What do you think is the best ability in the game?

There are some good abilities and some bad ones. But which one is truly the best?

In my opinion, Shadow Tag is hands down the best ability in competitive play. Thanks to this ability, Wobbuffet has been banned to Ubers in AG and DP, and to BL in BW as it was just too powerful for OU and UU respectively. This ability also turned Gothitelle from just another weak NU Pokemon into something that overcentralized the UU tier, and thus became BL. And this is not over yet: watch as Chandelure gets this ability. I'm sure it will go to Ubers.

Basically Shadow Tag prevents the opponent from switching out. While in-game this doesn't mean much, in competitive play it's an incredibly overcentralizing ability. This ability makes sure Gothitelle has zero counters, and the same could be said about Wobbuffet. It can trap basically anything it wants, and if it's a slow Fighting-type (like Conkeldurr) or something which can't KO Gothitelle, it can easily KO it. Many other Pokemon will have to be wary of Gothitelle's coverage moves, especially Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Fire. As for Wobbuffet, with Shadow Tag it can easily turn an opposing pokemon into setup fodder.

In-game, the best ability would probably be Huge/Pure Power, since it makes Azumarill a monster with a base attack that is equivalent to that of Rayquaza, and Medicham suddenly has the power of Kyurem-B.

Crobatrulez20 said:

Basically Shadow Tag prevents the opponent from switching out. While in-game this doesn't mean much

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I disagree - get a Wobbuffet the level below your roaming pokémon, weaken it in successive encounters with the rest of your team, then send Wobbuffett out and throw pokéballs. When needed, heal, but Wobbuffett's so tough, and there aren't any ghost-type roaming pokémon, that it's basically the ultimate trap. Plus unlike Dugtrio as well as not being frail, it can trap flying-types :)

Huge Power is good. Medicham gets it? I thought that was Pure Power, a slightly different version. But Azumarill is much better thanks to it.

I like abilities that give you immunities.

If I were to look at a list of all the abilities without considering what Pokemon they belong to, then Wonder Guard easily stands out as the best. Being immune to everything except weaknesses is amazing. Of course the only Pokemon with this ability (legally) has some common weaknesses as well as 1 HP, limiting its effectiveness greatly.

Thus, I can't consider the abilities alone, no matter how nice they may look on paper. With that said, I think the best ability overall is Prankster. Whkmsicott, Tornadis, and Thundurus are all pretty good Pokemon, and are blessed with this wonderful power. It allows the user either To set up first, or wreak havoc with ailments before the opponent can move.

Slow start.

Just kidding own tempo so I won't get bothered by confusion.

Starlight Sprite said:

If I were to look at a list of all the abilities without considering what Pokemon they belong to, then Wonder Guard easily stands out as the best. Being immune to everything except weaknesses is amazing. Of course the only Pokemon with this ability (legally) has some common weaknesses as well as 1 HP, limiting its effectiveness greatly.

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I was just going to say that. :') Wonder Guard is my favorite ability, and Shedinja is one of my favorite Pokemon. I wish they would give it to a Pokemon with maybe one or two less weaknesses, as pretty much every Pokemon learns like two attacks that are super-effective against Shedinja with no problem, but I'd like if they moved it to a different Pokemon as well with less weaknesses. Not few enough to make the Pokemon invincible, but enough to not be extremely nervous sending it out.


I like the abilities that keep a wild Pokemon from fleeing, too, I think they're very useful and they always had me searching for a Pokemon that had them to capture fleeing legendaries. I do wish they would give something besides Pressure to legendaries, though, it's getting pretty old. They don't have to make them deadly, Rayquaza's Air Lock is a good example. It just negates weather attacks, and it makes sense because Rayquaza is from the ozone layer. If they would take that sort of thinking to all of the legendaries, we'd have some pretty cool abilities. Like for Lati@s, something having to do with the other Eon that may not necessarily give it unlimited power but is a cool effect and helps out a little. I'm getting soooooo sick of the standard "let's check this legendary's ability----oh, it's Pressure, what a surprise".

I like the abilities, Volt and Water absorb because you can switch in on predicted attacks and restore your HP! This really comes in handy when you are out of potions. Intimidate is also great because you can switch in on a Physical attacker and really cripple him to your advantage.

No guard is one of my favorite abilities. Right now it only sees use in few Pokemon but its potential is extremely frightening.

Magic bounce love nothing more then throwing toxic or any other status back at the foe.

No Guard is a great ability. It makes sure that your attacks never miss. The only thing that I don't like about this, though, is that when you have a No Guard Pokémon out on the field, your opponent's attacks never miss either. Moxie is a good ability, too. Whenever you take down an opposing Pokémon, your Attack stat is raised by one stage. This could be helpful if you're planning to sweep your opponent's team. Simple is another great ability. This ability doubles all the stat changes that are made to a Pokémon. For example, if a Pokémon with Simple uses Acid Armor, their Defense stat would be jumped directly to stage four instead of stage two.

The best abilities are those with no drawbacks. I'd say Magic Guard is the best ever ability, because it prevents damage from hail and sandstorm, makes the holder immune to Stealth Rock and all forms of status. I also realize that Life Orb recoil is negated as well thanks to this ability, making Pokemon great on offense as well as defense. Magic Guard is the reason that Reuniclus is in the OU tier.

Prankster. It makes Whimiscott beastly and it is so fun to use.

Magic guard is generally #1 for me. Mold breaker is up there as well as things like prankster and guts. Lots of really good but situational stuff like rivalry.

From the top of my head it would have to be intimidate. I like the idea of cutting the foes attack with my fierce-mons. (I'm not really the one to have some hectic strategic plan like most others, I just attack and destroy, heh)

I don't even care about the abilities in the game, but I think No Guard is the best ability for me.
Golurk is my #1 Pokémon with No Guard, its DynamicPunch will defeat everything.

Well, there's loads of awesome abilities that definitely deserve a mention:

Prankster is what made Whimsicott and Sableye so awesome in competitive play, they can set up and ruin your strategy before you can blink.

Technician for making most normally-weak moves feel strong, like Bullet Punch and U-turn, and Breloom, Scizor and Cinccino have the moves to make use of it.

Magic Bounce for being like a Magic Coat that's always in effect, it can bounce status conditions and entry hazards and such right back at your opponent!

Magic Guard because it protects you from so much indirect damage, you can even use a Life Orb and you won't sacrifice a bit of HP every time you attack.

I'm surprised Speed Boost hasn't been mentioned yet. It's what makes Blaziken and Ninjask so good.

There are so many great abilities to choose from, Magic Bounce in my opinion is very useful as well as the Shadow Tag.
Abilities that enable Pokemon to gain an immunity are cool as well such as Flash Fire, Limber and Storm Drain.
It would have to be between Magic Bounce and Shadow Tag for me.

Weather changing abilities are the best right now. Gen V gave Drizzle and Drought to Politoad and Ninetails changing the Metagame completely, they even had to ban Drizzle+Swift Swim I believe.