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Competitive Pokemon: Tapu Fini

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Introducing the guardian of Poni Island, Tapu Fini. When you compare it with the rest of its fellow Tapus, Tapu Fini is the well-rounded and more defensive member of the Island Guardians. According to the Pokedex, Tapu Fini will often shroud its surroundings in a mysterious fog to protect itself in battle. Exposure to this fog can send its opponents into a self-destructive trance. The island guardian also unleashes this fog as a test for those who seek the special water it can create, which is said to purify anything it touches. Many humans have attempted this trial, including those with ill intent. Disgusted by this history, Tapu Fini generally does not care much for humans and exposes any to its fog regardless of their intentions. Despite this, it is willing to help those who prove themselves worthy.

This is best illustrated in the Sun and Moon anime when Tapu Fini became angered when Kiawe and Ash were battling near the Ruins of Hope and imprisoned them in its fog. Fini then held their Pokemon hostage in its veil of water and forced Kiawe to retrieve healing scales from Tapu Lele (which was not an easy task since Lele would not give up without a fight, and Tapu Lele is guilelessly cruel when battling since it doesn't know its own strength) within a certain time in order to atone for disturbing it. Kiawe managed to retrieve the scales, and Fini forgave him and Ash for their recklessness and even rewarded Kiawe with Flyinium-Z. It later imprisoned Ash, Mallow, Hapu, Lillie and her brother Gladion in its mist as a test for Hapu to see if she was worthy to become the Poni Island's next Kahuna. What happened next was probably some of the most heartwrenching emotional scenes in the entire Pokemon anime as we learn just why the Pokedex states how Tapu Fini's mist can end up destroying a person's mind. As it makes people see and speak with deceased loved ones, specifically those who they couldn't endure the pain of seeing again. Ash and his Torracat are reunited with the deceased Stoutland who looked after Torracat when it was a Litten until Ash caught it after Stoutland passed, it was even able to help Torracat learn Fire Blast. Hapu meets with the former Kahuna of Poni Island, her own grandfather Sofu who later tells her that Tapu Fini has accepted her as the next Island Kahuna. Lillie and Gladion didn't see any of their deceased loved ones while in the mist but were expecting to encounter their father Mohn who disappeared years ago in an Ultra wormhole and was assumed to be dead. After Fini lifted the effects of its mist, Lillie and Galdion realized that the reason they didn't see their father was that he must still be alive somewhere (and if you actually never knew, the man named Mohn who helps you on Pokepelago in the Gen. 7 games is, in fact, their father!). Lastly, and most heart-wrenching of all, Mallow is reunited with her mother, who died of illness when she was very young and was also the one who had caught Mallow her Bounsweet. :sad: When she was sick, she repeatedly apologized to Mallow for not being around for her due to her condition; but this eventually frustrated Mallow and caused her to say she hated her mother for not being there for her before running off. This turned out to be their final conversation as her mother died shortly afterward, so the very last thing Mallow ever said to her own mother was that she hated her... sad Jesus Christ, that is absolutely depressing. Sure Mallow was just a little kid at the time and didn't understand what her mother was going through, but it's easy to understand the guilt she felt after realizing how the last words she said to her mothers were of hatred. So of course, you can imagine that Mallow broke down into tears after Tapu Fini reunited her with her mother (even her Tsareena started crying). She was able to apologize for what she said before her death and then thank her for everything she did for her in life, giving her the closure she needed with her mother before Tapu Fini freed them of the effects of its mist.Sad fayse.  I can't even form the words to describe just how emotional that scene was. As this was something we all wish we could happen by reuniting us with our deceased loved ones. I'd give anything just to be able to see my deceased older cousin, who died a few years ago and was pretty much the big brother I never had (and he wasn't the jerky kind of big brother, he was the cool kind of big brother who always looked out for his little brother and helped build his self-confidence). Like I said, being able to meet lost loved ones is something each and every one of us would want to have in our lives; even if it was just to make any sort of apologies or amends, show gratitude and thanking them for everything they did for us, or simply to say goodbye... sad daiz Yeah, Tapu Fini's mist is some very powerful stuff, and it's completely understandable why it can end up destroying a person's mind by reuniting them with deceased loved ones they regret losing. Sniff Sorry if I had to get into detail about such an emotional scene, as it seems so out of place in one of my competitive summaries. But the Sun/Moon anime has done such a phenomenal job at portraying each of the Island Guardians the way they're described in the Pokedex, and Tapu Fini completes the set in one of the most tear-jerking ways possible, by revealing that the reason its mist can destroy someone's mind is by attacking their feelings and memories. But now that all the sentimental stuff is out of the way, let's see how Tapu Fini's powerful mist translates in the competitive metagame.  

