There are hundreds of moves you can teach your team in the Pokemon series, and while more or less every move has situations in which it will shine, some of the most powerful moves are those which raise the users' stats, allowing you to set up at the start of a fight and proceed to annihilate the enemy team.
These setup moves are staples of many a challenge run or competitive team, so if you're looking to take your Pokemon gameplay to the next level, it's a good idea to get familiar with them. Here are ten of the strongest that you can use to give yourself the upper hand in your next battle.
Updated on April 10, 2022 by Doruk Kaptan: Pokemon is a franchise that's ever-evolving, with new mechanics, strategies, moves, and Pokemon being introduced with each generation. However, setup moves have been a mainstay of the formula since day one, and new additions to the category have been quite impactful.
15 Amnesia - Make Your Pokemon A Special Tank
There are countless moves that raise or lower the stats of your own or enemy Pokemon by one stage, but where things get interesting are the moves that jump up two stages. Amnesia is one such move, raising the user's Special Defence by two stages.
This effectively doubles your Special Defence, and after using it just three times, the user's Special Defence will be at the maximum, four times the base value.
A lot of strong psychic types get access to Amnesia, and given how specially bulky they are, Amnesia makes them even better at what they already excel at.
14 Acid Armor And Iron Defense - Amnesia But Physical
Both of these moves do exactly what Amnesia does, but for good old Defense. While Amnesia is a Psychic-type move, Iron Defense is Steel-type, and Acid Armor is Poison-type, meaning a lot of Poison-type Pokemon can get great utility from it by mitigating their ground weakness, at least on the physical side.
One particularly interesting Pokemon that has access to Acid Armor is Vaporeon, and unlike the majority of Water-type Pokemon, Vaporeon is very specially defensive, so it's already somewhat covered against the majority of super-effective attacks. Acid Armor lets it become an all-around wall and cover itself against physical wall breakers.
13 Curse - Great Buff On Non-Ghost-Type Pokemon
Curse is a very interesting move. This Ghost-type move has been around since Generation Two and works in a unique way. If a Ghost-type Pokemon uses it, it cuts the user's HP and lays a curse on the opponent, hurting them each turn.
However, for any other type of Pokemon, Curse is a great setup move, as it lowers Speed by one stage and raises Attack and Defense by one stage. While that may seem like worse Bulk Up, the speed lowering can actually be useful for Pokemon who utilize Trick Room and moves like Gyro Ball.
Some prime examples of Curse users are Steelix, Ferrothorn, and Avalugg.
12 No Retreat - An Extremely Good All Arounder
Unlike almost all the other moves on this list, No Retreat can only be used once, but that doesn't mean it's not incredibly worthwhile. It's the signature move of Falinks, and when used, it provides a one-stage boost to every stat, making it one of the most well-rounded setup moves.
The tradeoff is that Falinks is then locked into battle, unable to switch out. Don't underestimate the usefulness of an omni-boost, though. With the right moves, this alone is enough to allow Falinks to sweep, meaning it wouldn't need to switch out anyway.
11 Belly Drum - A Worthy Trade-Off
Belly Drum is another setup move that will likely be used only once in a battle, but you'll only need to use it once anyways. This move takes away half the user's HP, and in return, maxes out its attack, going up a full six stages in a single turn.
The HP cut is risky, but instantly quadrupling your attack stat is ridiculously strong, so if you find yourself in a situation where you can set up a Belly Drum without being immediately KOed, you're almost guaranteed a strong sweep.
Make sure to adjust your HP EVs and slap a Sitrus Berry on the user for maximum survivability.
10 Cosmic Power - The Ultimate Walling Move
While moves like Amnesia and Iron Defense provide the user with survivability on one side of your defenses, increasing your defenses on both the physical and special side is invaluable. Especially if you're planning on stalling out your opponent for a while.
The solution is Cosmic Power, which, when used, raises the user's Defense and Special Defense by one stage. Set up enough of these, and you'll be almost untouchable. So long as you don't fall victim to a stat-change-ignoring critical hit, that is.
9 Fillet Away - Veluza Going All Out
Fillet Away is a great setup move that has been around for a rather short time. Introduced in Generation Nine, Fillet Away cuts the user's HP in half and boosts Attack, Special Attack, and Speed by two stages, and just like Shell Smash, Fillet Away is a great setup move for fast sweepers.
The downside of the move can be compensated for with items like Sitrus Berry and Leftovers, which makes Fillet Away absolutely worth a move slot. The move is currently exclusive to the great Water-type Veluza, but if made more common, could absolutely see tons of usage.
