Hisuian Lilligant… or LilliCAN’T? A PvP Analysis

A new raid day, a new addition to the game and the PvP landscape. All I’ll say for our customary Bottom Line Up Front is… well, in its current form, my critique will be more criticism than praise, lamenting what could have been. But let’s get into it and see what we’ve got.

HISUIAN LILLIGANT Stats by League

Hisuian Lilligant GrassFighting

Great League Stats

• (Highest Stat Product IVs: 0-15-13 1498 CP, Level 22.5)

Great League Stats

• (Highest Stat Product IVs: 0-14-14, 2495 CP, Level 45.5)

So the first thing that HAS to be highlighted is the lack of bulk. It’s not awful like, say, Hisuian Zoroark, but it’s still pretty low, down in the same bulkiness territory as things like Raichu, Delphox, Lycanroc Midnight (this one is a nearly identical comparison, actually), and Heatmor, and below one of the flimsiest viable Grasses out there: Shiftry. Hisuian Lilligant IS ahead of Victreebel, usually considered the glassiest of glassy Grasses, but not by very much. Grass types are very quietly one of the bulkier types in general, but Lillie breaks that mold in all the wrong ways.

Combine that with the typing and we see a few more cracks. Fighting does negate the usual Grass weakness to Bug, which is nice, but otherwise it gets all the good (Grass resistances to Ground, Electric, Water, and Grass, and Fighting resistances to Rock and Dark) and bad (Grass weaknesses to Poison, Fire, and ice, and Fighting weakness to Psychic, and a double weakness to Flying) of the two respective typings.

But you’re here, of course, for the moves. Let’s not keep you waiting!

FAST MOVES

• Bullet Seed – Grass type, 1.67 DPT, 4.33 EPT, 1.5 CoolDown
• Magical Leaf – Grass type, 3.33 DPT, 3.33 EPT, 1.5 CD

While the purely GO player in me is upset at the lack of variety here, in fairness, Niantic/Scopely didn’t have a lot to work with. From what I’m seeing, these are the only two Grass moves Hisuian Lillie learns in MSG that are fast moves in GO, and the only other fast moves it can even learn are Charm (no thanks), Poison Jab (interesting but probably not great) and Low Kick, a STAB Fighting move but a terrible move that would never be used even if it was an option here. So yeah, Bullet Seed and Magical Leaf it is. I think they both have merit, though we’ll have to pair them up with the charge moves to see whether the low damage, higher energy Bullet Seed is better, or the steadier fast move damage of Magical Leaf.

CHARGE MOVES

• Upper Hand – Fighting type, 70 damage, 40 energy
• Close Combat – Fighting type, 100 damage, 45 energy, Reduces User Defense -2 Stages
• Petal Blizzard – Grass type, 110 damage, 65 energy
• Solar Beam – Grass type, 150 damage, 80 energy

Now HERE I have some… well, I was going to say critiques, but we’ll just go with “questions” for now. No complaints about the Fighting moves. Lillie has a surprisingly limited selection of those from MSG (NONE learned naturally, only from TMs), so basically just those two and Brick Break as viable options… the two it gets here are fine. My issue is with the Grass moves. Hisuian Lilligant can learn a wide array of those in MSG, including Seed Bomb, Leaf Storm, Energy Ball, Grass Knot, Trailblaze, and even Leaf Blade as one of its Level 1, natural moves. So why oh why did it get stuck with by far its two slowest, clunkiest options in GO with Petal Blizzard and Solar Beam? Yeah… this one is frustrating.

SO expensive are those two moves that, combined with Lillie’s glassiness, you really can’t run either as a viable option. That means your Grass damage is coming only from the fast moves, and you’re left with two same-type charge moves and no coverage whatsoever. I will grant that non-Fighting/non-Grass moves are somewhat rare on Hisuian Lilligant in MSG too, but it DOES have a nice subset of Flying-type moves that would have been nice to see, including Aerial Ace and Acrobatics. But here we are with exclusively Grass fast moves and only Fighting and nonviable (in PvP, anyway) Grass charge moves. That does mean that for the actual event, raiding it will be a cinch… just go in with Flyers and the knowledge that all of Lillie’s moves will be resisted. But for PvP purposes… not ideal.

You probably have a sense of where this is going, but let’s go to the numbers.

GREAT LEAGUE

Well if nothing else, Hisuian Lilligant is an improvement on OG Lillie, though that’s a low bar to clear. And it must be said… Hisuian Lillie barely clears it. As teased earlier, with a decent Grass charge move it could at least pick up stuff like Azumarill, Jellicent, and Annihilape, and with a really good Grass move the sky would be the limit (further gains against Golisopod, Lapras, Sableye and others), but as is, Hisuian Lilligant DOES manage to beat most meta Water and Ground types, but some only by the skin of its teeth that should be easy wins for a good Grass type like Shadow Feraligatr, Diggersby, and especially Swampert, all of which H-Lillie limps away from with less than 10 HP.

Meanwhile, it struggles as a Fighter, losing to Steels (like Alolan Sandslash and Forretress), Rocks (like Cradily), and Darks that most Fighters overcome. Perhaps the best way to illustrate its limitations is comparing it to the most prominent Grassy Fighter currently in PvP: Chesnaught, which is literally strictly better by beating everything Hisuian Lilligant can plus Azu, Jelli, A-Slash, Sableye (Shadow and regular), Shadow Scizor, and Golisopod (with Fury Cutter or Shadow Claw). And this is also true with shields down, where Chesnaught is far better than H-Lillie with shields down (again beating all the same things PLUS many new wins), though Chesnaught and Hisuian Lilligant are at least closer competitors if things go to 2 shields. But still, with Chesnaught already out there… what is there for Hisuian Lilligant to do, again? Until and unless it gets a move shakeup, I just don’t see where you’d want it, honestly.

ULTRA LEAGUE

Mostly the same story here. With a bit more Fighting damage output than Chesnaught, Hisuian Lilligant does escape with unique wins over Guzzlord and Steelix, but Chesnaught, while hardly being a superstar at this level either, is still notably better with its own unique wins versus Primeape, Pangoro, Jellicent, Shadow Drapion, and Zygarde (the Crunch variant, at least). Chesnaught is also clearly better with shields down (as compared to H-Lillie) and in 2v2 shielding (as compared to Hisuian Lilligant). And that’s not to even mention Virizion, who is the reigning Fighting Grass champ at this level. Heck, even Breloom is nipping as Lillie’s heels! And as one final strike against Hisuian Lilligant in Ultra League, it has to be pushed into XL territory to approach 2500 CP, whereas Chesnaught and Virizion can be built while keeping their level in the low 30s. Yowch.

IN SUMMATION….

Again, Hisuian Lilligant COULD get better in the future if it is granted one of its many MSG Grass charge moves that costs less than the 65 energy and 80 energy of its current Grass moves, or somehow got some coverage like Triple Axel or Aerial Ace. But as is? Sure, raid away as you’re able, and note that it should be an easy solo if you have powerful Flying types (hammering it with double super effective damage). But this is one to sit one… and just stick with your trusty Chesnaughts and Virizions instead. 🤷‍♂️

Alright, that’s it for today! Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with regular GO analysis nuggets or Patreon.

Happy raiding, folks! Stay safe out there, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!