Foul Play

After some thought, I had an idea, but before I try it, I need some opinions. When the move Foul Play's description reads "The higher your foe's Attack stat is, the more damage this move deals", do you think it literally means how high the actual Attack Stat is, OR how much higher it is than YOURS? Because according to Bulbapedia, it says "It uses the target's Attack stat to calculate damage, as opposed to the user's Attack stat." If that is the case, then this is my theory of playing with this move:

-Get a Zorua at Level 1 with a Nature that hinders Attack and try to get it as low as possible, which is 4.
-Make sure it knows Foul Play
-Equip a Focus Sash
-Send it out in battle against a foe with high Attack
-Get knocked down to 1 HP
-Attack with Foul Play for huge damage, maybe even a KO.

But as I said, I'm not 100% sure if it's based on their base Attack or their attack over yours...Help please?

i have thought of this sratagie

Yes. It uses the enemy's attack and calculates damage based on the difference between your attack and your enemy's. Your theory is sound.

After looking at stats, I've realized that Houndour has the lowest available Base Attack stat at level 1 with a hindering nature, no IV's in Attack, and no EV's in Attack. Houndour's Base attack is 60 as opposed to Zorua's 65. So, if Zorua's Attack can reach 4, does this mean that Houndour could possibly reach 3...?

Ah, thanks for looking Glai. I was wondering about this for a while now.

EDIT:: I have a correction. Seedot is the Pokemon with the LOWEST base Attack stat that can learn Foul Play, beating Houndour's 60 with 40 Base Power.

EDIT 2:: Oi, another realization. Even though Seedot may be 20 base Attack lower, it wouldn't do much to increase Foul Play's power because of its Dark typing. That means Houndour for sure is the best canidate for a Foul Power Attacker because of STAB damage, doubling its base power from 95 to 190, then adding in the power from the Attack differance...

« Last edited by Glitters the Magical Pony on Aug 18th 2011 »

Protip, with an abysmal single digit attack stat going up against 3 digit defences you are doing like 1 or two damage...

Yes, but wouldn't the damage boost from Foul Play be able to inflict enough damage? I mean, according to what I've looked at, it's power increases more when your opponent has higher Attack than yours. I'm going to test it today, but hey, we never know until we try it.

« Last edited by Glitters the Magical Pony on Aug 19th 2011 »

Fine, don't believe me.



Houndour had 6 in attack. Judging by the fact that Rotom was at 98%, your theory is sound. It's just that the gap between the new Attack Stat and Rotom's Defence was so monumentally huge that it didn't matter.

« Last edited by Jirachi X on Aug 19th 2011 »

Alright, thanks for checking it then :/