A PvP Analysis on Incarnate Enamorus

Howdy folks, and Happy Valentine’s Day! If you do NOT already have plans centered around that real life event, and aren’t working during the middle of the week, perhaps you can be one of the first to land yourself an Enamorus Incarnate Forme! But if you have other plans with your real life partner and/or are stuck at work and/or just don’t feel like going out to another round of Elite Raids, what will you be missing out on? Let’s start with our customary Bottom Line Up Front and then see whether or not you might find yourself falling in love with Enamorus. 😍 (Spoiler: likely not. 🥀 Not yet, at least!)

B.L.U.F.

• Enamorus has great potential in PvP, but honestly, needs more help than it’s starting out with to get there.
• With current moves, it operates solidly enough in Master League and even in Ultra League, but has multiple established Fairies in each that outperform.
• When it (presumably) gets Springtide Storm in the future — and/or its Therian version — Enamorus has the potential to surge ahead of most or all Fairies currently ahead of it… but that’s not happening yet.
• Personally, I wouldn’t cancel any plans (cough on Valentine’s Day cough) to go hard after Enamorus now. It will come back, and likely better than it is now, and also likely in greater numbers and without excluding remote raiding opportunities. But that’s me!

Now let’s show the analysis behind the summary….

ENAMORUS (Incarnate Forme) Stats and Moves

Enamorus (Incarnate) FairyFlying

Ultra League Stats

Master League Stats

The typing should be well known to most long-time PvPers, as it’s shared by Togekiss (and on-the-rise Togetic). For the most part, you get the good and the bad of each typing: resistances to Bug, Dark, Fighting, and Dragon x2 and vulnerabilities to Poison and Steel on the Fairy side, and resistances to Bug, Fighting, Grass, and Ground x2 and weaknesses to Electric, Ice, and Rock on the Flying side. The good news is that, while Enamorus is left with five vulnerabilites (Electric, Ice, Poison, Rock, and Steel, all just a single level), it has six resistances, with Dark and Grass being single resisted, and Dragon, Fighting, Bug, and Ground all being double resisted.

The overall stats are worrying, though. Not only is Enamorus not as bulky as even Togekiss (despite having a CP over 100 points higher), but its Incarnate form is actually less bulky than the other three Forces Of Nature’ Incarnate AND Therian forms. We’re looking at THE flimsiest of the Forces Of Nature Legendaries here, folks. Scary.

Of course, that’s not always the end of the story for PvP Pokémon. A huge part of how well something can perform is what moves it has, so let’s see what Enamorus has to play with.

FAST MOVES

• Fairy Wind – Fairy type, 1.5 DPT, 4.5 EPT, 1.0 CoolDown
• Astonish – Ghost type, 3.0 DPT, 3.33 EPT, 1.5 CD
• Zen Headbutt – Psychic type, 2.66 DPT, 2.0 EPT, 1.5 CD

So back when we first found out Enamorus was coming, I made a couple comments when folks asked me about it that basically keyed in on this: Fairy Wind was going to be the primary factor in whether Enamorus would be PvP relevant or not. And lo and behold, we got our wish. Astonish isn’t terrible either, but with a wide variety of charge moves to choose from, it basically HAD to have Fairy Wind. Huzzah!

And speaking of those charge moves… Enamorus did NOT get some of the ones I and others were hoping for, but I think it still made out alright overall.

CHARGE MOVES

• Fly – Flying type, 80 damage, 45 energy
• Grass Knot – Grass type, 90 damage, 50 energy
• Dazzling Gleam – Fairy type, 110 damage, 70 energy
• Springtide Storm – Fairy type, 60 damage, 45 energy, Reduces Opponent Attack -1 Stage

We just recently reviewed the OG Forces Of Nature with their exclusive “Storm” charge moves, but it seems that Enamorus is going to have to wait a while to get its own Springtide Storm.

Thankfully, it comes out of the gate with some decent moves as a stopgap. Fly is one of the moves I was really hoping it would get, and now here we are! It’s one of the best charge moves (with no drawback) in the game, hitting way above the average for its mere 45 energy. And with each Fairy Wind generating 9 energy, it takes only five of them to hit exactly that 45 energy requirement, making Fly a dreamy pairing with Fairy Wind.

The other moves are a little clunkier in terms of energy, but both workable. Grass Knot (50 energy) isn’t as strong a coverage move as others I personally hoped for like Mystical Fire (also just 45 energy) or Earth Power (55 energy), especially in Master League, but it comes with its own niche uses, as we’ll see. More than likely, though, you’re likely going to be turning to Dazzling Gleam until the eventual release of Springtide Storm. Unfortunately it costs a whopping 70 energy, which means three more Fair Winds on top of the five needed for Fly. (9 energy times 8 = 72 energy… my math teacher wife would be so proud of my maths! 🙃)

But anyway, you’re here not to discuss all these theoreticals… you want to know how it all comes together, right? Let’s take a look, starting with the League where the Forces Of Nature have had their most impact to date.

