Competitive Guide: Dramsama

[Lord Windos]

As much as it pains me to do this, the time has come to do the Competitve Guide of the Week, featuring Dramsama. Please, if the devs are reading this, have mercy on Dramsama, and restore it to its once beautiful state!



BASE STATES (Normal)

HP: 80                   S.ATK: 105

ATK: 25                 S.DEF: 65

DEF: 70                 SPD: 95

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, the old gang that made this game had an idea. ‘Let’s make a pokemon based on a character from Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star, and make it the best in the world!’ So it was done, and we had Dramsama. Boasting a massive 135 HP, rock solid Defense, combined with its typing, left it a bulky nightmare with few weaknesses. Granted, those few were going to hurt it a lot, as Dark types where quite prevalent in both the meta and base game, but it had ways to deal with those threats in an expedient manner.

Its movepool, while not the most expansive in the game, had just enough in it to do its job. When your ability is Illusion, you know what it is: screwing with the head of the opponent as much as possible. With access to Will-o-wisp, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray, etc. it could status an opponent who is not expecting it, or launch a surprise attack that will leave them confused and paranoid. Throw in U-turn, and you have an effective scout, dishing out damage before beating a safe retreat.

The most terrifying thing about it, though, was one of its signature moves: Transform. Imagine a pokemon with 135 health suddenly transform into, say, Nucleon? Or Yatagaryu? Perhaps even Actan and Lanthan themselves! The ability to become any Pokemon it wants is as powerful as it is horrifying, leaving enemies team not only worried about whether or not the opponent they are facing is really who they are, but could at any given moment suddenly engage in a literal mirror match. All in all, Dramsama was like a new and improved Zoroark, one that could actually do the role it was intended for and beyond. What more could teams want?

Well, the great devs must have found Dramsama wanting, for they brought back its Mega form from the aether, granting us a Pokémon that could have easily been one of the top tier threats in the meta!

Key words: Could of. What they did later, in order to ‘balance’ it and its Megavolution, was severely cut its HP and Defense, leaving it in exactly the same situation as its pseudo forefather Zoroark: a pretender made of glass. Before, it could have either lead a team to kick off the mind games, or switch in after a team mate bits it to get a wicked sneak attack. Even if it got hit, and its Illusion got scrapped, it could weather a blow and either retaliate, or run away to fight another day. Now it will die to just about any hit, completely undermining its ability. Subsequently, Transform got nerfed too, because now if you use it, you’ll just become an inferior copy of who you are facing, which is not good at all, as the enemy will know exactly what their facing…

While not the end of Dramsama’s world, as it is still just as fast and powerful as last time, because of the nerf to its bulk, it is almost unusable in the higher tiers of the meta, relegating it to obscurity for such a promising Pokémon. With that said, I cannot honestly recommend using it at the moment, which hurts to say. Still, while no longer as viable as it once was, it can be a force to be reckoned with; just not one that can last for any real length of time.

MOVESETS

I’m the Master of Disguise~! (U-turn Set)

Psyshock/Shadow Ball

Focus Blast/Hidden Power (Fight)

Will-O-Wisp/Thunder Wave/Toxic/Taunt

U-turn

Items: Choice Scarf/Focus Sash

Nature: Naïve or Hasty

EV’s: 252 S.ATK, 252 SPD

One of two sets you’ll see a Dramsama run, on the chance occasion you see one. If there is one good thing to be said about the HP/DEF nerf, it at least takes away the problem on where to put the EVs at. Your main attacks and STABs, Psyshock and Shadow Ball, serve different purposes. With Psyshock, you have a way of dealing with Poison types, such as Chimiconda or Haagross, while Shadow ball erases Antarki, and Psychic types like Espeon. Focus Blast is there to get rid of the Steel and Dark hybrids that run amok, but Hidden Power fight is also an option, if you don’t want to take your chances with the 70% accuracy. What you want to run next is entirely up to preference, since each of the options for the third moveslot are viable, but I’d recommend Will-O-Wisp. It cuts the effectiveness of their Physical sweeper’s moves, giving you a chance to survive if they ruffle your feathers a bit too much. U-turn is there to scout out the situation, and to capitalize on their weakness once you hit them with your poison of choice. Not a bad set, overall, but if you get caught out by the enemy before you get a chance to work its fiendish charms, its goose is cooked, so to speak.

