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Pinsir remains quite a strong Bug-type Pokemon despite lagging behind many other Pokemon with the same typing.
Any trainer who looks up the Great League Rankings on PvPoke is going to have to scroll down a fair amount before they find Pinsir. Escavilier, Heracross, and even Beedril outperform this Bug-type from Kanto. Ignoring this, though, Pinsir actually has a decent stat spread. 238 Attack is rather strong by Great League standards. The Pokemon's moveset could definitely use some improvements, but it still does quite decent damage across the board.
Which moves should this Kanto Bug-type Pokemon be running?
Oddly enough, the quick move that Pinsir wants to run is actually its weakest move. While Rock Smash and Bug Bite are certainly more powerful, they cannot compete with the speed of Fury Cutter (0.4 seconds). And although it has 3 base power, it ends up doing 9 DPS and, more importantly, charges 15 EPS.
The charge move discussion for Pinsir definitely gets interesting. However, one of the slots should definitely go to X-Scissor. This is Pinsir’s most reliable tool, since it has STAB. Seeing as it also only needs 45 energy to use (35 in PvP), it becomes a great shield baiter too.
Additionally, Pinsir should also run a Fighting-type charge move and this decision is usually worth some debate. The two options are Close Combat and Superpower.
Sadly, both moves debuff Pinsir. Close Combat lowers its defense, whereas Superpower debuffs both Attack and Defense. The tradeoff is that, in PvE, Superpower only needs half of the energy bar, and Close Combat needs the whole thing.
The important thing to remember, though, is that Pinsir will not be doing much in PvE and Raids from the Fighting-type side. Unless a trainer specifically uses Rock Smash as a quick move, Pinsir will always lag behind Machamp, Conkeldurr, and most of the other strong Fighting-types.
Therefore, it’s better to select the second charge move based on PvP performance. In this mode, Superpower uses up to 40 energy, and Close Combat uses 45. However, given the Attack debuff from Superpower, Close Combat is almost always the better option.
Suppose that Pinsir needs a KO. One strategy a trainer can use is to overfarm energy so that it can use two moves in a row. This makes the debuffs matter less, since Pinsir can get a KO and swap out.
Using this strategy, Pinsir can likely pick up a KO with two Close Combats on many threats, since the Defense debuff doesn’t matter if the opposing Pokemon dies before it can attack. With Superpower, though, it likely won’t pick up KOs on bulky Pokemon since Pinsir’s Attack is also being lowered at the same time. This is the best moveset for Pinsir.
