[OVERVIEW]
While Abra may initially seem like one of PU's top threats due to its massive Special, high Speed, excellent Psychic typing, and access to Thunder Wave, the tier is extremely hostile to it, and it's barely viable as a result. Abra is held back by its horrendous physical bulk; while it can outpace every common threat except Fearow, Rapidash, and Arcanine, each of these Pokemon can easily OHKO Abra and they are all extremely common. While not as bad of a matchup, slower physical attackers like Pinsir can also beat Abra one-on-one even if they have to take a hit or paralysis first. Teams with Abra can use Rock-types to check faster foes, but another top Pokemon in Porygon walls the Rock-types, making Abra's reliance on them a huge burden. To make matters worse, despite Abra's higher Special, the Fire-types actually do more damage due to Fire Blast having a higher base power than Psychic. Despite its access to Thunder Wave, Abra's frailty means it fears paralysis more than just about every other Pokemon in PU. Porygon once again greatly harms Abra's viability, as teams are often reliant on spreading paralysis to cripple it, with Abra often getting caught in the crossfire. One notable paralysis spreader is Drowzee, another common foe that both checks Abra and turns it into a liability by threatening to spread status to its teammates. While Drowzee cannot match Abra's Speed and power, it typically outclasses Abra as a Psychic-type paralysis spreader.
However, Abra isn't a lost cause, as its aforementioned positive traits do have some use in this metagame. It's extremely hard to switch into if the opponent doesn't have Drowzee or Slowpoke, and the Rock-types can still fulfill their defensive roles even if Porygon walls them. These traits also give it a good matchup against Porygon itself, with Abra able to threaten it with paralysis and its powerful Psychic. However, losing to so much of the metagame makes Abra reliant on excessive amounts of support, and most of the time another Pokemon can do Abra's job with more self-sufficiency.
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Seismic Toss
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Substitute / Counter
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Psychic serves as Abra's primary attack, and it's very spammable thanks to Abra's high Special and how few Pokemon resist it. Seismic Toss is Abra's strongest attack against Drowzee, opposing Abra, and the rare Slowpoke. Thunder Wave lets Abra spread paralysis, though it should be used carefully given that the majority of the tier either has a strong physical attack or their own Thunder Wave; many are also more threatened by Abra's Psychic. Thunder Wave is best used when Abra forces something out or when sacrificing Abra is worth paralyzing something back, such as against Porygon. Substitute is another tool to let Abra exploit switches, but it still leaves Abra vulnerable to paralysis. Counter can be used instead to punish foes using physical attacks like Body Slam to predict Abra switching out, but Hyper Beam will often OHKO Abra even at full health.
Rock-types, such as Omanyte and Graveler, are near-mandatory partners due to their ability to check Rapidash, Arcanine, Fearow, and Magmar, as these threats outspeed and usually OHKO Abra. Notably, the Rock-types force mind games where the faster threat must decide between using Hyper Beam to OHKO Abra before it can cripple them or using another attack against the incoming Rock-type to avoid having to recharge. However, Fearow can bypass this to some extent, since its Double-Edge has a 51.3% chance to OHKO Abra. The former three threats also make great partners, as they can trade hits with their opposing counterparts and overwhelm slower paralysis spreaders for Abra. Partners that can that can switch into Thunder Wave users, like Nidoqueen and Sandslash, are also very useful. Drowzee deserves a special mention, as it can switch into and beat most other Thunder Wave users, trade with itself, and even cripple some faster offensive threats in a pinch.