8 Nasty Plot - The Special Sweeper's Choice
Defensive setup moves are definitely strong, but even the best ones leave you vulnerable to crits, and you still have to find a way to damage the opposing Pokemon. Offensive setups are generally favored as if you can outspeed and one-hit-KO the enemy it doesn't matter how much damage you'd take from a hypothetical hit.
Nasty Plot raises the user's Special Attack by two stages. This is just as good as it sounds, and if you're using a special attacker who gets access to Nasty Plot, you should absolutely consider running it on them. Just make sure you wait for the right time to set up so your sweeper doesn't take a huge hit to its face.
7 Tail Glow - The Best Singular Stat Buff
Tail Glow is a simple move that used to be the signature move of the Mythical Pokemon Manaphy. It simply increases the Special Attack of the user by three stages. It should be noted that more than two stages of stat buffs are very rare, and usually come with a drawback.
The move is simple and is the definitive best setup move for fast special attackers. Luckily, since Generation Four, the move has been made available to Volbeat and Xurkitree and hopefully will be accessible to more Pokemon in the future.
6 Swords Dance - The Physical Sweeper's Choice
Just as Iron Defense is the physical equivalent of Amnesia, Swords Dance is the physical equivalent of Nasty Plot, raising the attack stat of the Pokemon using it by two stages each time.
A surprising variety of Pokemon gets access to Swords Dance (Even Chikorita gets it), making it viable in a vast number of situations on a vast number of Pokemon capable of sweeping your opponent's team. Pair that up with the wide array of high Base Power physical moves such as Flare Blitz and Earthquake and you've got an easy sweep on your hands.
5 Calm Mind - The Premier Choice For A Special Tank
While Nasty Plot is fantastic for raising the user's Special Attack by two stages, it isn't available to that many Pokemon, and since it does nothing for defensive stats or Speed, there's still the risk of being outsped and taking huge damage.
Enter Calm Mind. While this move only raises Special Attack by one stage at a time, every time it's used, it also raises Special Defence by one stage.
This means that once your Special Attack is set up to sweep, you still have some contingency in case you're outsped, as incoming Special Attacks won't do much damage.
4 Dragon Dance - Iconic For A Reason
Dragon Dance is notorious for how powerful it is, facilitating easy sweeps for almost any Pokemon that can use it.
Like Nasty Plot, Swords Dance's biggest problem is the potential to be outsped and take hefty amounts of damage. However, instead of boosting a defensive stat like Calm Mind in addition to its one-stage Attack boost, Dragon Dance boosts Speed by one stage too.
This means that once you've used the move a few times, the risk of being outsped is considerably lower. Even one well-times Dragon Dance can completely flip the scenario and secure a win. Despite how old it actually is, Dragon Dance is still amazing in modern Pokemon.
3 Shell Smash - Letting Go Of Defense For Offense
Shell Smash is a move introduced back in Generation Five, and it has made the Pokemon that has access to it infinitely better. Shell Smash decreases the user's Defense and Special Defense by one stage while increasing Attack, Special Attack, and Speed by two stages.
When combined with items such as White Herb and Focus Sash, it's easy to compensate for the drawback. The boost is so powerful that it has made even defensive Pokemon like Cloyster and Blastoise capable of becoming sweepers.
2 Quiver Dance - The Special Sweeper Special
Not a lot of Pokemon get Quiver Dance, and it's really just limited to bug types. While there are some strong bug types that can take advantage of it, it's this lack of availability that makes Quiver Dance more niche than Calm Mind or Dragon Dance.
However, there is no question about the fact that Quiver Dance is the ultimate setup move. It boosts the user's Special Attack, Special Defence, and speed by one stage each, acting like a special equivalent of Dragon Dance that also boosts your Defence in the meantime, giving you some mitigation in the event you're subjected to some hits from really fast Pokemon or some priority moves.
1 Geomancy - A Legendary Move For A Legendary Pokemon
Geomancy is the signature move of the Kalos Legendary Pokemon Xerneas. This attack move is currently not available in Generation Nine, but it's worth a mention due to how amazing it is. Geomancy takes two turns to complete, but a Power Herb can easily overcome that issue.
Geomancy buffs Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed by two stages. This is such a great set of buffs for special sweepers that Xerneas became a staple in VGC when it was available.
While it's in the past now, Geomancy definitely carved out a place for itself in Pokemon history.