The Pokemon metagame has its own set of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:competitive team roles, and while it's important to have more straightforward attackers and walls on a team, you can only truly succeed in competitive battling when you have a good understanding of the pivot role.
To quote from basketball, they're the "glue guys" of the team that can help shift momentum your way. They're Pokemon you can switch into otherwise unfavorable matchups, whether that's through threatening them with power or being a wall that can take hits. Having the right Pokemon play that role is crucial, and so compiled below are some of the Pokemon who are best equipped to do so.
10 Scizor
This Generation Two Pokemon, alongside being one of the most unanimously popular Pokemon out there, is one of the most all-around ones from a competitive standpoint. It can play multiple roles, oꦅne of them being a pivot that works on both ends.
What maximizes its potential as a pivot defensively is getting STAB for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the always-useful U-Turn, an attack-then-switch move most pivots have in their arsenal. It has access to Roost, which is rare forꦺ a non-Flying-type, as well as Swords Dance, Knock Off, and a Technician-boosted STAB priority Bullet Punch for offense. It also has good defenses to go alongside the excellent Bug/Steel-typing, meaning only Fire-types can really check it.
9 Skarmory
Steel/Flying is a great type for pivoting, only having two weaknesses (Fire, Electric) and being immune to two other types (Poison, Ground). While Skarmo🅰ry is no longer the number one option from that mold of Pokemon, it can still play that defensive pivot role beautifull🌳y.
In addition to those immunities, it has eight resistances it can switch to, and it can even take neutral physical hits in stride with its excellent 140 Defense. It's not that much of a pure attacker, but it can deal damage with the help of the Defense-oriented attack Body Press, or chip damage from Spikes or Toxic. It also has a reliable avenue for recovery, getting access to Roost as most Flying-types do.
8 Rotom-Heat & Rotom-Wash 🐼
Since the introduction of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:five new Rotom forms in Generation Five, two, in particular,🌃 have had notable success in the competitive field: Rotom-Heat and Rotom-Wash. Both are especially good at playing the pivot role and have a lot of similarities between them🌳.
As is standard with all the Rotom forms, both have access to Volt Switch for pivoting, Defog for removing hazards, and Pain Split, an unorthodox method of recovery that also takes away HP from your opponent.𝓰 What differentiates the two is their typing. While both are immune to Ground thanks to Levi🥀tate, Rotom-Heat is a bit more offensively versatile, while Rotom-Wash is harder to kill from a type-matchup perspective. The typing also gives them different main attacking moves: Overheat and Hydro Pump, respectively.
7 Zeraora
In contrast to most other pivots that utilize their defenses, Zeraora is mainly what you would call an offensive pivot, switching into opposing Pokemon and threatening them with their vast offensive potential. That's usually done with high Speed and multiple avenues of attack, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:this Generation Seven Mythical certainly has both of those.
Its amazing 143 Speed outnumbers even some of the strongest Pokemon in its ballpark such as Dragapult. While it's most known for its signature move, the rare viable physical Electric-type move Plasma Fists, you also have access to Close Combat, Play Rough, Blaze Kick, Knock Off, and Toxic. To top it off, it can learn Volt Switch if you really want to use it as a full-tilt pivot.
6 Tapu Koko
While it's not as fast as Zeraora, Tapu Koko can do a lot of things Zeraora can do while also providing some defensive capabilities. Only having two weaknesses and being able to safely switch into Dragon-types makes 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:this Alolan Guardian formidable on that end. Its access to Roost is huge, giving it an avenue of recovery most Electric-types don't have in general.
Of course, it's still no slouch on offense. It comes in at a blazing 130 Speed, and it has access to suitably strong STAB moves such as Thunderbolt and Dazzling Gleam, Grass Knot for some coverage, U-Turn or Volt Switch to pivot out, and even Reflect and Light Screen if you want to go that route.
5 ♐ Landorus-Therian
Lando-T is arg🍰uably the best competitively allowed Pokemon in general, mainly due to its incredible versatility. Just having one on your team is enough to keep your opponent guessing. The one constant with it is its potential as a threatening pivot, both offensively and defensively.
It possesses excellent typing in Ground/Flying, which walls strong and common offensive types, and it's immune to Ground and Electric. It also has a high Attack stat, which could threaten to wipe out your best sweepers, especially if it's built with a Choice Scarf and suitable coverage moves like Stone Edge. Its only real flaw is its weakness to Water-types, which are a dime and dozen in Generation Eight's OU tier.
4 Swampert
Much has been said about the incredible Water/Ground-typing, and while Quagsire and Seismitoad deserve honorable mentions, Sw🌊ampert brings the typing to the b🌌ig leagues and maximizes its potential for pivoting.
The Generation Three starter is undoubtedly the best candidate to learn 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:🐷Flip Turn, a W♛ater-type U-Turn alternative that gets augmented by STAB and a very good Attack stat. Alongside that, it can play a supporting role with moves like Stealth Rock and Toxic. On the other end, it can easily switch into Electric-types and is only truly scared of Grass-types, and that typing advantage is supplemented with good Defenses and high HP. It can't learn a reliable recovery move, though, so its usefulness is finite.
3 Chansey & ♓Blissey
These evolutionary clerics' capabilities as unmovable special walls make them excellent pivots. Not many realize the defensive potential of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the pure Normal-typing, 🔯but only having one weakness to a not-so-common type has made Chansey and Blissey two of thꦦe hardest Pokemon to knock out.
With a discernable Achilles heel, Chansey and Blissey are at their best when paired with a Pokemon that can take on the physical attacks and especially Fighting-type atꦡtacks for them. From there, it can fulfill its role of healing either itself or others, ap💝ply some status conditions with Thunder Wave or Toxic, deal adequate damage with Seismic Toss, or pivot out with Teleport.
2 𒆙 Corviknight
Like Skarmory before it, Generation Eight's new Flying/Steel-type has immense defensive potential. While it doesn't have much to provide on the offensive end, Corviknight is at its best fulfilling a very reliable pivot role. What it can do on the offensive end include relying on its Defense stat with Body Press, or using a more straightforward STAB move in Brave Bird.
Other than that, it has all the tools to be an excellent pivot in the current metagame: U-Turn for switching out, Roost for recovery, and favorable defensive matchups against some of the strongest Pokemon out there. To add to its utility, it can learn Defog, which is great if you don't want to deal with entry hazards.
1 𒈔 Slowbro & Slowking🏅
Aside from Galarian Slowbro who is more known as a straightforward attacker, both the older Kantonian and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:newer Galarian members of the Slowpoke family make their money as excellent pivots. The main reason for that is their shared ability Regenerator, which heals a Pokemon upon switching out. While there are other Pokemon that have that ability, combining it with Slowbro and Slowking's sheer defensive reliability makes them some of the best pivots in the metagame.
It has pretty good defensive type matchups and access to Teleport, so the agenda with it is usually pretty🌳 simple: switch into a favorable matchup, absorb hits, Teleport, recover, repeat. This is all without mentioning their solid offensive arsenals, from Scald to Future Sight, Flamethrower, and Ice Beam, as well as Sludge Bomb for Galarian Slowking.