Sylveon
PvE Analysis
The Generation 6 lone Eeveelution was one of the first Fairy Types revealed in the entire series. In fact, it was revealed before Fairy Type itself was revealed, leading to substantial confusion at that time! But trivia aside, how does it perform in Pokemon Go? Not very well. Its attack stat is too low to be a worthwhile attacker, though it's a decent budget option for Fairy Type damage. Earlier in Pokemon Go's life, Sylveon likely would have been a staple Pokemon similar to Vaporeon, but that time is long over.
Best PvE Offensive Moveset
Charm + Dazzling Gleam | Best |
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- Charm is the fast move of choice, as Quick Attack is basically worthless on offense.
- Dazzling Gleam is the charged move of choice, providing maximum DPS with reasonable energy cost.
- Mooblast is less reliable, and generally inferior.
- Draining Kiss is inferior.
- Psyshock* lacks STAB for Sylveon.
Best PvE Defensive Moveset
- Charm is substantially more powerful than Quick Attack, but at least the former offers off-type coverage.
- Psyshock is recommended for defense due to its coverage against Poison-type attackers, as well as its 3-bar move accessibility.
- Dazzling Gleam hits hardest and comes out frequently enough to be reliable.
- Moonblast takes too long to use, and Draining Kiss is weaker.
PvP Analysis
Charm + Moonblast and Psyshock* |
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Sylveon only really has one viable moveset, made up of its only moves that aren't bad. Charm provides strong STAB fast move damage that isn't widely resisted. Quick Attack trades damage for greater energy gains, but lacks STAB and can't be Super Effective against anything.
Moonblast is stronger than either of Sylveon's other Fairy-type charged moves. Psyshock from the second Eevee Community Day event is the most optimal coverage move for Sylveon, giving it an option to fight back against Poison-types while costing less energy than Last Resort.
Great League | 3.5 / 5 |
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The addition of Psyshock following the second Eevee Community Day is a very beneficial gain for Sylveon, giving it a Charge Move that is faster to access while also providing coverage against its weakness to Poison-types. Thus Sylveon's performance increases to be more competitive with the likes of Clefable, but falls slightly behind Alolan Ninetales due to the latter's faster Charge Moves and additional Ice-type coverage. | |
Ultra League | 4 / 5 |
Sylveon's access to Psyshock helps it compete against not only other Charmers but also the overall meta. The perk of having more stats than other Pokemon allows Sylveon to reach the CP cap of Ultra League in fewer levels, which negates any need for XL candy and results in a much more cost-effective candidate compared to other Charmers. | |
Master League | 3.5 / 5 |
The combination of Fairy typing, decent stats, and Charm is proven time and time again to be a successful formula in the Master League, as evidenced by Togekiss's continued dominance. Sylveon follows in these footsteps, although it is often outclassed by its Flying counterpart due to having slightly less stats and no Ground-type resistance. While Sylveon has advantages over Togekiss, such as the lack of Ice-type weakness, and access to a more reliable nuke in Moonblast, it is often difficult to justify choosing Sylveon over Togekiss. Nevertheless, the Master League isn't particularly great at handling Charm (or Fairy types as a whole really), so what better way to abuse this than to run two of them? Sylveon often sees play alongside Togekiss to really take advantage of Charm's oppressive pressure in a format dominated by Dragon types. Anchoring these two is a Pokemon that can simultaneously cover Steels, Kyogre, Ho-Oh, and Mewtwo in one slot - this Pokemon usually being either forme of Giratina. Giratina, in turn, appreciates the Charmers' ability to defeat the Dragon and Dark-types that plague it so much. |