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So every False Swipe related question I go to, the answers say it is not useful in competitive. But if it leaves your enemy with only 1 HP, won't just one more move kill the enemy, so that's only 2 moves to kill any Pokemon? I think that's the most op thing ever in competitive. Any reason why it isn't useful in competitive?

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Umm, it doesn't automatically leave them with 1HP, just always does enough damage so the opponent won't faint.
And the power's only 40 :P
Why waste a turn weakening an opponent when you could just finish them off?
The asker thought that the move false swipe could alwys leave the foe with one HP

1 Answer

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Best answer

False Swipe doesn't automatically leave your opponent with 1 HP. This is what Bulbapedia says:

False Swipe inflicts damage, but will leave the target with 1 HP if it would otherwise cause it to faint. If the target has 1 HP remaining, False Swipe will hit and leave the target at 1 HP.

Source

It can never faint the opponent, and it's only good in-game for catching Pokemon, so it's a waste of a moveslot in competitive. It's also incredibly weak (40 base power) and doesn't affect Ghost types.

Hope I helped!

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Oh ok now i understand, if your enemy has 6/20 HP and you wanna increase your rate of catching it, you use false swipe to bring it down to 1 HP, it doesnt do 19 DMG . Thanks alot, i was a little confused there
You're welcome. Please click the checkmark in the top right of my answer if it helped you.