A Wild Water Frog Appears - Greninja Training, Tips, Advice, Discussion

7/28/2016, 10:12 pm

Hello, HalfaMask again with some thoughts on training Pokemon Generation 6's frog ninja Greninja. Here are the topics that are going to be covered:

Greninja's AI
Training Styles + Doubles
Setup: Stats, Moves, and Equipment
Basic Training 1-50
Post 50 Training and Beyond

Greninja's AI
Greninja's AI is pretty decent enough to train to whatever play style you want. Generally though, Greninja's AI will first be more of the offensive play stye. Many tendencies that Greninja will exhibit include harassment with Water Shurikens, use of many aerial attacks, and can spam attacks. Be forewarned, an offensive/aggressive style Greninja will struggle against fighting against defensive style opponents.

Here are some of the pros and cons I noted:

Pros

Great Smash attacks (speed and reach)
Specials offer great utility
Good Recovery
Great Mobility

Cons

Tendency to spam attacks
Jumping tendency can be punished
Some attacks have significant end lag

Training Styles
The two training styles I have found most efficient with Greninja are Offensive + Balance combination style or Defensive style.

Offensive + Balance combination style is very self-explanatory. This allows Greninja to go all out especially with Water Shurikens and aerial attacks. Primarily, have Greninja to use Forward Air and Neutral Air for its air attacks. Charge up Water Shurikens at different intervals as Greninja's main form of projectile harassment. Also, have Greninja to learn use Substitute as it does count as a counter.

The Defensive play style has Greninja rely more on shielding counter attacking. Greninja's Water Shurikens will become more used baiting out opponents for punishments. This includes punishing Greninja when Greninja jumps and misses with any attack. The primary focus is to stay more grounded and be more reactive. Employ the use of block practices of using Block Counter sessions and Block Ledge sessions.

As for Vanilla training, the usage of either Offensive or Balance play style is preferable. The Balance play employs both the training sessions needed to be an attacker and reactor. It is just a matter of how much practice and reinforcement sessions are used in influence Greninja's play style.

Doubles
I find Greninja to be a pseudo-glass cannon front liner teammate. Have Greninja to use its specials for the use of utility. A partner that Greninja benefits from is a bruiser front liner or a heavy hitter (i.e. Ganondorf).

Setup

Stats (If Not Vanilla)

If unsure, go with balanced stat distribution of +40 attack/+40 defense/+40 speed. This stat distribution offers the best of all worlds and well a "balanced set". For a more offensive option, try the stat distribution of +70 attack/+40 defense/+10 speed. This offers Greninja much more offense power and supports Greninja's great mobility.

Moves

In my opinion, all of Greninja's standard specials offer great utility and are just good as is. If there is special I would recommend using, it is try use of the alternative down specials which is Exploding Attack. This offers an area effect of damage and, to my observations, Greninja has an easier time to use compared to using Substitute. A major caution to note about Exploding Attack that it has significant end lag and can have Greninja open for punishment.

Equipment

Choice of equipment and setups depends on training style. Here are a few sets that I have found effective:

Rock-Paper-Scissors: Critical Hit Capability / Improved Escapability / Explosive Perfect Shield. This can be considered the "golden standard" setup as it covers a lot of areas. Some advantages this setup is 20% chance on extra damage, allows to be immune to kill/throws, and damage on blocking (even has a chance to apply critical damage). This setup can be used for all the styles but heavily favors the defensive style.

First-Aid Kit: Auto-Heal / Health-Restoring Shield /Lifesteal. This build focuses on sustain and racking up healing. The more damage that Greninja can rack up the better the sustain. This setup favors a more Offensive and Balance play style.
Critical Hit Capability / Lifesteal / Improved Escapability. If Greninja can land an attack that proc both critical hit and lifesteal, it can be quite rewarding. This setup can be used for all styles but is focused more for Offensive and Balance play styles.

Three other equipments options that can be used are Easy Perfect Shield, Mirror Shield, and Reduced Land Impact. Easy Perfect Shield is a great equipment if Greninja has difficulty to block attacks. This can be used in conjunction with other shield bonuses to increase its effectiveness. Mirror Shield is a good alternative to Explosive Perfect Shield if you want Greninja to learn to punish right after blocking.

Basic Training 1-50
In this phase, I would recommend to mirror match Greninja on Final Destination or any Omega Stage 1-50. Teach the basics using Greninja's specials and use of aerial attacks (if going more offensive) As an option, you can implement platform training in this. Use Battlefield as it is the most basic and has non-moving platforms.

Post 50 Training and Beyond
This can be considered most important phase of training as an Amiibo will "continue to learn". This phase of training will include to solidify and refine the fighting style you want your Greninja to be. If you want Greninja to be more offensive, focus on Greninja's utility specials for attacking and use for aerial attacks. If defensive style is more preferred, focus on blocking practices, staying grounded, and punishing Greninja. However, one of the most important things to note in this phase whether Greninja develops the tendency to spam certain attacks. Two options to solve this behavior are to punish Greninja or train it be more defensive. This phase is left up to refinement, reinforcement, and improvement.

Have any critiques, comments, or tips? Comment below with your experiences or advice on Greninja.

With that, this is HalfaMask signing off.