Greninja Movesets and Best Builds

This is a guide to movesets and best builds for using Greninja in competitive play for the games Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, Tera Type, and Held Items to use with Greninja, as well as its strengths and weaknesses.

Greninja - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Moveset for Ranked Battle	Tera Raid Build

Greninja Base Stats, Type, Ability and Weakness

Blueberry #217		Type
Greninja
		Abilities
		Torrent Protean (Hidden)
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Greninja

What are Natures?

Singles Movesets for Greninja

Mixed Attacker Greninja Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Naive (+Spe, -Sp. Def)
EV Spread	20 Atk / 236 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Final Stat Values	147 HP / 118 Atk / 87 Def / 153 Sp. Atk / 81 Sp. Def / 191 Spe
Ability	Protean
Tera Type
Held Item	Life Orb
Moveset	・ Hydro Pump ・ Ice Beam ・ Dark Pulse ・ Low Kick

Ice Beam and Dark Pulse are this set's most consistent Moves and thus will be used more often. Hydro Pump is powerful, however, it is not very accurate, so it should be used with caution.

20 Attack EVs and Low Kick give Greninja a way to KO Kingambit and Tyranitar with ease. The rest of the offensive EVs are put into Special Attack, with a full 252 EVs dedicated to Speed.

If Greninja has been Intimidated and is at -1 Attack, Low Kick will still KO Max HP Tyranitar and will do 83-98% to Kingambit.

Tera Poison gives it resistance to Grass and Fighting-type Moves, however, Greninja should Terastallize only when it absolutely has to because defensively Terastallizing a Pokemon with poor defenses may not always be the best choice in a match.

Other Viable Moves

Key Damage Calculations

The following calculations have already taken Protean's STAB into account.

Damage Dealt by Greninja
85 HP｜105 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 4 HP Item: Rocky Helmet	Hydro Pump 198 ~ 234 (123.7 ~ 146.2%) Guaranteed OHKO
114 HP｜80 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP, 4 Sp. Def Item: Rocky Helmet	Ice Beam 198 ~ 237 (89.5 ~ 107.2%) 43.8% Chance to OHKO
108 HP｜72 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP / 4 Sp. Def Item: Sitrus Berry	Ice Beam 218 ~ 260 (101.3 ~ 120.9%) Guaranteed OHKO
92 HP｜90 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 4 HP Item: Life Orb	Ice Beam 182 ~ 218 (108.9~ 130.5%) Guaranteed OHKO
87 HP｜91 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 240 HP / 68 Sp. Def Item: Choice Specs	Dark Pulse 164 ~ 195 (100.6 ~ 119.6%) Guaranteed OHKO
100 HP｜110 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP Item: Weakness Policy	Low Kick 317 ~ 380 (153.1 ~ 183.5%) Guaranteed OHKO
100 HP｜110 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP Item: Weakness Policy	(-1 Attack because of Intimidate) Low Kick 218 ~ 255 (105.3 ~ 123.1%) Guaranteed OHKO
100 HP｜120 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP Item: Safety Goggles	Low Kick 255 ~ 302 (123.1 ~ 145.8%) Guaranteed OHKO
100 HP｜120 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP Item: Safety Goggles	(-1 Attack because of Intimidate) Low Kick 172 ~ 203 (83 ~ 98%) Guaranteed 2-Hit KO

Focus Sash Greninja Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EV Spread	Def 4 / Sp. Atk 252 / Spe 252
Final Stat Values	HP 147 / Def 88 / Sp. Atk 155 / Sp. Def 91 / Spe 191
Ability	Protean
Tera Type
Held Item	Focus Sash
Moveset	・ Surf ・ Ice Beam ・ Sludge Wave ・ U-turn

Summary

Wide movepool and great offensive stats. Has multiple builds, making it harder to counter in preview. Protean syntergizes really well with a Stellar Tera.

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Protean	Focus Sash

The Ability chosen for this build is Protean. This changes Greninja's type to the first move it uses in battle.

The item chosen for this build is a Focus Sash. This guarantees Greninja to survive a single attack and get one move off.

Moves Breakdown

Surf is its best Water-type STAB move that has no downsides. It also gets rid of Greninja's bad defensive Dark-type with Protean.

Ice Beam is its main offensive coverage move that hits a wide range of Pokemon for super-effective damage.

Sludge Wave is its main defensive coverage move that is good offensively, but its main use is to change Greninja into the great defensive type of Poison.

U-Turn lets Greninja pivot into one of its allies while also doing a decent amount of chip damage in the process. Try not to make this the first move used due to how bad Bug's defensive typing is.

Best Tera Type: Stellar

Stellar Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

Stellar is the best Tera Type for this build because it will boost the damage of whatever move Greninja chooses to use without having to commit to a single Tera Type.

Note that even if it's a Stellar Type, it keeps the defensive properties of whatever type it changes into via Protean.

Best Grass Type Pokemon

EV Spread and Nature

A full 252 EVs are placed in Greninja's Sp. Atk and Speed to make it hit as hard and fast as possible. The extra 4 EVs are put into its Defense to help round out its bulk.

A TImid nature is preferred to help Greninja outspeed as many Pokemon as possible.

