Why Sableye Should Be Bad But Is Actually AMAZING

[@pricelesschess]

It just goes to show how typing, abilities and movepool can matter so much more than stats.

[@foofootoo]

Exactly, and there are so many cool and unique combinations that make for some interesting niche Pokémon

[@eesev2017]

Lol singles players would be confused by this

[@PieJee1]

So smeargle is the best pokemon😅

[@Nutleaf420]

Quagsire theorem

[@borismuller86]

Slaking already demonstrated that perfectly.

[@DefinitelyNotAFerret]

Banette is definitely looking at Sableye with jealousy

[@foofootoo]

For sure lol since banette lost its mega it should have got some other buffs to compensate

[@gooper7390]

I love that little gremlin and his shenanigans

[@lordmonarch2995]

I like your profile picture. You gonna go imagine a new adventure with your little friends?

[@jamesdolan3046]

It's a goblin not a gremlin

[@ownerman1235]

Gemlin

[@neri1220]

Something people ignore about Sableye is the ability STALL. Normally it's a bad ability because you don't want your pokemon to be the last one to play but it has 2 cool tricks that Sableye can utilize. First is Metal Burst - that move works like Counter and Mirror Coat combined wich means you don't have to guess wether the incoming move will be physical or special, though it is weaker (1.5x dmg returned instead of 2x) but it doesn't have negative priority wich mean it can fail if the opponent turns out to be slower.. With Stall ability however you can guarantee this move to work (as long as you survive the hit). As for the 2nd trick - this is something majority of players don't even realize. Sableye can ENCORE the Trick Room user on the same turn that pokemon uses the move Trick Room AND it will not be stopped by Psychic Terrain nor any other ability that could prevent the priority moves, because we are not using Prankster Sableye but Stall Sableye. Prankster Sableye could Encore the Trick Room user on the following turn but by that moment they could have swapped out or protected or Sableye's Encore will simply fail because of psychic terrain or other limitations to priority moves. This means your Sableye with Stall ability can force many hard trick room leads into reversing their trick room or force a swap, giving you a bit of an edge against the trick room teams. Stall Sableye could still utilize Fake Out as it has it's own priority. It could also utilize Disable without the need of waiting for the next turn to trigger it. Something like Fake Out, Disable, Encore, Metal Burst could be an interesting set. You could also use Skill Swap to make the enemy pokemon always move last, regardless of their speed control. It's like Tricking a Lagging Tail but without having the Lagging Tail. And in theory you could potentially do it 2nd time after some swaping in and out. It is really overlooked strategy but maybe you would like to give it a shot. p.s. Despite having access to Mega evolution in older games, i still wish Sableye could have a proper evolution, just for the sake of having benefits from eviolite held item. Either that or perhaps they could buff its base stats like they did with Mantine for example. I simply wish this little dude was better defensively.

[@foofootoo]

Oh I didn't even think about how access to skill swap actually makes a stall set even better! Great points!

[@lordmonarch2995]

Well said, you sure are a skilled player

[@SentientCorset]

I already love sableye and these points are pretty unique and fair! 👌🏾

[@gregariosity]

Stall doesn’t let you go after trick room. It only makes you go last in your priority bracket just like lagging tail, and trick room has negative priority. The thing with metal burst works (as long as they don’t use a negative priority move like avalanche) but sableye doesn’t have very much hp to make it worth the move/ability slot

[@obibraxton2232]

@@gregariosityyou’re right. OP has some good points but that strategy isn’t full proof nor easy to go with but I like the idea of encore and dealing with trick room teams or dash type leads predicting a prankster priority sableye

[@ZetaNiGHT]

I will never get over how creative your strategies are man, I don't see stuff like this practically anywhere else hahaha. Big part of what opened me up to double battles and made me start to prefer them to singles, honestly.

[@foofootoo]

Yeah for sure! there are way more cool strategies possible in doubles compared to singles and that's what I enjoy most

[@23_Swizzy]

As a fellow Sableye fan this is just what my day needed.

[@mikeleddyphoto]

Woah, I had no idea that Grav Apple goes up in power with Gravity in effect. That’s such a sick strat omg

[@foofootoo]

I love niche interactions like this

[@Hyuduro]

Reminds me of the Body Slam/Stomp mechanic.