Abra is typically used as a wallbreaker or cleaner. If used as a wallbreaker, Abra is best used to KO or weaken defensive checks to support endgame cleaners, such as Fearow and Pinsir. Abra can also use Thunder Wave to cripple defensive Pokemon, notably preventing Staryu from stonewalling Seaking and stopping Porygon from checking Nidoqueen. Beyond the threat of paralysis, Abra remains threatening to Recover users, since Psychic can accumulate Special drops and eventually break past them. If used as a cleaner, Abra needs the opposing team sufficiently weakened and opposing Rapidash, Arcanine, Magmar, and Fearow paralyzed or KOed. In either role, Abra struggles to break past Drowzee and Slowpoke, and Porygon can paralyze it and wall the Rock-types, so support from physical wallbreakers, such as Fearow and Pinsir, is necessary.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Reflect looks like an enticing option to increase Abra's physical bulk, notably letting it dodge OHKOs from the plethora of Hyper Beam users. However, Abra's lack of reliable recovery and the need for a free turn to set it up makes Reflect difficult to use, especially when many Hyper Beam users outspeed Abra. Additionally, Reflect is useless against Pinsir due to Slash, and it can often be useless against Rapidash and Fearow due to their high critical hit rates.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Psychic-types**: Drowzee and Slowpoke resist Psychic and are only 4HKOed by Seismic Toss. Both can paralyze Abra with Thunder Wave, and in return they don't mind Abra's Thunder Wave that much. Drowzee can also 3HKO Abra with Seismic Toss. As a result, both Pokemon can switch into Abra with ease and force it to sacrifice itself or make a teammate risk taking status or a powerful attack.
**Faster Threats**: Fearow, Arcanine, Magmar, and Rapidash outspeed Abra; the former two always OHKO with Hyper Beam, and the latter two have a very high chance to OHKO with their own Hyper Beam. Fearow also has a 51.3% chance to OHKO with Double-Edge. However, these threats have difficulty switching into Psychic and hate getting paralyzed.
**Physical Attackers**: While it's outsped and dislikes being paralyzed, Pinsir is only 3HKOed by Psychic and OHKOes back with Slash. Sandslash is immune to Thunder Wave, 3HKOed by Psychic, and OHKOes Abra with Earthquake 92.3% of the time. Abra outspeeds and 2HKOes Machamp and Graveler, but they can also tank a hit in a pinch and retaliate; the former OHKOes Abra with Hyper Beam, and the latter has a 76.9% chance to OHKO with Earthquake.
**Thunder Wave Users**: Thunder Wave users such as Staryu, Porygon, and Dragonair can cripple Abra and leave it helpless against every physical attacker in the tier. However, they struggle to tank Abra's Psychic and hate being paralyzed themselves.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
While Abra may initially seem like one of PU's top threats due to its massive Special, high Speed, excellent Psychic typing, and access to Thunder Wave, the tier is extremely hostile to it, and it's barely viable as a result. Abra is held back by its horrendous physical bulk; while it can outpace every common threat except Fearow, Rapidash, and Arcanine, each of these Pokemon can easily OHKO Abra and they are all extremely common. While not as bad of a matchup, slower physical attackers like Pinsir can also beat Abra one-on-one even if they have to take a hit or paralysis first. Teams with Abra can use Rock-types to check faster foes, but another top Pokemon in Porygon walls the Rock-types, making Abra's reliance on them a huge burden. To make matters worse, despite Abra's higher Special, the Fire-types actually do more damage due to Fire Blast having a higher base power than Psychic. Despite its access to Thunder Wave, Abra's frailty means it fears paralysis more than just about every other Pokemon in PU. Porygon once again greatly harms Abra's viability, as teams are often reliant on spreading paralysis to cripple it, with Abra often getting caught in the crossfire. One notable paralysis spreader is Drowzee, another common foe that both checks Abra and turns it into a liability by threatening to spread status to its teammates. While Drowzee cannot match Abra's Speed and power, it typically outclasses Abra as a Psychic-type paralysis spreader.
However, Abra isn't a lost cause, as its aforementioned positive traits do have some use in this metagame. It's extremely hard to switch into if the opponent doesn't have Drowzee or Slowpoke, and the Rock-types can still fulfill their defensive roles even if Porygon walls them. These traits also give it a good matchup against Porygon itself, with Abra able to threaten it with paralysis and its powerful Psychic. However, losing to so much of the metagame makes Abra reliant on excessive amounts of support, and most of the time another Pokemon can do Abra's job with more self-sufficiency.
