Psychic on Slowbro?

[posthuman]

How well does Psychic replace Surf in the Tobybro moveset? He'd have:

Psychic
Thunder Wave
Amnesia
Rest

You'd use the same strategy as with the Tobybro.

I know Psychic has less PP and it's not as effective vs Psychics or Golem...but hear me out. Surf does half damage to all the important dual-type Psychics including Starmie, Slowbro, and Exeggutor, so Psychic wouldn't be any worse (well, a few hitpoints lower with 5 less power).

Psychic has a ~30% chance to lower special, and this would help a ton against a stalling Chansey or Starmie.

Besides this, Psychic also does normal damage to Lapras and double to Gengar.

This biggest problems with this switch are Alakazam and Golem, as Alakazam can stall and Golem can explode (he isn't guaranteed to die from a Psychic unless Slowbro is fully set up).

What do you think?

[WaterWizard]

Psychic can complement Surf but it can't supplement it. After 999, Slowbro doesn't need special falls to win. The only time I could see this being helpful is to kill Gengar on the switch, but 999 stabbed Surf can kill it anyway.

[t3h Icy]

Slowbro's Psychic at 999 Special vs Surf at 999 Special

Chansey 53%-45% / 56%-47%
Tauros OHKO / OHKO
Snorlax 96%-81% / 101%-86%
Exeggutor 42%-36% / 44%-38%

Gengar OHKO / 104%-89%
Lapras 86%-73% / 45%-38%
Cloyster OHKO / 74%-63%

Alakazam <50%-42% / 105%-89%
Jynx 60%-51% / OHKO
Golem OHKO / OHKO

[posthuman]

I'm just saying Psychic would help force switches against a stalling Chansey or Starmie without negatively affecting many other match-ups.

[GGFan]

I don't think it's very useful when compared to Surf. First, you have to consider that Psychic only has 16 PP compared to Surf's 24. Secondly, using Psychic means that Alakazam will easily be able to stall you. Also, if you can't even set up Amnesia, Psychic also renders Slowbro vulnerable against Rhydon and Golem; it needs to use Amnesia twice to be able to OHKO them.

[Underboss]

Well, what about getting rid of Thunder Wave and replacing it with Psychic?

[Crystal_]

Psychic isn't especially good at anything. You should use Amnesia first instead of Psychic trying to a special fell. After 3 Amnesias Surf is better than Psychic against almost everything, perhaps being the only exceptions Light Screen Starmie/Chansey, but you will lose against them most of the time anyway.

[t3h Icy]

That's the common thing to do, though Ice Beam is more popular to help take out Exeggutor.

[Crystal_]

I think you should use Thunder Wave because paralyzing Starmie is one of the main reasons you are using Slowbro

[Underboss]

I thought you had to paralyze the opponent's team before you used Bro anyway?

[Crystal_]

Bah, Slowbro is based on luck. It can even beat a entire team even with Starmie, Chansey and other T Wavers/Bolters; the only problem for lucky bros are Explosions. However you will find Slowbro more often than not taking a CH T-Bolt before killing anything; this is why at least if you have T Wave you can paralyze Starmie.
Slowbro needs 2 things to be effective: luck, and no Explosions (so Bro is better in the late-game).

[Underboss]

Right, it seems like Psychic would only be useful against Lapras then.

[WaterWizard]

Psychic is nice if you hit Gengar on the switch when he expects Amnesia. Then switch out to Chansey/Eggy and save Slowbro for later.

[Underboss]

wouldn't people just send in Chansey or Starmie tho?

[WaterWizard]

Slowbro is usally used after Starmie is dead. You can use Ice Beam on the switch if you expect Chansey.