[@roku144]

@@Hyudurowhat’s the mechanic?

[@Hyuduro]

@@roku144 If you use Stomp or Body Slam on a Pokèmon that used Minimize, it has 100% accuracy and does more damage.

[@ristopoho824]

I have no idea why, but sableye is one of my favourite pokemon. And nope haven't had good luck using them in battles, not in PvP and not in single player playthroughs. But the design. That i like. A small mischievous goblin thing that likes digging and eating gemstones. Sweet life that.

[@foofootoo]

Sweet life indeed

[@TaLeng2023]

Carbink: 💀

[@samifranco5541]

My first time getting near one of these gremling was in Hoenn in a random cave (thinking maybe a Zubat might spawn) my first reaction was "what the hell is that?" I was so confuse but also amaze due how strange looked, since then Bibi became my favorite baby she is just the best ❤

[@clash_king1025]

Sableye is so fun to use, even if his stats are very subpar I know prankster mons can be annoying, but it’s easily my favorite ability

[@foofootoo]

Tbf it's pretty balanced since dark types became immune

[@TechtonixZi]

YAAAAAAAY SABLEYE!!!!! I don't really battle competitively but it is my FAVORITE pokemon and when I see videos about it being great I enjoy them. Thank you!

[@jonathanbrilliansugiarto4954]

It really brings me nostalgia cause so many pokemon you've talked like swanna beartic delibird masqueraine are gonna have a chance of being talked about again I still remember the sun and moon days...

[@Poondaedalin]

I’m not sure about its viability, but a fun strategy could also be to give Prankster to the opposing Pokemon with Skill Swap, and run that Sableye on a team that runs either a few Dark types or a Tera Dark sweeper, causing all of their targetted status moves to fail, and potentially enabling a setup opportunity. Plus, Sableye gets access to Mean Look, so you can stop the opponent’s answer from switching out, then stop it from using disrupting status moves, and then sweep with your Tera Dark sweeper. You could even substitute Skill Swap for Trick or Encore and create a very similar scenario.

[@foofootoo]

That sounds hilarious

[@princess_sarina_aria_elysia]

That sounds like psychic terrain with extra steps

[@chillcloak]

I had no idea that sableye had such a low base stat total. I always thought it was at least slightly stronger since it has such a strong typing and utility movepool, plus it was always so hard to find and its catch rate is so low. Cool to see what kind of tricks it has, I might have to use one now!

[@Olivia-lx9tq]

I love your teams! I just used a modified version of your Skill Swap Wyrdeer team at Sacramento for my first tournament - I didn't do nearly as well with it as I did when I practiced, but I still had a blast. Thanks for sharing your creativity!

[@foofootoo]

That's so awesome! Glad you had a good time

[@adderall3676]

Sableye really looks like it would fit well on a snow team. Gravity gives iron bundle accurate hydro pumps and blizzards, skill swap can give abomasnow or Alolan ninetails priority aurora veil, and has potential to give chien pao or baxcalibur the option to use icicle crash over other moves so you can pair them with terrain setters (rillaboom) or get more item choice.

[@FlipTrackz]

Trick + Lagging Tail might be an old strat but for singles, it’s such a good form of disruption Additionally with Gravity, Wide Lens Sandy Shocks Zap Cannon is very fun as well. Damn near perfect accuracy with 120 stab and 100% paralysis.

[@foofootoo]

That sounds fun lol and sandy shocks can be a second gravity setter

[@marianosimoniglesias]

Focus Punch animation looks so sick this gen. Love ALL those strats and I'm happy that someone made Hipno work. Also the last one reminds me to gen 7 prankster mega-bannete from weedletwineedle video: nice throw back to that strat

[@TheEphemeralEternity]

I wish they'd change it's title in the pokedex to the "Gem Goblin Pokemon"

[@jaisawanksta]

My absolute favorite mon. Great design (interesting story behind that), an ability that matches the personality (Prankster), typing that negates prankster attacks on it as well as fake out.

[@TaLeng2023]

One of my fav Pokes since Sapphire. Nice that the gem gremlin keep getting love.

[@DefinitelyNotAFerret]

Holy shoot! I remember seeing prankster after you on WeedleTwineedle’s channel! What a blast from the past

[@urkerab]

The best thing about it is that it bypasses Psychic Terrain, Queenly Majesty etc.

