What Sinistcha is in Reg M-C
Sinistcha is Grass and Ghost, with base stats of 71 HP, 106 Defense, 121 Special Attack, 80 Special Defense and 70 Speed. Pikalytics gives it 9% usage in its Champions tournaments and Pokémon Zone counts more than 1,600 appearances in Reg M-C: it is not among the most played Pokémon, but it is a fixture in Trick Room teams and in cores built around one strong attacker.
In Gdańsk it partnered Mega Staraptor, Mega Tyranitar and Excadrill on the winning team. Its job there was to protect the attackers while they hit.
The most used set
Pikalytics shows a very settled set: Matcha Gotcha and Rage Powder on almost all of them, followed by Trick Room and Protect. The percentages come from a small sample, a few dozen teams, so they are useful to see the pattern rather than to read the decimals.
Matcha Gotcha is a special Grass move that hits both opponents, with 80 power and 90 accuracy. It restores half the damage dealt and has a 20% burn chance. With 121 Special Attack it won't knock anything out, but it heals Sinistcha while chipping away and can burn a physical attacker.
| Move | Usage according to Pikalytics | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Matcha Gotcha | 98.5% | Damage to both opponents, healing and burn |
| Rage Powder | 97.0% | Draw single-target attacks |
| Trick Room | 70.5% | Let slow Pokémon move first |
| Protect | 59.1% | Buy a turn without taking damage |
Why it works: typing and priority
The key is the Ghost typing: Normal and Fighting moves don't affect it. Fake Out is Normal, so it fails against Sinistcha, and the opponent can't use it to stop Trick Room. They can try with Taunt or by attacking it, but not with the format's most common tool.
Watch the order: Fake Out has +3 priority and Rage Powder +2. On turn 1, the opponent's Fake Out goes before Rage Powder, so it can't be redirected to Sinistcha. What Rage Powder does do is draw the single-target attacks that come after it; moves that hit both opponents, such as Earthquake or Heat Wave, are not redirected.
It doesn't redirect everyone either: it is a powder move, and Grass types and Pokémon with the Overcoat ability ignore it. Safety Goggles, which also blocked it, are not in Champions.
Hospitality and the berry: what it heals and what it survives
Hospitality heals its ally by a quarter of its max HP every time Sinistcha comes into battle. That is why it pays to switch it in and out: switching into Sinistcha after your partner takes a hit is almost like a Sitrus Berry for it.
Sources disagree on the berry. Pikalytics shows sets with Colbur Berry, which halves one super-effective Dark hit; Pokémon Zone highlights Kasib Berry, which does the same against a Ghost hit. Both cover real weaknesses: Sinistcha is weak to Fire, Ice, Flying, Ghost and Dark.
Our read: Colbur Berry fits better if you expect Kingambit or Incineroar, both common in the format and with Dark attacks; Kasib Berry, if your problem is other Ghosts such as Gholdengo.
| Berry | Halves | Typical opponents |
|---|---|---|
| Colbur Berry | One super-effective Dark hit | Kingambit, Incineroar |
| Kasib Berry | One super-effective Ghost hit | Gholdengo |
How to play against Sinistcha
Don't waste Fake Out on it. If you want to stop Trick Room, Taunt or a strong Fire, Ice, Flying, Ghost or Dark hit work better. And don't rely on a single-target attack into its partner when Sinistcha can use Rage Powder: an attack that hits both opponents, or a Grass type or a Pokémon with Overcoat, ignores it.
And if it has already set Trick Room, sometimes the best play is to Protect and burn turns: it lasts five, counting the turn it is set, and a Sinistcha that comes back in with Hospitality drags the game out in its favor. It is worth preparing it in the calculator against the opponent that worries you most.
