Reisen

[DoctorShanks]

Reisen
Type: Heart
Abilities: Insomnia or Keen Eye
Base Stats:
HP: 80
Atk: 70
Def: 75
Spd: 105
SpAtk: 125
SpDef: 75

Overview
The first thing most people think of when they hear Reisen is "Advent Reisen." This is unfortunetly true, because at first glance, it feels like Advent Reisen outclasses Reisen in every way. Advent Reisen has a typing granting her no weaknesses, as well as immediate sweeper stats. But we're not here to talk about Advent Reisen, so let's talk about vanilla Reisen. What sets Reisen apart from her older sister is her slightly different movepool, her different and potentially more useful typing in the form of Mono Heart, granting her 4 resistances and 2 weaknesses as opposed to two resistances and no weaknesses, which can be viewed as good or bad depending on the team she resides in. Reisen is also a little more Physically Defensive than her Advent form, which can potentially help her with setting up one of the most important moves that Advent Reisen doesn't have access to: Mana Charge. With all of this said, Reisen certainly does not suck. And even though she essentially trades away 25 base Speed for an extra 5 base Special Attack, she boasts an incredible ability in Insomnia, giving her an excuse to be less paranoid about status, and lastly, she has what I would call a very addicting playstyle which comes with a very rewarding feeling when Reisen actually kills something. Reisen is just one of those things that might not see a lot of use until the tiers are determined, but she still has the potential to compete with the big girls of Touhou Puppet Play.

Mana Charge
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Timid (+Spe,-Atk)
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spe/252 SpAtk
-Mana Charge
-Mist Ball/Signal Beam
-Mana Burst
-Substitute/Nightmare/Sonicboom/Flash/Poison Bomb/Ice Beam

Here's an interesting bit of information: Mana Charge is one of the few moves that Reisen gets but Advent Reisen misses out on. Actually, this set has two important kinds of moves like that, those being Mana Charge, and Mist Ball. Mana Charge is what makes this set work, letting her set up on Special Attackers that don't threaten her, and then prepare to wreak havoc on the opposing team. Mist Ball, as mentioned, is a move that Reisen gets that her older sister Advent Reisen doesn't, so it's worth using to dish out some extra damage. If you don't like the 80 accuracy, then Signal Beam is a more reliable option. Mana Burst is a reasonable move since Reason covers for Heart very nicely, however, Reisen does not get STAB on Mana Burst like Advent Reisen does, so you shouldn't rely on Reisen to do all of your Reasoning for you. The last move is up to choice, but Substitute will complete the famous Sub+CM combo which is known to end the lives of many Special Attackers. Nightmare is an option that won't leave you utterly helpless against Lyrica, Kana or Lunasa, and has a 10% chance to put a counter to sleep which would quickly turn the tides in your favor. Sonicboom is another move that Advent Reisen doesn't have. Unfortunately, Sonicboom doesn't really nail much other than Advent Mystia, but Sonicboom can still be used for Reliability over Mist Ball when it comes to Flying and Ice types. Flash is there for the sole reason that Heart types are well known to wall Reisen, and can net an occasional accuracy drop. Flash is incredbily weak, and should only be used to surprise incoming Heart types. The other moves listed merely exist in Reisen's movepool, and can be viewed as useful or useless depending on the Team Reisen is playing with.

Counters
A Reisen without Flash cannot touch most Heart types, but most Heart types won't be able to do much back to her either. Advent Alice sponges every attack, is immune to Flash's Accuracy drop, and can Toxic/Wish/Detect Stall her out even with Reisen at +3, but she cannot even hope to touch Reisen behind a Substitute. Koishi and all of her other forms can and will pose a threat to Reisen. Basically, any Heart type with a Super effective attack (Preferrably Physical) is a Reisen Counter. Things like Defense Parsee and Kotohime should be able to sit comfortably in front of Reisen if they have a way to dispose of her. Most Physically attacking Faith Types are not fast or defensive enough to counter Reisen, the only exception being a Max Speed Miko, who with a neutral attack Nature and 88 or more Atk EVs is able to come in on the revenge kill or switch in on a predicted Mana Charge, then proceed to outspeed and OHKO Reisen with Sacred Fire. THijiri is one of the puppets who cannot directly counter Reisen, but rather she can come in on the Revenge kill and destroy Reisen, however she will suffer a good chunk of her health in the process, and THijiri is hopeless if Reisen is already at +1 after Spikes damage or +2 without Spikes at all.