Strange, Isn’t It? (Transform Set)

Transform

U-turn

Focus Blast

Taunt

Item: Choice Scarf or Focus Sash

Nature: Timid

EV’s: 252 SPD, 252 HP

The other set you will see on the basic Dramsama. With Transform, it can become either become the perfect revenge killer to whatever is ailing your team, or could be an opportunity for you to add whichever ‘mon you want to your party as needed. Running Max Speed EV’s and wearing a Choice Scarf will help get off the Transform first, but it can be pulled off without it, albeit with much more risk. At least you will not be moved locked, at any rate. It should be noted that once you have transformed, you won’t be move locked right away; only after you choose a new move will you have to commit, so to speak. Also keep in mind the stat boost/decrease a target has before dressing for rehearsal, as it could significantly make you transformation better or worse. If you find yourself in an unfavorable situation, though, or want to keep fishing for a better Transform target, U-turn will get you out of the fray quickly. Watch out for priority at any rate, however, as it might benefit you more if you just switch out. It is also there is you get Taunted before getting of the Transformation, as well as Focus Blast, if you facing a Dark type threat and just want to nip it in the bud while you still can. Later on, you can choose to switch back in and restart the whole process again, since you de-Transform when you switch, something opponents will hardly appreciate. Taunt can be used if you have a target you don’t want to Transform into, but want to deny them of their utility moves.

For the set as a whole, it works much better against Heavy Offensive teams, as you have access to power ‘mon to transform and Revenge Kill with, and the low PP it has for each move in its Transformed movepool limits what it can do. Try not to send it against a Tanky or Bulky Pokemon, as they long outlast you due to Dramsama running out of PP for its move(s) or more likely, kill you dead for your blunder.

M-Dramsama





BASE STATS

HP: 80                   S.ATK: 145

ATK: 35                 S.DEF: 85

DEF: 80                 SPD: 120

Think that I forgot about its M-evolution? Nope, just saving it for its own section, because unlike its base Form, this one is kinda usable. It completely loses all sense of its original purpose just to become another speedy special attacker, but hey, better than nothing, right? Bitterness aside, its Mega Evolution does give it an encore performance, so let us get into it. Besides an absolutely pitiful ATK increase, it does regain some of its bulk back in the form of its Defenses, letting it survive maybe one more hit than it used to. Given its normal fragility, this is a very good thing indeed! It also gains another ability that has some rather interesting effects on what role it plays: Bad Dreams.

Originally found on only Darkrai, now M-Dramsama gets to prance around on stage with this ability. With Hypnosis and it high speed, it can quickly put a target to sleep, then wear it down with a combination of Bad Dream’s effect and some status, or use its other dream type moves (If you can call them that) to really lay on the hurt. It is also useful against Rest sets, as the 1/8 HP drain per turn, combined with incoming damage from M-Dramsama, really undermine the comfort and safety of their recovery.

Overall, the Harlequin of a Pokemon, while not regaining any of its lost bulk that made is so good in the first place, gets more than enough SPD and S.Atk to do something of worth on the battle field, and a new ability that can really put you opponents in between a Rock Tomb and Hard Stone, so to speak.