[@devanbrowne8706]

I really love your content. My favorite thing in any competitive game is finding ways to use tools and strategies that aren't commonly used, and you bring fun and creative ideas with every video!

[@ShadySableye77]

As a fan of Sableye, this video made my day!

[@torquevonthorne948]

Neat video, the segmentations are appreciated.

[@FriendlyNeighborhoodLamia]

My personal favorite Sableye gimmick is Mean Looking Falinks, which for some GODFORSAKEN reason nullifies the downside of No Retreat only being usable once- As long as the Pokemon trapping Falinks is in the battle, Falinks can just.. spam No Retreat and get omniboost after omniboost You can even Skill Swap Prankster to your Falinks to get *priority* No Retreat Throw on a strong mon with Psych Up like Sylveon, and you’ve got an incredibly scary force as well

[@foofootoo]

Cool strategy!

[@determineddaaf3]

I love the strategies you come up with. They're very creative. Even when they're on the more niche side, it's just so fun to see. I love seeing what's possible with pokemon. While I understand it, it is sometimes unfortunate that you can't use all moves anymore. Though that doesn't stop some awesome strategies from existing still.

[@foofootoo]

For me the most fun is testing out niche mechanics and interactions for sure

[@HunterKnight109]

By now i'd really love an evo, and then watch as the monstruosity of Eviolite Sableye walks into the show

[@thepanman3449]

I actually use a sableye trick room myself! I use it with will-o-wisp with flash fire heatran and assault vest Ursaluna! It may be a little gimmicky but it does surprisingly well

[@PKshockwave]

Listen, i was beyond hyped when i saw gravity back on my gremlin!

[@CazDad]

I have had this little gremlin carry my entire team and no do a single lick of damage so many times lol

[@toddmarshall2925]

I used what I learned in this video for evil and crafted a Gravity Sableye team featuring Darkrai. I've been wrecking the lives of hundreds of Casual Battle players ever since.

[@TwiliteTA]

I used Encore + Disable combo in SwSh. Was always hilarious lol

[@beeflion]

Sableye (eats) rocks! Thanks for the great vid, foofootoo.

[@brainymaestro8581]

Something really cool that you can do with the prankster sableye is to target a Falinks with mean look so then it can't escape because of it. If falinks is unable to switch out due to a move other than No Retreat then it can use No Retreat multiple times so you can just stack boosts together like that

[@fideljok]

Dominating the TCG, improving in the VG, quirky and fun mon every step of the way. I mean, Prankster Gravity! That's awesome

[@PrimalSlime]

Gravity is on of my favorite moves so this was cool to see

[@Peng_D3]

Been having a lot of fun with Gravity Sableye. Landorus-I is 100% the best teammate for it but I also recommend Milotic for Icy Wind and Hypnosis, Heatran with Magma Storm, or offensive Maushold with a Choice Band or Scarf

[@foofootoo]

Milotic does sound like a great partner!

[@samifranco5541]

See a bunch of smoll gremlings running toward their trainer when this one call them is hilarious and cute at the same time 😂 ❤

[@CosmicZ2222]

I DIDN'T KNOW HE GOT SKILL SWAP. OH MAN.

[@finalGambitShedinja]

dewford music was a nice touch i see the reference

[@foofootoo]

😁

[@StarchaserXFER]

I’ve had great fun with Sableye since SV released with priority moves and other tricky/strategy altering moves, it’s a good little gremlin!

[@foofootoo]

It really is!

[@coledavidson5630]

I wanted sableye to have reflect and light screen so bad in SwSh, so cool that he got it now!

[@KrautCat]

The Quagsire theory

[@japethspeaketh7034]

One of the saddest thing about Sableye is that it'll probably never get an actual evolution, given that it got a Mega in Gen 6 and GameFreak will not bring the Megas back, at least in the foreseeable future. An actual evolution would be a lot better than a Mega, as it not only wouldn't have an excuse to be exclusive to certain generation, but also we'd get a better Sableye in it's new evolution and Sableye itself would be better due to eviolite. The only thing holding this guy back is it's stats. Although it's Mega doesn't have the better ability in the form of Prankster, it still was a solid Pokemon back in Gen 6 and 7, even managing to get into Ubers. It's a testament of how good Sableye is despite it's stats.

