KrazyGlue
Smash Champion
#359 Absol
Type- Dark
Ability #1- Pressure: Foe's moves use two PP instead of one.
Ability #2- Super Luck: Raises chances of getting critical hits.
Base Stats- 65 HP / 130 ATK / 60 DEF / 75 SP.ATK / 60 SP.DEF / 75 Speed
Swords Dance Sweeper
Absol @ Life Orb
Super Luck: Jolly / Adamant
4 HP / 252 ATK / 252 Speed
Swords Dance
Sucker Punch
Superpower
Night Slash / Psycho Cut
Absol’s amazing base 130 Attack stat coupled with Swords Dance and the strongest priority move in the game makes it a devastating sweeper for those who aren’t prepared.
Sucker Punch helps accommodate for its mediocre Speed. With it, Absol becomes a tough challenge to take down as it can severely dent or possibly OHKO many Pokemon with a boosted Sucker Punch. Superpower is a great move paired with Sucker Punch as it allows for super effective damage to Steel and Dark-type Pokémon such as Steelix and Houndoom that would take little damage from Absol’s STAB Dark-type attacks. Night Slash allows you to eliminate Pokémon that try to outsmart you by refusing to attack while you try to Sucker Punch and works extremely well with Absol’s ability Super Luck. Psycho Cut, which also benefits from Super Luck, can dent incoming Fighting-type Pokemon such as Hitmontop and Hariyama who would otherwise cause trouble and also hits the abundant Poison-type physical walls.
Scope Lens is a decent alternative if you dislike the Life Orb recoil as it works very well with Super Luck, and the already high critical hit rate of Night Slash or Psycho Cut is used to score needed KOes against the most defensive of foes.
Choice Band Sweeper
Absol @ Choice Band
Super Luck: Adamant
4 HP / 252 ATK / 252 Speed
Sucker Punch
Superpower
Aerial Ace / Stone Edge
Night Slash / Pursuit
Choice Band allows Absol to forego setting up Swords Dance and hit hard right off the bat. It’s capable of reaching a whopping 591 Attack, making Absol a fierce competitor.
Absol should generally always run Sucker Punch as it helps support its mediocre Speed and is Absol’s strongest option to deal huge amounts of damage. However, it is well worth noting that locking yourself into Sucker Punch can be a very dangerous move if the opponent outpredicts and decides not to attack. Superpower is a great secondary option as it allows Absol to deal super effective damage mainly to Dark- and Steel-type Pokémon, as they resist Absol’s STAB. Steelix takes a hefty 52-62% damage, which is quite reasonable considering it has no form of instant recovery besides Rest. Aerial Ace allows Absol to hit bulky Fighting and Grass-types, Hariyama and Tangrowth in particular, while Stone Edge can be used to deal with Flying-type Pokémon such as Altaria. The last slot is given up for Night Slash or Pursuit. Night Slash works very well with Absol’s ability, giving it a higher chance to score a critical hit, but Pursuit can be used if you predict the opposing Pokémon to switch out, causing a considerable amount of damage.
Choice Scarf Sweeper
Absol @ Choice Scarf
Super Luck: Adamant / Jolly
4 HP / 252 ATK / 252 Speed
Night Slash
Superpower
Psycho Cut
Pursuit
Absol equipped with Choice Scarf nullifies its mediocre Speed, reaching a reasonable Speed stat of 373 with an Adamant nature, making Absol that much more effective.
Due to the drastic increase of Speed, Sucker Punch becomes a lesser option as Night Slash is a far better choice to hit just as hard without much worry of faster opponents. Superpower will intimidate those who resist Absol’s Dark-type STAB attacks such as Steelix and Registeel, while Psycho Cut eliminates all Fighting-type Pokémon that would also enjoy switching in on Absol’s STAB attacks. Pursuit is Absol’s best choice for the last slot, as it allows Absol to dent holes in retreating Ghost-types threatened by Night Slash, and any threatened Pokémon in general.
Mixed Sweeper
Absol @ Life Orb
Super Luck: Lonely / Hasty
252 ATK / 40 SP.ATK / 216 Speed
Sucker Punch
Fire Blast
Superpower
Night Slash / Psycho Cut
This set takes full advantage of the vulnerability of Absol’s counters on the special side of the spectrum and retaliates against them. Fire Blast is capable of always 2HKOing Steelix, a common counter that Absol has trouble dealing damage to. Sucker Punch is an excellent option to take advantage of Pokemon that are able to outspeed Absol, dealing hefty amounts of damage. Superpower allows you to OHKO Cloyster, and is your best option for dealing damage to Pokémon that resist Absol’s Dark-type STAB attacks such as Houndoom. Psycho Cut is for the omnipotent Poison and Fighting-types, namely Hariyama and Toxicroak, while Night Slash gives Absol a strong secondary attack against slower opponents instead of relying on Sucker Punch.