MOVESETS

I’m going to make your last moments FABULOUS (S.Atk Sweeper)

Focus Blast/Hidden Power (Fight)

Psyshock/Shadow Ball

Taunt/Will-O-Wisp/Recover


Calm Mind/Double Team/Recover

Item: Dramsamanite

Nature: Timid or Modest

EV’s: 252 S.STK, 252 SPD

Essentially the same set that base Dramsama uses, but with a few edits to its script. Focus Blast/Hidden Power are self-explanatory, as are Psyshock and Shadow Ball. What is different is, though is that is running far fewer Status aliments, and has even picked up recovery in the form of, uh, well… Recover. The reason behind this is that despite gaining such a massive speed boost, the few things can outspeed it, like Yatagaryu, M-Archilles, both Inflagetahs, Speed Boost Tracton etc. would kill it before it could hobble them with Paralysis or Toxic. Will-O-Wisps remain on the virtue of crippling the slower Physical oriented Pokémon, such as M-Baariette or Winotinger, hampering Phys. Walls such as Lathan or Metalynx, and increases its overall survivability in general. Taunt is still useful no matter what form your running, so it earns a spot as well. Recover is interesting, as while it might not get too much use out of it right away, applying either a burn to an enemy ‘mon or Buffing yourself with CM or DT (Assuming DT is even legal in the new comp scene) only increases its potential for keeping you alive. This is assuming you survive a hit, of course, so it might be better off without it in the short run.

This Is all a Bad Dream… AND YOU’RE NEVER WAKING UP! (Sleep Punisher)

Hypnosis

Dream Eater/Nightmare

Calm Mind

Focus Blast/Shadow Ball/Psyshock/Substitute

Item: Dramsamanite

Nature: Modest or Timid

EV’s: 252 DEF, 200 SPD, 56 S.ATK ; 252 HP, 200 SPD, 56 S.ATK

This moveset is designed to be literally a nightmare to play against, especially with entry hazards about. Whether another team put them to sleep, you did with Hypnosis, or they just Rested, things will quickly become unpleasant as Bad Dreams kicks in, robbing them of 1/8 of their health per turn. From there, you have many option to give them even more bedsores. Dream Eater is a good option, as not only is it M-Dramsama’s most powerful STAB available, but it also acts excellent recovery as well. You could, however, opt out of that, and instead run Nightmare, which combined with Bad Dreams drains a whopping 5/16 of their HP per round, which is downright ruinous. Regardless of which move is chosen, after the target is safely asleep, you can begin boosting yourself with Calm Mind to shore up you Defenses, while bolstering its weaker S.Atk. Then it’s a matter of what move you want to use move you want to finish them off with. Focus Blast, with enough CM’s behind it, is disgusting, while Shadow Ball is more reliable, and it punishes any Ghost that switches in. Psyshock is another option, if you didn’t run Dream Eater, but then there is Substitute, which can safely hide you while you boost and attack to your hearts content.

If you’re going with Substitute, though, there are some thing to consider. One, I recommend using Dream Eater, both to recovery and so that it can have something to fight back with. Two, it may also be worth it to replace Calm Mind with an attacking move while running Substitute, as while you will have no way of shoring yourself up outside a Baton Passer, you could at least have something to defend yourself from Taunters.

OTHER MOVES

Trick Room: If you are running an especially slow team, or have a couple of ‘mon that would appreciate the reversed Speed order (Oh Beliaddon~!), this is definitely a must have. Unfortunately, so is Focus Sash, but thems the breaks. There is also the fact that it is not that good of a Trick Room user (anymore…), but the option is there.

Sliver Wind: Redundant coverage move, but since it has a chance to increase you stats, you could gamble on it…

Psychic: A more power STAB, if you don’t care about hitting both Defenses.

Dark Pulse: Kills Ghost and other Psychic types just as easily as Shadow Ball, but is not nulled by Normal type. No STAB, sadly.

Pain Split: Another form of recovery that takes a bite out of tankier opponents, but gets less useful as their foe’s HP decreases.

Swagger/Confuse Ray: Always useful for you and annoying to the opposition, when combine with Paralysis, you get the dreaded Parafusion combo going!

Skill Swap: Not even remotely reliable, but has the potential to either get great gain for you, or completely screw over your enemy.