[@GiovanniBoss]

How insane would that little shiny eater would be if eviolite worked on it, I wonder?

[@just_a_folk95]

Sableye is a masterclass at how to balance a weak BST mon imo. He's also such a cute lil bastard.

[@obibraxton2232]

I think the start move of this video is deffo Gravity! Thanks for this didn’t even realise it got Gravity.

[@obibraxton2232]

Best ^

[@ShukakuTheCrazy1]

The gravity idea genuinely sounds fun😊

[@ryanlordjanie]

I’d love to see some of the battles of all these examples foo!

[@Bronze998]

I don't care what gen it is or what format it is, never sleep on Sableye.

[@mochi-muse]

THE FLAPPLE IS SO COOL OMG

[@foofootoo]

I love how ridiculous powerful a little tiny apple worm can be

[@mochi-muse]

@@foofootoo little man with da hydrogen bomb

[@arthursdl]

I love gravity so much, nice video

[@tristiancook5821]

I was shiny hunting something else and saw this crazy yellow guy just wiggling around. Thanks for tips on how to finally put him to use

[@foofootoo]

It's pretty hard to miss a Sableye shiny 😂 they're super conspicuous

[@tristiancook5821]

I have this weird luck where I go on a shiny hunt and then find an unrelated shiny instead. Yesterday i was outbreaking a mightyena and there was just a shiny seedot chilling by the trees 😂

[@mattishidayeo]

Sableye would have been pretty amazing (IMHO) had it picked up in usage back in Gen VI Immunity to Fake Out Access to Fake Out Prankster Trick Lagging Tail to neuter Xerneas Prankster Gravity to make Primal Groudon's Precipice Blades become a lot more spammable Prankster Quash for Speed control Prankster Magic Coat to bounce Dark Void Prankster Imprison + Protect to lock Protect Prankster Taunt Focus Sash + Prankster Pain Split to shred bulk Foul Play for damage Feint to break protection While it doesn't get immunity to Prankster in Gen VI, its Dark Type targets also loses that immunity.

[@v-jay9499]

I’m waiting to yell the day it gets an evolution. I can’t wait for that

[@HaughtyToast]

Terastallize Vespiquin to be Steel type and use Sableye's Prankster swapping to give it priority Defend Order, Toxic Spikes, Roost, and Toxic/Spite to turn it into a mixed wall nuisance.

[@chairmanchang]

Putting Ledian next to Sableye is quite the whiplash…if anyone can make that bug viable, it’s Foo!

[@joseangelriverac7490]

Too bad assist is not on the game I'll be considered a status but you'll know what moves you may use. You can use metronome but more "random" than assist

[@chicken29843]

Skill swap with slaking would be interesting even though it would probably be bad and I don't even know if slaking is in the new games

[@rayes119]

Sableye’s design is so cool

[@giantpoogiv12]

I used gravity with landorus it’s so fun 6:01

[@bradensmith8682]

Quash + Prankster is amazing for taking out any fast/frail Pokemon in Doubles.

[@foofootoo]

For sure! The only drawback is that dark types are immune, but it's super powerful outside of that

[@nyx2889]

I love my lil gremlin boi

[@primrosevale1995]

8:30 Are we ignoring the Azurill here? Why is that here?

[@foofootoo]

My opponent had it in there trainer card so I think they just wanted to use it 😁 but it does get aqua jet and surf to activate coalossal...

[@realfishscience7842]

Yeah you just made me cry a little bit cus I didn’t realize sableye lost gravity and I had that little dude on my competitive team in 2016 to unleash primal Groudon… damn… anyway now that it’s back and I’m out of it all I’m sure someone else will figure out a cool use for it

[@totokekedile]

Automatic like for featuring my girl Flapple.