MASTER LEAGUE

So as a Fairy, there are a couple comparables I need to mention first. ZACIAN is a big name but not really a fair comparison, since it mostly relies on its Fairy-type resistances and a myriad of (mostly) non-Fairy damage to slice and dice through a variety of opponents, so I won’t really include it as a true “comparable”. However, I think comparing to TOGEKISS and especially XERNEAS make a lot more sense, as they rely in large part on actual Fairy-type damage, albeit with some non-Fairy coverage.

With current moves, Enamorus falls a bit short in comparison. In some ways, you probably saw this coming, as Enamorus is far less bulky than either of those established Fairies, and even Master League afterthought SYLVEON. Hitting hard with a high Attack stat works far better in Master League than any other PvP format, but you still have to be able to absorb a few shots to the jaw in return.

It comes very close to overcoming Dialga, but can’t quite close the deal. And it falls short versus other Dragons that Togekiss and Xerneas can beat like Reshiram, and loses to Zacian (which the other two can overcome) and Xerneas itself. Speaking of Xerneas, it (and Togekiss) suffer further losses that Xerneas alone can get, like Altered Giratina and Melmetal. However, there is ONE sort of niche use where Enamorus excels: if it sheds Dazzling Gleam and instead runs with Grass Knot, it does drop a couple more Dragons like Zekrom and Origin Giratina, but gains Ground type that not even Togekiss or Xerneas can beat, to include Rhyperior, Swampert, and even Icy Mamoswine. It is also worth noting that with Grass Knot or Dazzling Gleam, Enamorus can beat Groudon (Xerneas can’t) and Excadrill (Togekiss can’t) too!

All that said, though, it’s a rather iffy niche, and while it remains relatively close in overall performance to Togekiss in 1shield and 0shield (Enamorus vs Togekiss) and to even Xerneas in 2shield (Enamorus vs Xerneas), I would be a bad analyst if I didn’t openly admit that, with current moves, Enamorus is overall inferior to both.

BUT that’s not completely the end of the story. One day, perhaps in 2026 or so , we will likely be able to get Springtide Storm on Enamorus. And when we do, it’s gonna take off, leaving even Togekiss and Xerneas mostly behind. About the only things they’ll be able to do that Springtide Enamorus cannot is sometimes beat Melmetal, Zekrom, and Togekiss itself. Enamorus will then be able to overcome Xerneas itself, as well as gaining things like Zacian, Reshiram, both Giratinas, and yes, Dialga too. The nerfing of the opponent’s Attack stat that comes with the Storm moves does a LOT of good for glassy Enamorus especially.

And while we’re dreaming and looking ahead in hope, yes, Therian Enamorus is a bit bulkier and will be even a hair better. Something else to looj forward to!

But that’s the future. In the here and now, with these Valentine’s Day, non-exclusive-moved Incarnate Forme Enamorus, it’s okay, but doesn’t stand out in comparison to what we already have in Master League. And since you can only raid a handful, in person only, in four time slots on a single day (in which many of you will understandably have other priorities with the real life love of your life) at this point, good luck building one up for Master League anytime soon anyway. So there’s the silver lining: there’s really no rush to do so. I myself will be keeping an out for other Enamorus grinding opportunities in the future… with its exclusive move.

Before we wrap this up, though, I do need to take a moment to peek at another meta where Enamorus MAY be impactful….

ULTRA LEAGUE

Xerneas and Togekiss don’t have their same dominating role in the Ultra League meta, but other Fairies do, like Clefable, Florges, and Sylveon, and of course stuff like Alolan Ninetales, Galarian Weezing, and top dog Tapu Fini if you branch out beyond primarily dealing Fairy damage. (And have a ton of XL Candy on hand for those first two.) And once again, Enamorus is okay, but mostly pales in comparison. It’s easily better than stuff like Xerneas at this level, and far better than even the Therian Formes of the other Forces Of Nature with their own exclusive Storm moves, so that’s a nice moral victory. And yes, it will be even a bit better in the future with Springtide Storm (and WAY better with that AND its Therian Forme). But again, that’s then and this is now, and in the present, you can (and likely already HAVE if you spend some quality time in Ultra League) do better.

IN SUMMATION

So to reiterate, there IS potential with Enamorus, but it’s going to need some help down the line to advance past existing and frankly better Fairies already ahead of it. Grab some if you’d like to get a jump on the candy grind, but in this humble analyst’s opinion, there’s really no rush at this point. Whether you choose to grind hard or just have a quiet evening with loved ones (or just chilling… nothing wrong with that either!), have a great time!

Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with regular Pokémon GO analysis nuggets, or Patreon.

Happy raiding for those going out! Stay safe out there, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!