Partners for Dramsama

For the base and Mega form, Hazard users and cleaners, full stop. Anything that can distract or hobble the opponent before it even get the chance to face the pretender is a good thing. Laissure and Beliaddon come to mind, since they are powerful Pokémon that can run Stealth Rocks. If it is running Trick Room, especially Beliaddon. Sticky Web Siekemeter get a mention as well, for it helps deal with all the problem types that Dramsama struggle with. Special Wall breakers, like M-Metalynx or M-Baariette, make it easier to come in for it to attack in general, while heavy hitters like Nucleon, Tracton, Harptera, and Lathan can clear out Walls and Bulky ‘mons that impede a Transform set from preforming. Baton Passes from Luxelong, Stenowatt, or Ratfitti can also make its life a lot easier, as those boost go a long way in keeping it in the game.
Having anything that can put foes to sleep greatly benefits an M-Dramsama, as it can switch in and do its black magic much quicker.

Counters for Dramsama

While fast, it is not the fastest target on the block. Inflagetah, Tracton, Yatagaryu, M-Archilles, and Nucleon will all outspeed it and spell its doom unless your running Choice Scarf, which just forces you to switch anyway one they send in something that resist your locked move. It absolutely hates entry hazards, as if its doing its job remotely well, it will be constantly shuffling into and out of its party. Paralysis, while less of an issue with it than most other Pokémon, will break its legs if gets it one while running a Choice Scarf. Priority especially sucks for it, as it overrides one of the only things left for it. That mean M-Elextruco running Aqua Jet, a Flame Impact from Inflagetah, or a Shadow Sneak from M-Sableye, Chainite, or Navighast just will make it bite the dust. For Transformation sets, any team that is not especially offensive, like Tank or Stall teams, really let the air out of it, as it cannot take down those bulky Pokemon in time before it starts to Struggle. Its worst enemies, though, are the ones that prevent it from switching out at all. Shadow Tag Chainite is the one you are most likely going to run into, and it will end Dramsama’s acting career if given even half a chance. Since it is immune to 2 of its moves on any given moveset, and only takes neutral damage from a Shadow Ball, it’s most likely curtains for it, unless you decided to use U-turn before it switched in. For M-Dramsama, Misty Field from Winotinger or a Safeguard make a mockery of its Sleep set, keeping it out of the action until they wear off. Finally, anything that slows it down also is bad for it, as it is likely to force it out before it can ever read its first lines.

Summary

Dramsama, at its core, was a great Pokémon brought low by external events. Nerfs to its bulk have left its base form in dire straights. While it can still function as a Pivot or a sneaky troll, it can all be too easily removed by the enemy team, and requires careful team planning to keep the trainer from automatically defaulting to a 5 v 6. The Transform set has great potential as a prime Revenge Killer, but it can be all too easily stonewalled by a tank, or just get outplayed by the enemy trainer, who know exactly what you are running, and how to presumably counter it. Overall, it’s not worth it most of the time to run Dramsama, unless you already worked out some serious team synergy between it and its mates.
M-Dramsama, on the other hand, is moderately better than plain old Dramsama, if only by virtue of being one much faster and having somewhat better Defenses. It can sweep with the right set up, but the fact of the matter is that other Special Sweepers can do that too, and bring more to the table than it can, besides personal taste. The one moveset that gives it a solid niche, its Sleep set, is perhaps its saving grace, but unless you’re on top of your mind games, it can and will fail you at the worst of times.

In the end, while M-Dramsama is an improvement on its base form, it is only because they gutted the old form so badly that any increase on the Mega makes its incredible by comparison. Honestly, if they just changed its HA to Bad Dreams, and reverted all changes to it, even at the cost of its Mega Evolution, if would be a whole lost more viable in the competitive arena. It would open it to all new kinds of sets, and just make things better for it in general. While the game is constantly being updated and tweaked with for the better, some of those changes are just plain bad. We have to roll with the punches, though, and make do with what we got sometimes…

[font=Calibri]Next Week: Change of Plans. Its time for Winotinger to Moonshine~!font]

[Dragonstrike]

I found it to be a good read. I hadn't really thought about how crazy powerful Dramsama used to be, as it was nerfed before I'd even considered breeding some Masking. It's a shame it isn't able to explore the different uses of Illusion that it used to be able to...