Life Orb is the best item for this set. With a Hasty nature and 240 Speed EVs, Absol can outspeed Adamant Toxicroak and score a OHKO with Psycho Cut. If you don’t mind about increasing Speed with a Hasty nature, you can use Lonely to improve Absol’s Attack to make full use of its base 130 Attack stat. Scope Lens is also an alternate option if you dislike Life Orb recoil, but Life Orb is generally the superior option to deal more damage.
Anti-Lead
Absol @ Focus Sash
Pressure: Jolly
4 HP / 252 ATK / 252 Speed
Taunt
Counter
Sucker Punch
Night Slash / Pursuit
This set makes Absol a decent anti-lead, using the moves Taunt and Counter. Taunt disables leads trying to set up entry hazards or stat boosting, while Counter takes care of most Pokémon looking to end Absol as soon as possible. Sucker Punch works great in conjunction with Counter, as it can pick them off should they survive the blow. The last slot is up for grabs between Night Slash and Pursuit. Night Slash is a great STAB attack to have in case your opponent smartens up and tries to stall out Sucker Punch’s lack of PP, while Pursuit enables Absol to deal a hefty amount of damage to most leads fleeing from Absol.
The EV spread is a bit straightforward. Max Speed allows Absol to reach a reasonable stat of 273, just barely outspeeding neutral base 85s running max Speed. Focus Sash protects you from all direct damage that may cause an OHKO, the practical thing to do is to invest all of the EVs to maximize Attack to add as much damage as possible to its chosen attacks.
Extra Options
The first attack that springs to mind is Stone Edge. Stone Edge is more suitable if you decide to use Absol in the OU metagame, as it can dent Pokémon like Gyarados and Salamence harder than Absol’s other attacks would. Zen Headbutt has 10 more base power than Psycho Cut, but the latter’s higher critical hit rate and better accuracy make up for the slight power drop.
Absol is capable of Baton Passing Mean Look, Swords Dance, Calm Mind, and Curse. Baton Passing Mean Look is one of Absol’s few niches compared to the rest of the UU Baton Passers. Swords Dance is better left to Scyther, while Hypno and Mr. Mime pass Calm Mind much better than Absol. It is one of the few Pokémon that can Baton Pass Curse as well, but there are still better choices for this job.
Will-O-Wisp can burn opponents while Thunder Wave can cripple some fast sweepers. Perish Song can be used to ruin Baton Pass chains as well. Absol can also learn Wish as a NYPC move, however, it is illegal with many of Absol’s egg moves.
EVs
Max Attack is highly recommended on any set with Absol, followed by maxing out Speed so Absol can be used to its full potential. The Mixed Sweeper set should stick with the given EVs to give Fire Blast the extra kick it needs to ensure OHKOes and 2HKOes.
Troublesome Pokemon
Hitmontop with Intimidate is the best Absol counter. It isn't OHKOed by a Sucker Punch and Mach Punch does hefty damage in return. It must beware of Psycho Cut, though, as it will do massive damage even with Intimidate factored in. Thick Fat Hariyama can wreak havoc for Absol, since it resists Absol's Dark-type attacks, rubs off Superpower and Fire Blast, and can threaten Absol with a clean OHKO with Force Palm or Close Combat. Although, a Swords Danced Psycho Cut will OHKO Hariyama if Absol is running it. Drapion resists Sucker Punch and has an immunity to Psycho Cut, and the only concern Drapion should have is a Swords Danced Superpower. It should focus on being faster than Absol in order to score a OHKO with Brick Break or X-Scissor. Fighting-types with Mach Punch make most Absol think twice before retaliating. Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan work best as both of them are faster than Absol and can use their strong Fighting-type attacks to OHKO it. Blaziken can revenge kill Absol with Vacuum Wave as it can barely survive a boosted Sucker Punch as well. Steelix and Regirock can survive an unboosted Superpower and retaliate with Earthquake or Stone Edge respectively.
In reality, it is rather difficult to switch into Absol with “prediction”. After a Swords Dance, Absol can severely damage many of its counters while outpacing a lot of them. The best strategy to taking down Absol is to target its two key vulnerable points: its defenses and its Speed stat. Pokemon that are faster than Absol and use Substitute can basically force Absol to use Sucker Punch to get the KO, but this means you can get a free Substitute up to block Sucker Punch damage. For example, Espeon can threaten to OHKO Absol with a powerful super effective Signal Beam, but simply use Substitute when Absol uses Sucker Punch and proceed to OHKO it from behind its Substitute.
