Published on March 14th, 2013 | by TKOWL
0Down to Earth: A Guide to Gravity
Gravity: it’s what keeps us rooted to the earth, what maintains balance on our world, and was one of Sir Issac Newton’s most important discoveries. Too little of it, and we drift off into space; too much of it, and all life would be eradicated. In the Pokémon universe, things seem to maintain in a fairly well gravitational force (bar how some Pokémon can randomly float in the air) but there are some Pokémon who are able to bend gravity in odd and intense ways. Thus the move Gravity.
Gravity Explained
Like Sunny Day or Trick Room, Gravity lasts for five turns. It has neutral priority, which makes it a bit easier to set up. Once Gravity has intensified, all Pokémon that are Flying-types or with Levitate are pulled down, removing their Ground immunity. All Pokémon on the field have a two-stage drop in evasion (which is about a 1.66x boost in accuracy). Finally, certain moves such as Hi Jump Kick and Fly are unable to be used.
The two former aspects of Gravity’s effects are the main reason for its usefulness. Take, for example, the move Focus Blast: it has a high 120 base power, but is most infamously known for its 70% accuracy. However, under the effects of Gravity, the move will always hit bar some evasion shenangians! A predominant problem many players encounter is the dreaded 90% accuracy of moves such as Draco Meteor and Heat Wave, which seem to miss at the most inopportune times. Put Gravity onto the field and these moves suddenly gain 100% accuracy, allowing you to fire them off without fear! Not even the infamous BrightPowder Garchomp can stand in your way under the effects of Gravity! As you see, Gravity can act as a great backup force behind your Pokémon’s moves, and is good for players who feel insecure about their Pokémon’s actions.
The second notable effect of Gravity, the grounding of all Pokémon with Levitiate and Flying-types, can also be a great help. Zapdos, Rotom-W, and other Pokémon like them rely on their Ground-type immunity to rid themselves of a major weakness — but what if that immunity was taken away? When Gravity strikes, all things, including the once-mighty Zapdos, are subject to Earthquake, Earth Power, and other Ground-type moves. Unfortunately, this means that proper preparation is required on your side because the Earthquake user’s partner is completely vulnerable to the move as well. Gravity is also interesting as it automatically gets rid of Air Balloon’s effect, instantly wasting away an item for the balloon’s holder.
Notable Users
Sableye
The introduction of the Gravity move tutor in Black & White 2 gave Sableye an incredible and exclusive combination: Prankster Gravity. This allows Sableye to set the effect up with +1 priority, which is a huge advantage over its counterparts. Gravity also alleviates one of Sableye’s huge issues: the 75% accuracy with Will-o-Wisp. After Gravity goes into effect, Will-o-Wisp will just about always hit, turning Sableye into a lean, mean, burning machine. It also helps that Sableye isn’t truly weak to any move. Unfortunately, the little prankster’s defenses are still abysmal, even with priority Recover, and its offense is non-existent so Sableye can sometimes become dead weight after burning its foes. However, as a Gravity user, Sableye excels, and should always be considered when wanting to utilize its effects.
Musharna
Musharna is a Pokémon you should not judge at face value. Musharna, at first, seems like an obsolete Cresselia clone with more invested in special attack and less in defenses. However, in terms of a Gravity user, Musharna is a more viable option than Cresselia. Unlike Cresselia, whose ability goes to waste once Gravity goes into effect, Musharna’s Telepathy makes it a great partner for Earthquake users. Musharna’s movepool is nearly identical to Cresselia with options including Icy Wind, Trick Room, Helping Hand, and more. Overall, if you plan on abusing Gravity (which I assume you are since you are still reading this), Musharna is one of the best options.
Chansey / Blissey
In a metagame so overrun by special attackers, Chansey and Blissey can be some of the most helpful Pokémon to have around — and both were blessed with Gravity in their movepools! Due to Chansey and Blissey’s absurd defenses, they’re almost guaranteed to set up Gravity. However, Chansey and Blissey have some notable differences: while Chansey is known for its absolutely insane bulk with Eviolite and pathetic attacking stats, Blissey trades a bit of that defensive power for a pretty decent 75 special attack stat and freedom of items. Blissey can also abuse its other ability better: Serene Grace. With a wide movepool, Blissey now has access to 100%% accurate Blizzards with a 20% chance to freeze, Fire Blasts with 20% chance of a burn, Thunders with a 60% chance of paralysis, Rock Slides with a 60% chance of flinch on each opposing Pokémon, and more. Another interesting thing to do with Blissey, as noticed in Huy’s NuggetBridge Major analysis, is to abuse Skill Swap with its partners, giving them Serene Grace, opening up a myriad of options. Just watch your opponent’s face when Tyranitar’s Rock Slide gains its 60% flinch chance!
Dusclops
Dusclops is much like a much bulkier Sableye, except without the exceptional ability. With Eviolite, Dusclops is nigh impossible to OHKO regularly making it a fantastic Pokémon to set up Gravity. However, unlike Sableye, Dusclops also has access to Trick Room, which it can set up before Gravity or even in lieu of gravity depending on the situation. Dusclops also shares one of Sableye’s perks under Gravity with a near-perfectly accurate Will-o-Wisp, increasing its defenses even more against threats like Tyranitar.