Also, as a fun fact, for those of you who didn't know, Dramsama's mega used to have Illusion as its ability, which is laughably redundant on the turn you mega evolve because your opponent knows exactly what you're using due to breaking the illusion via the mega animation

[Spiritmon]

And when i think Dramsama could be a really powerfull creature, now the devs do that. They could atleast increased a little more the defences, both Defence and Sp. Defence and HP, even if was must reduct the SP. Attack a little (to 95 or 96 i think). That way, with would be a good tank and still some hurt in the enemy. That last update it was not good. To choose the old base Dramsama or the new weak base Dramasama with a balanced mega, i prefer thousands of times the old base Drasama with strong base stats. He don't have mega, but atleast he could survive even more.

[tarutaru]

Hey, I just checked with my Dramsama I used in the main story so I'm not sure, but I think the stats of normal Dramsama is fixed. If so, Trick Room set will be viable once again, as I think to be one of the best set for them. Not sure about Mega form, though......
Before and after nerf is completely different Pokemon, and of course I prefer the former one, that I even don't feel to discuss the latter one. It's just......like a glitch.

[Lord Windos]

Hey, I just checked with my Dramsama I used in the main story so I'm not sure, but I think the stats of normal Dramsama is fixed. If so, Trick Room set will be viable once again, as I think to be one of the best set for them. Not sure about Mega form, though......
Before and after nerf is completely different Pokemon, and of course I prefer the former one, that I even don't feel to discuss the latter one. It's just......like a glitch.

Wait, are you telling me it has been un-nerfed?! Don't get my hopes up if it is not.... cause that would be mean...

If its true, then I have some revision to do in the future, and I will be happy to make them~!

[tarutaru]

Hey, I just checked with my Dramsama I used in the main story so I'm not sure, but I think the stats of normal Dramsama is fixed. If so, Trick Room set will be viable once again, as I think to be one of the best set for them. Not sure about Mega form, though......
Before and after nerf is completely different Pokemon, and of course I prefer the former one, that I even don't feel to discuss the latter one. It's just......like a glitch.

Wait, are you telling me it has been un-nerfed?! Don't get my hopes up if it is not.... cause that would be mean...

If its true, then I have some revision to do in the future, and I will be happy to make them~!

I'm not sure, as I only checked with ones I already have. It's HP is 232 with 27IV and 32EV. Base stat of that would be somewhere about 120, far more than nerfed ones. However, I said I'm not sure as I've not yet breeded yet or caught new one, which might be nerfed.

[Lord Windos]

Maybe they only nerfed future Dramsama's , not retroactively? That would be a weird case of elitism: The old users get to keep their good Dramsama's, while new trainers would have to settle for the nerfed one. That sucks!

[Reeveelution]

Im still on my road trip, but have you not known of the 1.0.3 update? This update brings back balancing jssues with dramsama. I hope you like what you see~

[senwood]

I noticed that with Transform Dramsama, the HP value does not change after transformation. Does this means Transform in Uranium does not copy opponent's stat?

[Dragonstrike]

I noticed that with Transform Dramsama, the HP value does not change after transformation. Does this means Transform in Uranium does not copy opponent's stat?

Transformations never copy enemy HP, and always keep the user's original HP values.  All other stats are perfectly mirrored though, including boosts.

And since I'm here, I'd also like to mention a minor mechanical issue with shinies and Illusion: Illusion copies the target pokemon's sprite, but it does not disguise if Dramsama is shiny or not to match the target it's disguised as.  This means a shiny Dramsama disguised as a non-shiny and vice versa completely blows its cover atm because of that red Shiny Star.  Hopefully that gets remedied in the future.  Until then though, Dramsama users should take that into account when building their teams.