Tapu Fini's Water/Fairy typing coupled with its 70/115/130 defenses make it incredibly bulky. On top of all that, its Misty Surge ability allows Tapu Fini to switch into status moves like Toxic, Thunder Wave, Spore, as well as the infamous Scald without worrying about being afflicted with status conditions thanks to Misty Terrain's effect of preventing status moves from being afflicted so long as the Pokemon is on the ground. This effect applies to Tapu Fini's partner as well, they will also be completely unaffected by status moves. However, be aware that this also means any of your opponent's Pokemon that are on the ground will also be immune to any status conditions you try to inflict onto them while Misty Terrain is up. While Tapu Fini has excellent defenses, it also sports some decent offensive presence with that base 95 special attack stat and base 85 speed. But don't try making it into an offensive Pokemon, because the other 3 Tapus can already fill that role. Something to be aware of is that while Tapu Fini can be very defensive, it lacks reliable recovery with its only option being Aqua Ring. Another problem it faces is that, unlike the other Island Guardians, Tapu Fini seriously cannot take out opponents on its own due to it having only decent offensive stats and the Misty Terrain its ability sets up preventing you from afflicting grounded foes with status conditions. Because of this, Tapu Fini is very dependent on its partner for dealing with your foe's Pokemon since it really can't do all that much on its own (so I really wouldn't try using this thing in single battles). Sadly enough, when faced against any of the other Tapus (which you'll be more than likely dealing with in competitive formats), Tapu Fini loses to the rest of its fellow guardians even if they do not have their respective terrains up due to it being weak to both Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu and straight-up losing to Tapu Lele in terms of special offense. But with all that being said about Tapu Fini's shortcomings, it still excels in its role as a bulky tank and has the perfect movepool to function as an ideal support Pokemon. Even though Tapu Fini still primarily relies on its partner to win battles, it has everything it needs to help ensure that they get the job done. 


Here’s my Tapu Fini's summary.
Nature: Calm
Held Item: Wiki Berry
Ability: Misty Terrain 
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 SpAtk 
-Muddy Water / Moonblast
-Nature's Madness / Moonblast
-Heal Pulse
-Protect / Icy Wind / Defog 

Muddy Water provides a way for Tapu Fini to deal some respectable STAB spread damage to both of your opponent's Pokemon. It also has a chance to lower your opponent's Pokemon's accuracy which can especially help if they're running high power moves with low accuracy like Stone Edge, Fire Blast, and Focus Blast. Moonblast is Tapu Fini's best Fairy-type STAB attack, helping it deal with threats like Dragon and Fighting-types offensively. However, given its more defensive nature, I recommend running Nature's Madness on Tapu Fini, as it offers consistent damage on foes. Much like the move Super Fang, Nature's Madness will cut an opponent's HP in half regardless of typing or their defensive stats. This is especially helpful when used against defensive tank Pokemon your opponent is using such as Chansey or Amoonguss, as it weakens them quite significantly and makes them more susceptible to being taken out by Tapu Fini's partner. Heal Pulse is Tapu Fini's most commonly valuable support move, while it lacks effective moves to heal itself, Tapu Fini can still use this move to restore HP to its ally and keep them healthy. It's especially helpful when Fini is paired with a setup sweeper like Mega Scizor by keeping it healthy as it powers up with Swords Dance. Protect shields Tapu Fini from incoming damage and allows it to scout the opponent's moves, stall out any field effects, and retain solid positioning. However, some teams may benefit from Tapu Fini running either Icy Wind or Defog in Protect's place, the former for speed control and the latter to protect your team from entry hazards your opponent has set up. Just remember that Defog will also remove any entry hazards that you've set up on your opponent's side of the field as well. 

Having max EV's in its HP stat and 140 EV's in its physical defense allows Tapu Fini to take less than 50% damage from a Mega Metagross's Iron Head. With 116 EV's in special attack, Tapu Fini's Muddy Water and/or Moonblast can put a significant dent in your foe's Pokemon. A Calm nature works as a dump in Special Defense, and this is more efficient than using Tapu Fini's nature to reach the above benchmarks. A Wiki Berry provides significant healing to a weakened Tapu Fini, lessening the impact of it not being able to learn any real recovery moves. But if you have Tapu Fini is running Icy Wind, a spread of 252 HP / 32 Def / 116 SpA / 92 SpD / 16 Spe and a Bold nature retains the overall same calculations. 


*This is my original Tapu Fini set. I honestly never used it a lot and just a couple times, but it worked well the times I did use it. But the main reason why I didn't use it often is that I was still figuring out Tapu Fini's overall niche and how it isn't as offensive as the other Island Guardians. So don't let my negligence on using this other set deterring you from trying it out for yourself. As I said before, it did end up working well the times I did use it.  


