Absol Analysis

Absol
Pressure
Enemy attacks lose 1 extra PP. Increases wild encounter rate.
Super Luck
Critical hit rate increases one stage.
Type Tier
Dark UU

Name Item Ability Nature
Swords Dance
Life Orb Super Luck Adamant
Moveset EVs
~ Swords Dance
~ Sucker Punch
~ Superpower
~ Night Slash / Psycho Cut
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
When you combine Swords Dance with a powerful priority attack in Sucker Punch, it makes Absol a difficult Pokemon to take down. Absol has the strongest priority attack in the game and it helps accommodate its mediocre Speed. Superpower is Absol’s best attack against those that resist Sucker Punch, mainly Steel and Dark-types. Psycho Cut has use in the UU environment; however, Night Slash is an excellent attack paired up with Super Luck. Night Slash is useful on Absol for an attack against slower things without risking a misprediction. Psycho Cut not only handles the abundant Poison-types in UU, but also hits the Fighting-type Pokemon that otherwise resist Sucker Punch. In the OU environment, it is Absol’s best weapon against Machamp and Hariyama.

While Fighting-types such as Hitmontop are viable threats against Absol, a Life Orbed Swords Dance Sucker Punch will do 64 – 75% damage to a 304 HP / 226 Def Hitmontop without Intimidate. In other words, you can take down a weakened Hitmontop provided that you Swords Dance on the switch and follow-up with Sucker Punch. If the recoil from Life Orb is unappealing, Scope Lens is the best alternative. It pairs well with Super Luck to boost its critical hit ratio up to 25% of the time before using Night Slash or Psycho Cut. Fire Blast with a neutral or even a negative nature makes a good alternative to Psycho Cut. In OU, it 2HKOes Skarmory, and Steelix in UU.

Name Item Ability Nature
"BlackJack" (Choice Band)
Choice Band Super Luck Lonely / Adamant
Moveset EVs
~ Sucker Punch
~ Superpower
~ Fire Blast
~ Night Slash / Pursuit
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Choice Band allows Absol to forego setting up and hit hard right off the bat. If 591 Attack isn’t appealing enough, Fire Blast does 59% on average against 334 HP / 176 SpD Skarmory with a neutral nature. With Fire Blast, you can gamble on Absol's chances with Super Luck or have Stealth Rock aid the 2HKO with a negative nature. Superpower is Absol’s secondary attack. It is equal in power to a STAB Sucker Punch, though it loses power after using it once. Night Slash is to ease prediction against slower opponents while Pursuit hits fleeing Pokemon equal to Sucker Punch’s power. Pursuit and Sucker Punch put many frail Pokemon into a difficult situation: whether to flee and get hit by Pursuit or retaliate and succumb to Sucker Punch.

In comparison of sets, this is Absol’s best bet in OU. There is very little time for Absol to set up Swords Dance in OU since Absol cannot take much of a beating. The Rotom appliances suffer a quick OHKO with Sucker Punch or by Pursuit if Rotom decides to be smart and flee from the situation. Sucker Punch can also OHKO Shaymin-S with Stealth Rock factored in the calculation.

Name Item Ability Nature
Mixed Sweeper
Life Orb Super Luck Lonely / Hasty
Moveset EVs
~ Sucker Punch
~ Fire Blast
~ Superpower
~ Night Slash / Psycho Cut
252 Atk / 40 SpA / 216 Spe
Unlike the previous sets, this takes advantage of the vulnerability of Absol’s counters on the special side of the spectrum and retaliates against them. Fire Blast 2HKOes Steelix and Skarmory while it OHKOes Forretress and Scizor. Sucker Punch is an excellent choice with this set to take advantage of the Pokemon that are faster than Absol. Superpower OHKOes Cloyster, Tyranitar, and Heatran with Stealth Rock factored in. Psycho Cut is for the omnipotent Poison and Fighting-types while Night Slash gives Absol a secondary attack against slower opponents.

Life Orb is the best item for this set. With a Hasty nature and 240 Speed EVs, Absol can outpace Adamant Toxicroak and OHKO with Psycho Cut. In order to obtain this, simply take the EVs from Special Attack. Scope Lens is rather an inferior option, but is the best alternative for the set if you dislike the Life Orb recoil.

Name Item Ability Nature
Choice Scarf
Choice Scarf Super Luck Adamant / Lonely
Moveset EVs
~ Night Slash
~ Superpower
~ Psycho Cut
~ Pursuit
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
A Pokemon with mediocre Speed and an excellent Attack stat makes them a natural choice for a Choice Scarf. With Choice Scarf Absol obtains 373 Speed outpacing Jolly Persian at best. Night Slash is the main attack on this set instead of Sucker Punch due to the higher Speed. Superpower will intimidate those that resist Night Slash while Psycho Cut hampers down Fighting-types. Pursuit is the best option in the final slot as Absol can use it easily thanks to the boost in Speed.