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Seismic Toss
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Substitute / Counter
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Psychic serves as Abra's primary attack, and it's very spammable thanks to Abra's high Special and how few Pokemon resist it. Seismic Toss is Abra's strongest attack against Drowzee, opposing Abra, and the rare Slowpoke. Thunder Wave lets Abra spread paralysis, though it should be used carefully given that the majority of the tier either has a strong physical attack or their own Thunder Wave; many are also more threatened by Abra's Psychic. Thunder Wave is best used when Abra forces something out or when sacrificing Abra is worth paralyzing something back, such as against Porygon. Substitute is another tool to let Abra exploit switches, but it still leaves Abra vulnerable to paralysis. Counter can be used instead to punish foes using physical attacks like Body Slam to predict Abra switching out, but Hyper Beam will often OHKO Abra even at full health.
Rock-types, such as Omanyte and Graveler, are near-mandatory partners due to their ability to check Rapidash, Arcanine, Fearow, and Magmar, as these threats outspeed and usually OHKO Abra. Notably, the Rock-types force mind games where the faster threat must decide between using Hyper Beam to OHKO Abra before it can cripple them or using another attack against the incoming Rock-type to avoid having to recharge. However, Fearow can bypass this to some extent, since its Double-Edge has a 51.3% chance to OHKO Abra. The former three threats also make great partners, as they can trade hits with their opposing counterparts and overwhelm slower paralysis spreaders for Abra. Partners that can that can switch into Thunder Wave users, like Nidoqueen and Sandslash, are also very useful. Drowzee deserves a special mention, as it can switch into and beat most other Thunder Wave users, trade with itself, and even cripple some faster offensive threats in a pinch.
Abra is typically used as a wallbreaker or cleaner. If used as a wallbreaker, Abra is best used to KO or weaken defensive checks to support endgame cleaners, such as Fearow and Pinsir. Abra can also use Thunder Wave to cripple defensive Pokemon, notably preventing Staryu from stonewalling Seaking and stopping Porygon from checking Nidoqueen. Beyond the threat of paralysis, Abra remains threatening to Recover users, since Psychic can accumulate Special drops and eventually break past them. If used as a cleaner, Abra needs the opposing team sufficiently weakened and opposing Rapidash, Arcanine, Magmar, and Fearow paralyzed or KOed. In either role, Abra struggles to break past Drowzee and Slowpoke, and Porygon can paralyze it and wall the Rock-types, so support from physical wallbreakers, such as Fearow and Pinsir, is necessary.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Reflect looks like an enticing option to increase Abra's physical bulk, notably letting it dodge OHKOs from the plethora of Hyper Beam users. However, Abra's lack of reliable recovery and the need for a free turn to set it up makes Reflect difficult to use, especially when many Hyper Beam users outspeed Abra. Additionally, Reflect is useless against Pinsir due to Slash, and it can often be useless against Rapidash and Fearow due to their high critical hit rates.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Psychic-types**: Drowzee and Slowpoke resist Psychic and are only 4HKOed by Seismic Toss. Both can paralyze Abra with Thunder Wave, and in return they don't mind Abra's Thunder Wave that much. Drowzee can also 3HKO Abra with Seismic Toss. As a result, both Pokemon can switch into Abra with ease and force it to sacrifice itself or make a teammate risk taking status or a powerful attack.
**Faster Threats**: Fearow, Arcanine, Magmar, and Rapidash outspeed Abra; the former two always OHKO with Hyper Beam, and the latter two have a very high chance to OHKO with their own Hyper Beam. Fearow also has a 51.3% chance to OHKO with Double-Edge. However, these threats have difficulty switching into Psychic and hate getting paralyzed.
**Physical Attackers**: While it's outsped and dislikes being paralyzed, Pinsir is only 3HKOed by Psychic and OHKOes back with Slash. Sandslash is immune to Thunder Wave, 3HKOed by Psychic, and OHKOes Abra with Earthquake 92.3% of the time. Abra outspeeds and 2HKOes Machamp and Graveler, but they can also tank a hit in a pinch and retaliate; the former OHKOes Abra with Hyper Beam, and the latter has a 76.9% chance to OHKO with Earthquake.
**Thunder Wave Users**: Thunder Wave users such as Staryu, Porygon, and Dragonair can cripple Abra and leave it helpless against every physical attacker in the tier. However, they struggle to tank Abra's Psychic and hate being paralyzed themselves.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
Last edited:
