Howdy folks! it’s time to take a look at the long-awaited Popplio Community Day, with Primarina gaining access to new moves! Today we’ll look not just at how good it is in PvP, but how good it is in the all new PvP landscape coming with the seismic shifts of Season 20. That means that you get Primarina analysis AND a peek at the new metas, all for the price of one!

Let’s begin with our customary Bottom Line Up Front and then dive deep into the analysis….

B.L.U.F.

• I’m sure it comes as no surprise that Primarina is unequivocally better with its Community Day move than it is without. Yes, you want this one for PvP.

• Master League is the easiest, clearest upgrade to show off, and the current AND soon-to-be Master League meta allow it to flex its strengths the most… and not just as a Charmer.

• The Ultra League and Great League metas have shifted even more significantly than Master League, and it’s harder to show off the degree to which Primarina has improved, but the improvement is certainly there. I think Prima benefits from Hydro Cannon more in Great League than Ultra, if you had to pick one.

• One last point that I’ll highlight throughout the analysis: BOTH of Primarina’s fast moves are viable, and in some cases Charm holds it back. If you’re flush with dust and candy, this is one of those cases where building multiples (or keeping a big stack of TMs) may not be a bad idea.

Alright, now onto the details!

PRIMARINA Stats and Moves

Primarina

WaterFairy

Great League Stats

Attack

Defense

HP

(130 High Stat Product)

(117 High Stat Product)

(114 High Stat Product)

(Highest Stat Product IVs: 0-15-14, 1499 CP, Level 17.5)

Ultra League Stats

Attack

Defense

HP

(168 High Stat Product)

(151 High Stat Product)

(146 High Stat Product)

(Highest Stat Product IVs: 2-15-13, 2500 CP, Level 29)

Master League Stats

Attack

Defense

HP

208

176

172

(Assuming 15-15-15 IVs; 3618 CP at Level 50)

So stats-wise, Primarina is actually the second glassiest Water starter to get a Community Day in Pokemon GO, ahead of only Greninja. Its overall bulk is comparable to things like Mr. Mime, Qwilfish, Tsareena, Electabuzz, and Druddigon in Great League, and things like Kyurem, Overqwil, Arcanine, and Hisuian Samurott in Ultra League. In other words: it’s not good. Now things like Greninja can overcome that thanks to blinding speed and big time pressure. Primarina, as those who have used it know, is a little more of the slow-and-steady type. So looking at the Fairy side of Prima Donna (or Donnie!), other plodding Charm users (Wigglytuff, Alolan Ninetales, Sylveon, even Aromatisse) certainly can work in PvP… but they too also out-bulk Primarina, with really only Granbull trailing behind.

Even in this new meta about to wash over GBL, Ultra and Great Leagues are stuffed with things that hate on Water, making that side of Primarina a bit more of a liability. But in Master League, nearly all Grass and Electric types that prey on Waters fall away, leaving its resistances to Steel, Fire, and Ice especially much more relevant than those weaknesses. In the end, Primarina (as a Water/Fairy type) is left weak to ONLY Grass, Electric, and Poison, and ends up with seven resistances: Fire and Ice, as mentioned, as well as Water, and then Dark, Fighting, Bug, and Dragon (x2!) from the Fairy side. Water’s resistance to Steel is important too, because it leaves Primarina as a Fairy NOT weak to that traditional counter. This is no easy prey for things like Dialga!

Some things definitely working against Primarina, but also some nice points in its favor. Let’s work in the moves and then see how it all stacks up.

Fast Moves

• Waterfall – Water type, 4.0 DPT, 2.66 EPT, 1.5 CoolDown

• Charm – Fairy type, 5.0 DPT, 2.0 EPT, 1.5 CD

Most Charm users are just set it and forget it, unless they have another fast move that’s high energy and good charge moves to race to. (See Fairy Wind Fairies with both moves like Clefable and Whimsicott.) Very few have the choice between TWO relatively slow moves.

On paper, Charm is a better move than Waterfall… +1.0 damage, and only 0.66 less energy. But that EPT difference is a much bigger gap than it appears on paper. I don’t usually do this, but I want to peek ahead at the charge moves, and the new one Prima is getting in particular: Hydro Cannon. (I mean, is that REALLY a surprise all these Community Days later anyway? ) It costs 40 energy, which is great for slow-charging Charm that can reach it after “only” seven fast moves as opposed to the eight or more needed to reach any of Primarina’s other charge moves. But it’s a little awkward and still has to slightly overcharge the 40 energy required. Waterfall, on the other hand, wastes nothing, reaching the same 40 energy after exactly five fast moves. And since both Waterfall and Charm are three turn moves, taking 1.5 seconds of real time, that comes out to saving three whole seconds in the heat of battle. Again, might not seem like much on paper, but in the battle itself, three seconds can feel like an eternity. Waterfall will never be mistaken for a high energy fast move, but when your alternative has just 2.0 EPT, then Waterfall can feel positively hasty.

There’s certainly room for a Charmer that comes with the extra resistances that Prima Donna (Donnie?) does. But don’t forget the other fast move. It has a lot of good in its corner too, and that’s a point I’ll come back to throughout this analysis.

ᴱ – Exclusive Move

Charge Moves

• Hydro Cannonᴱ – Water type, 80 damage, 40 energy

• Sparkling Aria – Water type, 80 damage, 45 energy

• Disarming Voice – Fairy type, 70 damage, 45 energy

• Psychic – Psychic type, 75 damage, 55 energy, 10% Chance: Reduce Opponent Defense -1 Stage

• Moonblast – Fairy type, 110 damage, 60 energy, 10% Chance: Reduce Opponent Attack -1 Stage

• Hydro Pump – Water type, 130 damage, 75 energy

I already talked about Hydro Cannon a bit, but it’s worth repeating that it A.) becomes Primarina’s new cheapest charge move, and B.) has that wonderful symmetry with Waterfall in particular. Generating just enough energy for a move like that, consistently, with no energy wasted, can be a beautiful thing to behold. It’s a strict upgrade to the new Sparkling Aria, though that move IS quite good (identical stats to Drill Run, Fly, and Shadow Bone) and will likely shine out on anything else that gets it in the future.

Primarina first hit the game with moves all costing 55 energy or more: 55 energy Psychic (the move), which was interesting for a while but has since been nerfing into oblivion, 60 energy Moonblast, which is easily Primarina’s best all-around “closer”, and Hydro Pump, a good move in its own right but far too expensive for either of Prima’s fast moves to reach in useful situations. Eventually it (and several other Fairies) got Disarming Voice, a solid and affordable Fairy move, and that finally allowed Primarina to start popping up here and there in PvP. For Charm Primarina (CharMarina?), it probably remains a staple, and along with Community Day move Hydro Cannon, now gives Primarina some actual options that it can actually reach in impactful situations.

But does that really make Primarina markedly better? Let’s start in Master League this time and go in reverse order… and you’ll probably see why as we go.

MASTER LEAGUE

So this will be a good teaser on the new, post-shakeup Master League meta. Gone are things like Swampert, Ursaluna, Sylveon, Lugia, and Zekrom. The meta — at least in the early look — has shrunk.

So where does that leave Primarina? Well, that depends on how you look at it.

Most would first default to using Prima Donna as a Charmer, as mentioned above. In that configuration, you usually want the cheapest charge moves around, so that would mean Charm/Hydro Cannon/Disarming Voice, and that performs roughly the same as other Charmers like Togekiss. Primarina works well enough in that role, and flexes its typing to beat things Togekiss cannot like Dialga (remember, Steel does only neutal damage), Mamoswine (Togekiss is weak to Ice, but Prima resists it), and Altered Giratina. (That last one comes down to Prima being able to Charm down Gira-A, while Togekiss, with slightly lower Attack, cannot.) Conversely, the better bulk of Togekiss allows it to instead outlast Giratina-O, Landorus-T, Groudon, and Zarude (which has other obvious advantages against Primarina’s Water typing). Also worth noting that while Primarina can get oh so close to beating Kyogre, Kyogre has the upper hand even when running its all-Water (and thus all-resisted) set. Togekiss loses harder, of course, but both Fairies DO usually still lose.

So kind of a sidegrade to what we already have in Master League, right? The likely regression of things like Swampert and Ursaluna (and perhaps even others that are still listed, like Excadrill) in the meta unfortunately makes Prima Donna’s Water type advantage slip a little, so while it pulled more impressive numbers in the old meta, now it’s a bit more pedestrian looking.

…with Charm, that is. See, in my opinion, if you want a good Charmer, that’s still more of a Togekiss thing. If you want to use Primarina, it may be better to lean more fully into the unique Water aspects it brings to the table and run Waterfall instead. Again, it would have been a bit more impressive in previous seasons, but it’s still very, very solid moving forward. You COULD still go with Disarming Voice as your Fairy move, which does at least make improved (thanks to the big buff to Sucker Punch) Yveltal easier to beat, but the better energy generation of Waterfall allows you to instead bring big bad Moonblast into the equation, and with that Prima can now overpower both regular and Origin versions of Palkia, a HUGE pickup that Charm can dominate but Waterfall otherwise loses to. Moonblast also retains all the same wins as Voice in 2v2 shielding except for sometimes Dragonite, and is vastly better than Voice with shields down, beating all the same things PLUS Palkia (both forms), Reshiram, Garchomp, Zacian, and Togekiss.

For a more direct comparison between Waterfall Prima and CharMarina:

• Waterfall seems to have a clear edge in 1v1 shielding, where it does sometimes give up Dragons like Garchomp and Altered Giratina, and occasionally Yveltal as well, but gains a slew of Grounds (Rhyperior, Excadrill, Therian Landorus as examples), Mewtwo, and then notable Fairies like Xerneas, Zacian, and Togekiss.

• With shields down, Waterfall still holds advantages like Rhyperior and Togekiss, but critically drops Kyogre, both Giratinas, and Dialga. Probably none of those are huge surprises considering their resistance to Water damage, but still… ouch.

