espathra's niche is sweeping with its unique combination of Calm Mind, Speed Boost, and STAB Stored Power. Dazzling Gleam super effectively hits Dark-types, which are immune to Stored Power, like Chien-Pao, Ting-Lu, and Grimmsnarl. Substitute protects Espathra from potential status conditions that might stop its sweep, like from Clodsire's Toxic. Protect, instead, allows Espathra to scout Choice-locked foes, such as Choice Specs Miraidon. In addition, Protect lets Espathra freely boost its Speed and get Leftovers recovery. Roost keeps Espathra healthy and makes it less susceptible to priority attacks, like Chien-Pao and Kingambit's Sucker Punch. Roost also allows Espathra to beat Ting-Lu not packing Whirlwind one-on-one. Tera Fairy turns Espathra's Dark weakness into a resistance, letting it survive the aforementioned Sucker Punch, as well as bolstering its Dazzling Gleam. Tera Fighting also turns Espathra's Dark weakness into a resistance. Paired with Tera Blast, it beats the aforementioned Dark-types, Kingambit and Chien-Pao, and Steel-types like Iron Treads. 112 EVs in Speed allow Espathra to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame at +1, including Iron Bundle. At +2, it can even outspeed +1 Iron Valiant. The rest of its EVs are poured into physical bulk for survivability, since Calm Mind will boost Special Defense anyway. Electric Seed further improves Espathra's physical bulk while also giving it another boost to Stored Power. Leftovers gives Espathra long-term recovery, and it can be optimized with Calm Mind and the choice of Substitute, Protect, or Roost. Espathra functions best on offensive teams to sweep after its checks have been weakened. Espathra is very frail and it usually can't switch in safely more than once, so it must fully commit to a sweep once it hits the field. Fighting-types like Koraidon and Great Tusk make for good partners, as they threaten Dark- and Steel-types that resist or are immune to Espathra's Stored Power. Strong Dark-types like Chien-Pao and Chi-Yu resist Dark- and Ghost-type attacks, which target Espathra, while also threatening Ghost- and Psychic-types. The former threaten Espathra, and the latter resist Stored Power. Miraidon is a necessary partner if Espathra is holding Electric Seed, as Electric Terrain activates the item.

12 speed EVs allow you to outspeed base 120 Speed Pokemon at +1

With Calm Mind and Speed Boost rapidly increasing Stored Power's damage output, Espathra is a dangerous wincon against bulkier teams, as it even overwhelms Unaware foes. Tera Blast versus Dazzling Gleam: Dazzling Gleam provides coverage against Dark-types such as Chien-Pao and Roaring Moon without having to Terastallize. However, Tera Blast provides more flexible coverage that can also cover Steel-types. Protect versus Substitute: Protect is the most reliable way to get a free turn of Speed Boost. Substitute is a riskier option for Speed Boost stalling, but it severely punishes passive Pokemon and works extremely well on dual screen teams. Roost: Roost can make it incredibly difficult for special attackers to break Espathra after its used Calm Mind. Bold versus Timid: The given EV spread allows Espathra to outspeed Choice Scarf Garchomp after two turns of Speed Boost and unboosted Flutter Mane and Iron Bundle after one turn. If running Timid over Bold, you can reallocate 8 Speed EVs elsewhere. Tera Types Tera Dependency - Medium / High: Tera Blast sets will almost always require Terastallization to have adequate offensive coverage. Having Dazzling Gleam as coverage makes Terastallization less necessary, but Espathra's weaknesses to common types such as Ghost and Dark will remain problematic without it. Fighting: When paired with Tera Blast, Tera Fighting is Espathra's best hope of defeating Ting-Lu, Chi-Yu, and Kingambit. Fire: Tera Fire and Tera Blast roast Scizor, and deal massive damage to Chien-Pao, Gholdengo, and Kingambit. Fairy: A Fairy Tera type flips the Dark-type weakness to a resistance and severely punishes Choice-locked Dragon-types like Dragonite, but at the cost of making Espathra even more vulnerable to Steel-types. Normal: Tera Normal provides Espathra with a valuable Ghost-type immunity, blocking Shadow Sneak users in particular that try to get around Espathra's Speed Boost. Items Leftovers: Leftovers works best when stalling with Protect and Substitute, giving Espathra great long-term healing. Lum Berry: Roost sets normally can't fit Substitute, so Lum Berry is good insurance against foes who attempt to hit Espathra with status.

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Espathra is the only option for the coveted Speed Boost + Baton Pass combination, which can be extremely deadly for setting up sweeps! Lumina Crash: Lumina Crash ensures that Espathra isn't totally shut down by Taunt, and the guaranteed -2 Special Defense drop helps against Unaware walls. Reflect: Reflect can stop priority attacks from easily revenge killing your chosen Baton Pass partner. Baton Pass Targets: While most Pokemon love getting Baton Pass boosts, especially consider Pokemon who appreciate the Special Defense boosts from Calm Mind, such as Kingambit, Annihilape, Great Tusk, and Power Trip Corviknight. Gholdengo is another option, as it cannot have its boosts removed by Whirlwind. Other Options Hypnosis: While extremely risky, putting a foe to sleep lets Espathra easily stack up on boosts. Tera Types Tera Dependency - Low: Espathra should usually avoid Terastallizing if possible, since its point is to help other Pokemon sweep. Normal: With a Normal Tera type, Espathra can set up against Ghost types and isn't worried about Shadow Sneak anymore. Ghost: Ghost Tera type makes Espathra immune to Extreme Speed, making passing against Dragonite much easier. Items Focus Sash: Focus Sash is the best way to guarantee passing at least one Speed boost, though it's a lackluster option for passing multiple boosts compared to other items. Leftovers: Leftovers is the easy option to recommend since it pairs well with Protect and Substitute. Sitrus Berry: Sitrus Berry should be used if Espathra is planning on passing Speed to teammates that want Leftovers, such as Annihilape, Great Tusk, or Skeledirge.