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Pokemon GO data miners are back with a bang as they provide crucial intel about the upcoming Froakie Community Day event. While it has nothing to do with Froakie itself, what they revealed has made a massive splash in the Pokemon GO PvP community. The critter in the frame is Greninja. Niantic is going to give Water Shuriken to this beast. It will make quite a stir, even outpacing Swampert with its Mud Shot and Hydro Cannon madness.
Besides Water Shuriken Greninja, we also have information about two other upcoming moves to the game. They are Geomancy and Oblivion Wing. These will be given to Xerneas and Yveltal, but we will cover them in another article.
In this article, our entire focus is on Greninja and its exclusive move Water Shuriken. This Pocket Monster has gone under the radar far too many times, but now it truly deserves our undivided attention.
Is Water Shuriken a good move for Greninja in Pokemon GO PvP?
Originating from the region of Kalos, Water Shuriken will be the Community Day exclusive move for Greninja. The stats for this move will make this critter one of the most spammy beasts available in the entire game.
If you frequent the GO Battle League in Pokemon GO, you must have felt frustrated while going up against a Swampert with its annoying Mud Shot and Hydro Cannon spam. Well, brace yourselves, as Water Shuriken will be an even faster Charged move spamming menace.
Greninja is a Dark-type and Water-type Pocket Monster, which gives a wide array of elemental typing coverage. Furthermore, the Battle Bond distinct Ash-Greninja may appear sometime in the future, which gives you another reason to be interested in this critter.
Greninja’s attributes and statistics in Pokemon GO PvP
This critter will have a max CP of 3,001 at level 50 with the following basic stats:
- Attack: 223
- Defense: 152
- Stamina: 176
Taking these stats into consideration, the Water Shuriken and Hydro Cannon combination, paired with Night Slash, is an amazing inclusion in any roster.
Water Shuriken Greninja’s performance in the Open Great League of Pokemon GO
Water Shuriken, with 2 Damage Per Turn (DPT) and 4.66 Energy Per Turn (EPT), surpasses other popular Fast moves like Mud Shot and Thunder Shock, 1.5 and 4.5 DPT, respectively.
That is because this move allows Greninja to reach multiple Hydro Cannons in a very short period of time, thanks to its insanely efficient energy generation. When compared to its other Fast moves, both Bubble and Feint Attack get blown out of the water by Water Shuriken.
If you look at the stats of Greninja mentioned above, you will understand that this critter is sort of a glass cannon in the competitive scene. This means that if you want to perform well with this monster, you must lean heavily on shield advantages. What do we mean by shield advantage?
Greninja’s usefulness increases manifold if you manage to save both shields for this creature. So, you must pair it with tanky Pocket Monsters like Lickitung, Bastiodon, or Defense Deoxys.
These bulky critters will be able to chip down on the enemies’ health. If you play wisely, you can bait out a shield from your opponent, landing you on a shield advantage.
With shields saved up, Greninja can efficiently sweep whatever remains of your opponent’s team. Great League staples like Alolan Sandslash, Umbreon, Galarian Stunfisk, and the like cannot deal with Greninja’s spam-ham.
You might want to be wary of the following moves:
- Counter
- Dragon Breath
- Charm
- Vine Whip
- Razor Leaf
Critters that use these moves can easily eat through Greninja. Shield advantage becomes moot as you cannot use shields against Fast moves. The likes of Altaria and Medicham will counter you hard, and so will the newly added Counter Poliwrath.
Water Shuriken Greninja’s performance in the Open Ultra League of Pokemon GO
Greninja has a lesser win rate in the Ultra League of Pokemon GO. As critters are known to have a significant HP buff in the Ultra League, it will be difficult to see Greninja performing well in Pokemon GO’s Open Ultra League.
Registeels are very prevalent in the Ultra League, and this monster has the potential to “One Hit KnockOut” (OHKO) Greninja under any circumstance! One connection with Zap Cannon or Focus Blast and Greninja will get obliterated.
Furthermore, Virizion and Cobalion are direct threats to Greninja’s viability in the Ultra League. These two monsters can keep up with the Hydro Cannon spam with their own spammy counter, Sacred Sword.
Like Registeel, Virizion and Cobalion are very popular in this format of the Battle League, and with Virizion having the ability to resist everything that Greninja has to throw at it, the former can easily shred through your Greninja.
Greninja’s weaknesses in Pokemon GO PvP
Greninja will want to go back into its Poke Ball if it faces the following critters:
- Virizion
- Cobalion
- Registeel
- Altaria
- Poliwrath (with Counter)
- Venusaur
- Victreebel
- Leafeon
- Whimsicott
If you manage your shields and energy efficiently, you can beat these matchups, even though they prove to be hard counters.
(Datamine Alert: All the information you read from here onwards has been acquired through data-mined sources. While we must wait for Niantic to make an official announcement, we are hopeful that our speculations will not stray far from the real deal. Niantic is known to make changes to data-mined stats before release. So, we advise you to take it with a grain of salt.)