• 2v2 shielding again seems in Charm’s favor, keeping in mind that at least with Charm, you’re usually using two shields while the opponent often doesn’t need more than one. Waterfall retains unique wins over Grounds (Lando, Rhyperior, Excadrill, Groundon) and Ho-Oh, but otherwise it’s all Charm with its own unique wins over a ton of Dragons (Giratinas, Dialga, Dragonite, Garchmop, Palkia), Darks (Yveltal and Zarude), and then Kyogre and on-the-rise Florges (now a top tier Fairy in ML with the buff to Fairy Wind!) as bonuses.

So clear advantages (and disadvantages) for both. I lean Waterfall for the uniqueness it brings as compared to other Fairies, but however you go with it, it seems clear to me that Primarina will definitely be a part of the Master League meta, with Hydro Cannon being the missing piece that really brings it into the discussion. Because with no Hydro Cannon, things like Mewtwo, Zacian, and Xerneas slip away (and others like Landorus, Ho-Oh, and Excadrill for CharMarina).

And Master League really is where Primarina has made (and likely will continue to make) its greatest impact in PvP. But unlike some Master League standouts, it DOES have play elsewhere, and appreciates Hydro Cannon there too!

ULTRA LEAGUE

Just as in Master League, the meta has changed, and even more so, in Ultra. Likely falling out of the top meta are many Counter users (Annihilape, DDeoxys, Toxicroak, perhaps even Poliwrath), Flyers (Charizard, Gliscor, Pidgeot), and other ‘mons affected most by the big rebalance like Jellicent and Greedent, and then further ripples that go out from those changes that may drive down usage of Alolan Sandslash, Walrein, Alolan Ninetales and others. And on the flipside, entering the upper echelons we may not have things like Drifblim, Decidueye, Lickilicky, Drapion, Pangoro, Clefable, even freaking Gastrodon. (I’m not kidding!) Some of that is good for Primarina, some of it not so much. In the end, its win percentage actually drops a little when you compare previous seasons to the newfangled Season 20 meta, but that’s just because the meta itself has shifted. CharMarina improves with Hydro Cannon by beating Talonflame, Skeledirge, Drapion, and even Virizion (via baiting) with shields down, and Waterfall Prima gains Galarian Weezing in 1shield (a big pickup, as G-Weeze just got TWO moves buffed and is going to be a big piece of UL from here on out) and Cobalion in 2shield, though that one is only at the cost of sometimes losing now to Altered Giratina.

In short, the needle doesn’t move much on Primarina in Ultra League. It IS better, I just don’t see it moving far off of where it stands today.

GREAT LEAGUE

However, Hydro Cannon is quite a boon to Prima Donna in Great League. The problem is that it may not matter all that much, again due to meta shifts.

Several Fighters drop way down in the meta, though others (Karate Choppers) MAY rise up, so that might be a wash. Altaria disappears and Dragons are down in general with the rise of other Fairies (thanks in large part to the Fairy Wind buff), so there’s a few less targets for Prima to abuse. But also dropping are things like Galarian Stunfisk (double nerfed) Registeel, Skarmory, and especially Gligar, all of whom Hydro Cannon would have helped significantly against. With those targets removed, this is another case where Prima Donna is better but still may not see any actual rise because of the widespread meta shifts. It puts its best fin forward by running Waterfall, with Waterfall/Hydro Cannon/Moonblast gaining wins over Sableye, Umbreon, Dragonair, and the new-and-improved (and VERY meta now) Lickilicky that it wouldn’t get with Disarming Voice/Moonblast. (As well as Skeledirge, Shadow Drapion, and Bastiodon with shields down.) CharMarina is of course improved as well, but that really only shows up with shields down by picking up wins against Talonflame, Shadow Alolan Sandslash (sometimes, anyway), and interestingly, regular and Shadow Feraligatr, despite Hydro Cannon obviously being resisted in that last case. Interestingly, it does lose now to Azumarill in 0shield, as Disarming Voice is not enough to overcome Azu but Moonblast is. (And if you swap Voice out for Moonblast, you now lose Lickilicky in 0shield, so pick your poison, I guess!) As if often the case in Great League, CharMarina is oftentimes at its best by not throwing any charge moves at all, so Hydro Cannon’s impact doesn’t really show up unless you take shields away entirely, but the impact IS there, no doubt.

Primarina has made some inroads in Limited metas in GL, and that will obviously be only moreso now. It’s worth trying to get a good one at this level, for sure.

IN SUMMATION

Primarina is unsurprisingly better off with 40-energy Hydro Cannon than it’s ever been before, though the seismic shifts about to hit PvP at all levels kind of obscures that a bit. As things settle, I can at least confidently say that it’s worth having Hydro Cannon Primarina at the ready where possible, especially in Master and Great Leagues. After all, this won’t be the last time the metas shift either. Prima Donna/Donnie have more than enough good going for them to stick around.

Thanks for reading! Until next time (the start of deeper analysis on the massive rebalance), you can always find me on Twitter with regular Pokémon GO analysis nuggets, or Patreon, if you’re feeling extra generous.

Good hunting, folks! Stay safe out there, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!

The post A PvP Analysis on Hydro Cannon Primarina (August Community Day) appeared first on Pokémon GO Hub.