Other Viable Moves

Doubles Movesets for Greninja

Mixed Attacker Greninja Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Naive (+Spe, -Sp. Def)
EV Spread	20 Atk / 236 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Final Stat Values	147 HP / 118 Atk / 87 Def / 153 Sp. Atk / 81 Sp. Def / 191 Spe
Ability	Protean
Tera Type
Held Item	Life Orb
Moveset	・ Ice Beam ・ Rock Slide ・ Low Kick ・ Protect

Greninja is very customizable and can be equipped with Moves that can deal with specific threats depending on what the team needs.

This Greninja set relies on fast Ice Beam and fast Rock Slide as its main means of dealing damage. With Rock Slide, Greninja is able to fish for flinches as well as KO the likes of Talonflame and Volcarona. Ice Beam allows it to KO Hydreigon and Amoonguss.

20 Attack EVs and Low Kick give Greninja a way to KO Kingambit and Tyranitar with ease. The rest of the offensive EVs are put into Special Attack, with a full 252 EVs dedicated to Speed.

If Greninja has been Intimidated and is at -1 Attack, Low Kick will still KO Max HP Tyranitar and will do 83-98% to Kingambit.

Protect can save Greninja for a turn while a teammate switches in to help it against its counters.

Tera Poison gives it resistance to Grass and Fighting-type Moves, however, Greninja should Terastallize only when it absolutely has to because defensively Terastallizing a Pokemon with poor defenses may not always be the best choice in a match.

Other Viable Moves

Key Damage Calculations

Damage Dealt by Greninja
85 HP｜65 Def Defensive EV Investment: 4 HP Item: Rocky Helmet	Rock Slide 224 ~ 270 (140 ~ 168.7%) Guaranteed OHKO
114 HP｜80 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 4 Sp. Def Item: Rocky Helmet	Ice Beam 164 ~ 195 (101.2 ~ 120.3%) Guaranteed OHKO
92 HP｜90 Sp. Def Defensive EV Investment: 4 HP Item: Life Orb	Ice Beam 187 ~ 221 (111.3 ~ 131.5%) Guaranteed OHKO
100 HP｜110 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP Item: Weakness Policy	Low Kick 317 ~ 380 (153.1 ~ 183.5%) Guaranteed OHKO
100 HP｜110 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP Item: Weakness Policy	(-1 Attack because of Intimidate) Low Kick 218 ~ 255 (105.3 ~ 123.1%) Guaranteed OHKO
100 HP｜120 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP Item: Safety Goggles	Low Kick 255 ~ 302 (123.1 ~ 145.8%) Guaranteed OHKO
100 HP｜120 Def Defensive EV Investment: 252 HP Item: Safety Goggles	(-1 Attack because of Intimidate) Low Kick 172 ~ 203 (83 ~ 98%) Guaranteed 2-Hit KO

How to Use Greninja Effectively

Greninja Has Great Synergy with Gholdengo

Gholdengo's typing pairs perfectly with Greninja, being able to resist all of Greninja's weaknesses, along with an immunity to Fighting.
Greninja handily takes care of Hydreigon and Garchomp who threaten Gholdengo with Ice Beam.

Be Aware of Greninja's Speed and Defenses

Greninja's poor defenses and defense decreasing Natures make it a difficult Pokemon to use as a switch-in. It would be best to either lead with it or bring it in after a teammate has been knocked out.

Greninja is outsped by a good number of Pokemon this generation, so it is also important to pick your battles with it.

List of Pokemon By Speed

How to Build a Team with Greninja

Teammates with immunities and resistances are great for Greninja to have, as it will be switching often because of its paper-thin defenses.
As mentioned, Gholdengo and Hydreigon are great teammates because of their resistances and immunities.

Sample Singles Team

Mixed Attacker	Special Attacker	Special Attacker
Greninja	Gholdengo	Hydreigon

Gholdengo is a great switch-in against Breloom and can threaten Flutter Mane with super-effective Make it Rain unless Flutter Mane Terastallizes into Fire. Hydreigon (and Greninja too) has perfect type synergy with Gholdengo and can take resisted hits from super-effective Attacks directed at Gholdengo, as well as Grass and Electric-type Moves directed at Greninja.

Sample Doubles Team

Mixed Attacker	Special Attacker
Greninja	Gholdengo
Special Attacker	Special Attacker
Wash Rotom	Torkoal

Gholdengo can also threaten Flutter Mane with Make it Rain, and Iron Bundle with Thunderbolt.

Tera Fire Wash Rotom can threaten Iron Bundle with Thunderbolt, and not be threatened back by Freeze-Dry, as well as KO Meowscarada with Tera Blast.

For the purposes of switching into Freeze-Dry or Flower Trick, Torkoal may be a better option. It can also comfortably take Iron Bundle's Hydro Pump in the sun, and KO Iron Bundle or Meowscarada with Flamethrower.

Counters for Greninja

Use Faster Pokemon

While Greninja is very fast, there are still a good number of Pokemon that can outspeed it. Flutter Mane and Iron Bundle both threaten it with their Speed and their offense.

Meowscarada outspeeds Greninja as well and can take it out with a super-effective Flower Trick.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Meowscarada	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Can outspeed Greninja and OHKO with a super-effective Grass-type Move. ▶️Meowscarada Best Movesets
Flutter Mane	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Can outspeed Greninja and OHKO with a super-effective Fairy-type Move. ▶️Flutter Mane Best Movesets
Iron Bundle	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Can outspeed Greninja and OHKO with a super-effective Freeze-Dry. ▶️Iron Bundle Best Movesets

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