Is Decidueye’s Hidden Ability in Gen 7 worth it?

Question

I was wondering how good Long Reach actually is and if it’s worth getting. Simple question but one I was curious about

Comments

Is this for play through purposes or competitive?

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I would say playthrough but I am curious regarding a competitive stance

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In competitive, it depends on which Gen 7 format you play. In Gen 7 NU, Decidueye uses Overgrow since it uses either a Nasty Plot set or a Defog set with a special Grass STAB. However, in Gen 7 Monotype, Decidueye uses Long Reach there since it uses Swords Dance there.

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It's definitely not worth it in a playthrough because you can probably get through the entirety of Akkala Island in the time it would take to breed a Long Reach Rowlet, hatch it, and grind it.

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Also, to follow up on Amethyst, the amount of times you'll need to be wary of whether your moves make contact in a playthrough are zero to none. The only time I can think of in all of Pokemon where contact is important to consider is Marlon's Jellicent in B2W2.

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In a playthrough, you don't want to waste your time breeding. And even so, Overgrow is quite much better than Long Reach because the whole line isn't that quite bulky, and it also has a terrible typing.

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I think you’re mistaking what Long reach actually does. It just means that contact moves don’t make contact.

Answer 1

In playthroughs, you usually want Pokemon that can get you through the game relatively quickly. If you don't care about time, you can just raise 6 random Pokemon to level 100. Thus, breeding for any purpose (including but not limited to hidden abilities) is almost never worth your time.

In gen 7 Monotype grass teams, you'd want long reach.

Long Reach prevents Decidueye from taking contact damage from Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Garchomp when using Shadow Sneak.

In ghost teams, it doesn't matter which ability you use because Decidueye has no room for any grass moves or contact moves.

Spirit Shackle is Decidueye's main attacking move, used to trap defensive Pokemon like Mega Venusaur, Sap Sipper Azumarill, and Ferrothorn. Roost is used to give Decidueye a form of consistent recovery. Defog allows Decidueye to fill the role of an entry hazard remover, which is helpful for teammates that are weak to Stealth Rock, such as Alolan Marowak and Blacephalon. Swords Dance augments Decidueye's offensive presence, allowing it to muscle past defensive walls like Clefable, Ferrothorn, and Mega Venusaur.

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In gen 7 NU, you'd want overgrow for leaf storm sets and long reach for non-leaf storm sets. The metagame has several rocky helmet users, such as Xatu and Garbodor, that can switch into Decidueye's U-turn or grass knot.
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