Name Item Ability Nature
Anti-Lead
Focus Sash Pressure Hasty
Moveset EVs
~ Taunt
~ Counter
~ Sucker Punch
~ Night Slash / Magic Coat
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
This set makes a decent anti-lead with the moves Taunt and Counter. Taunt basically shuts down walls from laying down their entry hazards, while Counter takes care of most Fighting-types looking to end Absol as soon as possible, with Sucker Punch picking them off should they survive the blow. The last slot is up for grabs really between Night Slash, Pursuit, and Magic Coat. Night Slash is a good STAB attack to have in case an opponent smartens up and try to stall out Sucker Punch's low PP; Pursuit on the other hand deals a hefty amount of damage to most leads fleeing from Absol, while Magic Coat is a bit more gimmicky but provides an excellent answer to all those fast sleepers like Jumpluff or even Butterfree.

EVs are a bit straightforward. Max Speed allows Absol to reach 273, just barely outspeeding neutral max base 85s. With Focus Sash basically protecting you from all direct damage, the practical thing to do is to invest all the remaining EVs into maximizing Attack, to add as much damage possible to the attacks you've chosen to carry. The remaining EVs are dumped into HP for good measure.

Other Options

The first attack that springs to mind is Stone Edge. Coupled with Super Luck, its best use is in standard to hit Gyarados and Salamence harder than Absol's other attacks would. Zen Headbutt has more power than Psycho Cut, but the latter's higher critical hit rate and better accuracy more than make up for the slight power drop.

Absol can Baton Pass Mean Look, Swords Dance, Calm Mind, and Curse. Baton Passing Mean Look is one of Absol’s few niches compared to the rest of the UU Baton Passers. Swords Dance is better left to Scyther, while Hypno and Mr. Mime pass Calm Minds better than Absol. It is one of the few Pokemon that can Baton Pass Curse as well, but there are still better choices for this job.

Will-O-Wisp can burn opponents while Thunder Wave can cripple some fast sweepers. Perish Song ruins Baton Pass chains. Finally, Absol learns Wish as a NYPC move. It is, however, illegal with many of Absol’s egg moves.

EVs

Max Attack is highly recommended on any set with Absol followed by maxing out Speed. The Mixed Sweeper should stick with the given EV spread to give Fire Blast the extra kick to ensure the 2HKOes and OHKOes listed. A Jolly nature isn’t recommended but it allows Absol to outpace neutral natured Toxicroak and Heracross.

Opinion

Absol is considered the “Disaster” Pokemon, bringing bad luck to anyone that meets it. Well, at least for the opponent. STAB Sucker Punch is Absol’s biggest selling point. In fact, Absol has the strongest priority move in the game in Sucker Punch. Swords Dance and a monstrous 130 Attack stat makes switching into Absol difficult; and if that wasn’t bad enough, Super Luck allows Absol a good chance of landing a critical hit. Its only real downfalls are its intolerable defenses and an average Speed stat.

Counters

In UU, Hitmontop with Intimidate is the best Absol counter. It isn't OHKOed by a Sucker Punch and Mach Punch is doing hefty damage on Absol. It must beware of Psycho Cut as it will do massive damage even with Intimidate factored in. Drapion resists Sucker Punch and has an immunity to Psycho Cut. The only concern Drapion should have is a Swords Danced Superpower. It should focus on being faster than Absol to at least harm it with Brick Break or X-Scissor. Fighting-types with Mach Punch make most Absol think twice before retaliating. Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan work best as both of them are faster than Absol. Steelix can survive an unboosted Superpower and retaliate with Earthquake.

In standard, Skarmory is the best counter to most of Absol’s attacks. Fire Blast is the only attack Skarmory should worry about. Choice Scarf Heatran resists Sucker Punch, is able to absorb Fire Blast thanks to Flash Fire, and can end Absol with a swift Fire Blast of its own. Be very careful of Superpower if you opt to use Heatran as a counter. Registeel can’t tolerate repeated Superpowers and Fire Blasts, but it can survive at least one of these assaults thanks to its 150 / 150 defenses. Machamp and Hariyama are excellent counters to Absol if it lacks Psycho Cut. Hippowdon can switch into Absol most of the time and scare it off or Roar out any Swords Dance boosts. A Swords Danced Sucker Punch or Night Slash will hurt though.

In reality, it is rather difficult to switch into Absol with “prediction”. After a Swords Dance, Absol can severely damage many of its counters while outpacing a lot of them. The best strategy to taking down Absol is to target its two key vulnerable points: its defenses and its Speed stat.

Oh cool these are going to be useful.