Here’s my other Tapu Fini's summary.
Nature: Timid
Held Item: Leftovers
Ability: Misty Terrain 
EVs: 252 HP / 6 SpAtk / 252 Spe
-Brine
-Nature's Madness
-Taunt
-Defog / Calm Mind

This set takes advantage of Tapu Fini's wide variety of various support moves. Nature's Madness is an interesting move unique only to the Island Guardians. It essentially acts like Super Fang and halves an opponent's Pokemon HP. A move that halves the HP of an opponent's Pokemon, even when they're super defensive, is always a good and viable option. Brine is an excellent option to use in conjunction with Nature's Madness as it does twice as much damage when the opponent's Pokemon's HP is half or less, which is good when paired with a move that literally halves an opponent's Pokemon's HP! Taunt is also a good move option that pairs well with Nature's Madness as they can also be used in conjunction to break down a lot of walls such as Chansey and Skarmory. As not only will they be unable to protect or heal themselves but will also be completely vulnerable to any attack Fini's partner deals to them now that their bulk has been severely reduced thanks to Nature's Madness halving their HP. Lastly, Defog helps Tapu Fini get rid of any entry hazards your opponent has set up. Calm Mind is an alternate option as it helps boost Tapu Fini's Special Attack and Special Defense, allowing it to set up on weak attackers.

Since Tapu Fini has already amazing defenses, adding 252 EVs to HP amps up its bulk. Due to the lack of recovery, 252 speed EVs allow Tapu Fini to outspeed everything up to base 85 Speed Pokemon. Misty Terrain protects Tapu Fini from harmful status conditions which expands its longevity in conjunction with Leftovers. 


Of course Tapu Fini can run a variety of other moves. Here are some suggestions: 
-If you're running Nature's Madness, you can also have Tapu Fini hold its signature Z-Crystal, Tapunium-Z, which enables it to hit foes super hard with its signature Z-Move, Guardian of Alola (the animation of which looks absolutely amazing)! This Z-move is actually very useful as it removes up to 75% of the opponent's Pokemon's HP, this is especially good when it is used against a defensive tank and weakens it just enough so that Tapu Fini's partner can finish them off. This is a viable move and strategy that you can always consider running on any one of the Tapus.  
-Moonblast is Tapu Fini's main STAB. So that's always an option to run. 
-Dazzling Gleam is an alternative Fairy STAB option so Tapu Fini can better deal spread damage to both of your opponent's Pokemon in double battles. Though never run this move if your Tapu Fini is also running Muddy Water as both moves can easily be walled by Wide Guard. 
-Hydro Pump is a powerful Water-type STAB option Tapu Fini has available that helps compensate for its only decent special attack stat. Though be aware of its low accuracy. You're generally better off going with the combo of Nature's Madness and Brine that I use on one of my sets as it gives you more reliable results. 
-Scald can be used to catch any non-grounded Pokemon such as Skarmory, Mandibuzz, Celesteela, as well as all the other Tapus and inflict them with burns. 
-Knock Off is always a good utility move overall, and one Tapu Fini can always use to remove items from your opponent's Pokemon. Though frankly there are lots of other Pokemon that can do this job better than a support Pokemon could.
-Haze is another option to remove pre-existing stat boosts from set-up Pokemon like Clefable, Mega Scizor, or Dragonite.
-Iron Defense is a good option to raise and patch up Tapu Fini's lower physical defense that opponents will try to exploit (base 115 physical defense is still relatively high, but it's lower than its base 130 special defense stat so you should expect that your opponent will target it with what physical attacks they have).
-Tailwind is an excellent support option as it not only raises Tapu Fini's speed but also the speed of the rest of its teammates for a couple of turns
-Refresh along with Normalium-Z has the same Z-Move effect as Haze, but this allows Tapu Fini to cure itself of status; however, it will rarely get hit by a status move because of Misty Terrain.
-Swagger is actually an excellent team support option for Tapu Fini as it can sharply boost the physical attack of its partner without confusing them thanks to Misty Terrain. Just be advised that this strategy will only work on Pokemon that are on the ground and feel the effect of the terrain. 
-More offensive Tapu Fini sets with Life Orb or Choice Specs are possible, but these are generally over-shined by other offensive Fairy-types such as Primarina and fellow Tapus Koko and Lele. You really shouldn't try to be making Fini offensive when there are stronger Pokemon that can fulfill that role and Fini can provide support to. 
-Mist with Icium-Z gives Tapu Fini one chance to fully restore its health with Z-Mist (while simultaneously preventing it from having its stats lowered.
-Waterium-Z and Hydro Pump can be run on more offensive Tapu Fini sets. When paired with Nature's Madness, Tapu Fini's Hydro Vortex can blast through major defensive Pokemon together, such as Porygon2 and Cresselia. It also notably OHKO's Tapu Koko.


Do you have your own Tapu Fini moveset and strategy? Comment below with your moveset!

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qsx13579's avatar
How does this thing have Pokerus?