Ferrothorn
Ferrothorn is undoubtedly the best user of both Power Whip and Leech Seed, but these moves carry an unfortunate 85 and 90% accuracy respectively, which have cost many games in my time when they miss. However, Ferrothorn has access to Gravity in its miriad of support options, alleviating the accuracy problem completely. Ferrothorn is yet another Pokémon that works well under Trick Room, often times being the first one to moved under these reversed speed conditions. However, it must watch for its life against the extraordinarily plentiful Fire and Fighting-type moves, so good team support is needed. A popular way to partially alleviate Ferrothorn’s combustibility is rain, making him a good choice for such a team.
Notable Gravity Abusers
Landorus and Landorus-T
It seems obvious that Landorus and Landorus-T would be one of the first Pokémon to get mentioned as Gravity abusers, as Earthquake is practically their signature move (or if you are using special Landorus-I, Earth Power). Once Gravity is in effect, just about nothing can stand in the way of terrifically powerful STAB Earthquakes. However, Landorus has an interesting perk in being able to use Gravity itself. Although not quite as bulky as the Gravity users mentioned above, Landorus still has respectable 89 / 90 / 80 defenses, and Landorus-T has bonus Defense with Intimidate. Both also can get up Gravity fairly quickly, with 101 and 91 speed respectively. Although Landorus is better at taking advantage of Gravity than setting it up, he fits the latter role fairly well.
Metagross
Meteor Mash is often been dubbed “Meteor Miss” by competitive players due to its rather unfortunate 85% accuracy and Zen Headbutt’s 90% accuracy can be a pain as well. However stick Metagross under Gravity and all those accuracy problems are gone. Everyone on the field will also be weak to Earthquake, giving Metagross some great coverage.
Heracross
Heracross is one of my personal favorite Pokémon to use. With two fantastic STAB attacks along with a sky-high 125 attack stat and two great abilities in Guts and Moxie, it can really do some damage. The big things really holding it back is a rather average speed stat, the abundance of Intimidate, some critical weaknesses, and Megahorn and Stone Edge’s undesirable accuracy. The three former can be worked around with some proper team building and prediction, but the latter can be completely fixed with Gravity. Under Gravity, all of Heracross’ moves become completely accurate, striking fear in many foes due to their incredible coverage. Heracross’ weakness to Intimidate can also be worked around with both Guts and Moxie: Flame Orb will mostly negate the attack drop, and getting a KO for Moxie will boost Heracross’ attack back to normal. All said, Heracross is definitely a Pokémon you should consider for Gravity.
Roserade
Although Roserade will never be quite as popular as other, bulkier Grass-types like Amoonguss and Virizion, that does not mean it underperforms in any way. Outside of Chlorophyll users like Lilligant and Venusaur, Roserade has the fastest Sleep Powder in the game, and under Gravity it will be even more accurate than Spore! Outside of Sleep Powder, Roserade has some fairly good attack options for its base 125 special attack: STAB super-effective Leaf Storm hits extremely hard, Hidden Power Fire/Ice can round out its coverage, and Sludge Bomb is a fine secondary STAB attack if you don’t want to suffer the special attack drop. However, playing with Roserade requires careful play: despite high special defense, Roserade still has miserable defenses and 90 base speed might need Tailwind or Icy Wind support against faster opponents. Its typing also makes it weak to the ever common Cresselia. Play around these weaknesses, however, and Roserade could work for you.
Durant
Durant is a pretty unique little Pokémon: boasting 109 attack plus Hustle, it can be incredibly powerful, putting a large dent in many common Pokémon with X-Scissor, Iron Head, Superpower, Rock Slide, Stone Edge and more; the only drawback is the accuracy loss caused by Hustle. Gravity gets rid of this problem, allowing Durant to slam on its opponents without issue. Durant also boasts a great 109 speed, only really being outsped by Latios and Thundurus (although that is not as likely against the widely popular Calm variant). Durant’s only big problem? Its pathetic defenses. Despite a good 108 defense stat, its HP and special defense really don’t do it any good, and it just can’t take hits like its older brother Scizor. Durant is still a fun Pokémon to use despite its frailty, and definitely benefits from Gravity a lot.
Mamoswine
Recently, I heard Zach and his friends talking about the Tornadus+Mamoswine strategy: Smack Down any Flying-types or levitating Pokémon with Tornadus and Earthquake everything with Mamoswine. However, Gravity can make this strategy one step simpler. Apply Gravity, and Mamoswine can guarantee Earthquake everything. This does mean the partner is prone to Earthquake damage, so again, Protect or Telepathy will be needed. This strategy isn’t really limited to Mamoswine, as basically any Pokémon that can use Earthquake well such as Garchomp and Gliscor can do it as well. However, Mamoswine does have a niche amongst other Ground-types in that it can take Ice moves much better using Thick Fat and its dual typing.
Conclusion
As you’ve seen, Gravity has a wide amount of usages, and lends itself to many team archetypes. There are many more Pokémon than listed above that can benefit from Gravity, making its effects more than just a simple little gimmick. I suggest everyone play around with Gravity for a bit and see if it fits your playstyle and team type. You might be surprised!
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