[@donizeth468]

sableye was always my favorite, i ve always used it and it is a really good pokemon despite the stats

[@Fenrisviivii04]

In my Indigo disk run, I used a Sableye with my Noivern for most big double battles and it was INSANE My Noivern was Tera Normal, I gave it choice specs and I used the move Boomburst on it. Sableye would stand back and run a Prankster Helping Hand, using helping hand, Noivern's Tera Boombursts became MUCH stronger and because Sableye is Ghost type, Sableye wasn't getting hit by Noivern's Boombursts, So i would effectively nuke entire teams in just a few turns using Helping hand boosted Boombursts. And if anything was faster than my Noivern, I would use Thunder Wave on my Sableye to ensure that i was always faster and Nuked whatever was on screen. I have never had more fun using a Sableye in my entire life. I highly doubt this strategy would work in actual VGC since there are Gholdengos and other Ghost types EVERYWHERE in VGC battles, but it was SO MUCH FUN using this in the Indigo Disk

[@HenryShoemaker-be4dd]

Flapple and sabeleye synergy. It’s a new world

[@leonardobarbosatelles2779]

Imagine priority iron fist boosted focus punch…

[@foofootoo]

I was intending to use that but went with hypercutter on crabominable instead because there is so much intimidate unfortunately

[@KJFries17]

You could run blizzard instead of ice beam on basculegion because the accuracy doesn’t matter when using gravity sableye

[@phoebe5114]

A Normal type getting banned from OU, Ghosts being unhinged little bastards in OU, Fairy being one of the more common Tera types... my favorite types are eating *good* in Gen 9.

[@Fistrike]

How did we talk about gravity and not consider the funniness of maushold with kings rock?

[@shatteredsentient5321]

Still my favorite ghost type. I fell in love with him on gen 3 gameboy days. He replaced Gengar. Sorry gengy.

[@kylebuffkin7514]

If only prankster sableye got a stealing move it could snatch

[@jacobcoolguy]

He’s just a little sableguy

[@alejandrollamas4570]

kingdom hearts music in the background? i see you.

[@zemufinman1639]

YAY MORE FOO! Oh also Sableye is cool too

[@foofootoo]

😁

[@magicmanææaaaaaa]

meet the gemlin

[@foxiestofstoats]

Foo makes video about sableye, emvee drafts for league. Coincidence?

[@benih8603]

My very first team in reg 1 was an armarouge/indeedee team with skill swap sableye with toedscruel. Toedscruels ability let you sleep gholdengo, then after the swap sableye could burn Baxcalibur. It wasn't good, but it was fun 🤣

[@Vegvysyr]

Slightly off-topic but where do you get the brown outfit your trainer has in the "second buff" segment?

[@luisestaystuardo1663]

Obra de arte sableye es mi pokemon favorito por siempre

[@lucianlm1311]

I miss Mega Sableye😢(mostly the design)

[@foofootoo]

Same

[@BasementCat69]

CHANEEEEEEL!!! 🦅🦅🦅🦅

[@foofootoo]

😂

[@jasonroberson3447]

I have used sableye amoonguss, when it works out it's pretty nasty.

[@joeldanielsson2355]

So Stall is not entirely useless anymore

[@adolfojuangarcia1906]

You didn't give crabomible iron fist???

[@foofootoo]

No I wanted to buy there is so much intimidate ATM and blocking an intimidate gives you more power than an intimidated iron fist... Iron fist has more style points though

[@davidpopolizio3781]

I see sabeleye I click

[@lordmonarch2995]

Cool video thank you

[@albertocuevaspacheco3997]

Another good detail is that Sableye is immune to Psychic Fangs and Brick Break because of the Dark and Ghost type ;)

[@foofootoo]

Great point, another reason Sableye has a niche with the screens set

[@tysondennis1016]

Sableye is proof that stats are not everything.

[@serviper3908]

DONT YOU DARE EVER SAY MY BABY SHOULD BE BAD EVER AGAIN

[@derekgunnels4856]

He probably doesn't need it, but buffing his stat total to 400 would be badass

[@viral4983]

wahahahahah -sableye

[@Sableye17]

Whya Do You Think I Am So Good?. THESE GEMS ARE BASICALLY PEDS!!!!

[@princess_sarina_aria_elysia]

I’ve tried gravity flapple before with sandy shocks, it’s speed stat is criminal though even with choice scarf 🥲

[@foofootoo]

Yeah its a really awkward speed tier for flapple cos it's too slow to be choice scarf but faster than most trick room Pokémon. I found putting it on a trick room team to be the most consistent way so I set trick room most battles but can reverse it if I'm against a slower trick room team. Plus hypnosis support from Hypno gives flapple more opportunities to get KOs

[@princess_sarina_aria_elysia]

@@foofootoo Ooh omg trick room is a good shout