Why is Sky Uppercut considered a "usually useless move" on Showdown?

Question

85 power, 90 accuracy, and it being able to hit Pokemon in the sky doesn't seem that bad to me. So what gives?

Comments

I think it is because it is outclassed by moves such as Close Combat, Drain Punch and High Jump Kick.

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flying press is also an usually useless move

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Sky uppercut can't be selected in gen 8. In gen 7, the only good Pokemon that learn sky uppercut are Lopunny (which learns high jump kick), Gliscor (which doesn't get STAB or get threatened by Pokemon that are weak to sky uppercut), and Kommo-O (which learns drain punch and close combat).

Answer 1

I'm not too sure but here's what I can think of.

The thing is that moves like Fly and Sky Drop are very rarely seen. Bounce has slightly increasing usage though. 85 power is ok, but most Pokemon that learn it also get Close Combat, which tends to be picked more. Close Combat is also 100% accurate, while Sky Uppercut is just 90%.

So overall:
- Has an almost useless effect
- Better moves out there that Pokemon that learn sky uppercut can learn, such as Close Combat / Drain Punch /
Brick Break
- Power + effects not worth it for 90% accuracy - could cost you the game

Comments

Makes sense, thanks.

Answer 2

To elaborate a bit, as sumwun said, Sky Uppercut can't be used in Gen 8, so that's a start.

This greatly hinders its usage, even though it was already a very mediocre move. Why? Well, really, the only Pokemon that flies is Gyarados (Bounce), and it basically only uses Bounce in Ubers where it gets the Max Airstream speed boost to pair with Moxie. This means that Sky Uppercut is only "useful" in NatDex. It's still not good though, because Gyarados a) will basically never use Bounce if its not Max Airsteam b) resists Sky Uppercut anyway, so it's easier to switch to a resist than get a little bit of chip damage.

Oh, yeah, and it's highly outclassed by Close Combat.

Hope this helps! :)

Comments

Thank you!