There are many powerful movesets that can be utilized for the starter Greninja; however, some of them are also absolutely terrible. Although this Pokemon is quite strong in terms of stats, it does have some moves that are bad and should never be used in battle with another trainer.
Movesets are an important thing for a Pokemon, and here you will see the best for Greninja. Without further ado, here are awesome movesets for the Water-type starter Pokemon.
Updated June 6, 2022 by Michael Caruso: Greninja is easily the most popular Pokemon from Kalos, but there's quite a bit you may not know about this blue frog, including how diverse its moveset can be. Greninja knows tons of moves of the Water and Dark-types, which doesn't come as a shock to most Pokemon fans. However, Greninja can also learn attacks of other typings, so it's good to know about everything it has to offer. Here are a few more options for how to fill your Greninja's moveset.
15 Attract From Above (Attract, Aerial Ace, Rock Tomb, Ice Beam)
If you happen to go up against an opponent Pokemon that's of the opposite gender, then it's possible to manipulate their actions using the Attract attack. This attack will make it so that the opponent is mesmerized by your Greninja and it's a great way to gain the upper hand in a battle.
In addition to using Attract, Greninja can use Aerial Ace for a powerful attack that's near impossible for most Pokemon to avoid. If your opponent has an advantage towards Flying types, then you can default to using Rock Tomb or Ice Beam, which are also powerful attacks that offer strength against many Pokemon types.
14
Airborne Twins (Double Team, Scald, Acrobatics, Aerial Ace)
Double Team is a powerful attack if you utilize it correctly. It can make it difficult for an enemy to hit your Greninja with an attack, so it's worth using regardless of your opponent. However, after using Double Team to increase your chance to evade an attack, you need to go on the offensive and attack the enemy.
You can use Acrobatics and Aerial Ace to get a few powerful hits in or go the more traditional route and hit the enemy with Scald, a Water-type attack. Water and Flying-type attacks complement each other well, making this moveset a great combination for competitive battles and a lot of fun for casual play too.
13 Attack And Retreat (U-Turn, Toxic, Giga Impact, Hydro Pump)
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Sometimes finishing off a Pokemon in one or two hits is the best way to deal with them. For this strategy, you'll need to have multiple hard-hitting attacks ready in your arsenal. Giga Impact and Hydro Pump are two of the strongest attacks in the Pokemon franchise and they can one-shot many Pokemon.
After using one of these two powerful moves, Greninja can employ U-Turn to quickly retreat from the battle. If you can get a hit off, then using Toxic and then U-Turn will at the very least ensure Greninja damages its opponent to a lesser extent.
12 Protect The Team (Protect, Double Team, Toxic, Surf)
Protecting your team from attacks is often the best way to win a Pokemon battle and can turn the tide of a battle even more than offensive moves. Double Team is a great way to reduce your chance of being hit by an attack and when coupled with Protect, it's near impossible to hit your Greninja.
For offense, you can hit the opponent with Toxic to slowly bring their HP down to zero. With Surf as a powerful finishing move, there are few Pokemon that this moveset can't defeat with little trouble.
11 Surprise Attack (Dig, Rock Tomb, Smoke Screen, Smack Down)
Surprising an enemy is a great way to win a battle whether it be in the Pokemon franchise or any other competitive video game. You can throw Smoke Screen into the battlefield to make it difficult for the enemy Pokemon to hit your Greninja, then use Dig to hit them from below.
If all else fails, then Smack Down and Rock Tomb both have great potential to finish off a Pokemon quickly. You should use this moveset if you want Greninja to be the sneakiest possible, which fits its ninja theme quite well and allows for a flexible attack pattern.
10 Waterbender (Hydro Pump, Water Shuriken, Ice Punch, Blizzard)
This moveset combines Ice and Water-type moves for a powerful-yet-traditional combination of attacks. Fans can't go wrong teaching their Pokemon this group of moves because it is one of the strongest combinations, helping both starters and random Surf Pokemon hit a ton of weaknesses.
Every player should ideally try this set out at least once, as the two types combined together make for a powerful group of strong and unique types. It's nothing unique, but Greninja's high offensive stats and speed help these high-damage moves go a long way.
9 The Mighty Frog (Hydro Cannon, Low Kick, Ice Punch, Power-Up Punch)
Although Greninja isn't a Fighting-type, its ninja theme allows it to have a diverse moveset, including Fighting-type attacks. Fighting-type attacks are powerful, both because they deal a lot of physical damage and they usually have high accuracy.
This moveset combines hydro cannon with martial-arts-themed moves so that you can defeat any Normal-type Pokemon with ease. Luckily, this moveset includes an Ice-type and a Water-type attack for type diversity.
8 Ninja Of The Deep (Dive, Bounce, Feint, Snatch)
Thanks to Greninja's unusual secondary Dark-type trait, there are many moves that it can get access to that fit its ninja-style persona. This fits with some other tricky moves like Bounce and Dive, which give an even greater benefit to those wanting to waste a foe's time by jumping out of the way.
This can make Greninja into a tricky ninja, stealing items with Snatch and breaking through Protect with moves like Feint. It's not the most powerful strategy you can take on with Greninja, but they're powerful enough moves with a surprise factor that makes it an underrated set of options.
7 The Master Ninja (Aerial Ace, Smack Down, Water Shuriken, Spikes)
Ninjas are known for a variety of different attacks, and Greninja is no different in this way. The Master Ninja moveset allows you to command Greninja to perform 4 different attacks, all of which are themed around speed or ninjas in some way.
Not only are attacks such as aerial ace and spikes useful during a competitive Pokemon battle, but this moveset also provides a good variety of different types so that you can face many different Pokemon.
6 Ocean Master (Hydro Cannon, Surf, Water Shuriken, Rain Dance)
This is the token Water-type moveset for this giant frog, and fans should consider using it if they enjoy using Water-type special attacks. It's a very powerful moveset with only the strongest Water attacks that players can learn, and by setting up with Rain Dance beforehand, you can pump their power even higher.
Water Shuriken is another special move to know for nearly any moveset, as it's a priority move that hits at the speed of Quick Attack but deals rapid Water-type damage. This is an utterly unique move that gives a little extra utility beyond high damage, and its low power is made up for by Greninja's ludicrous offensive stats.
5 The Water And Land Keeper (Rain Dance, Hydro Cannon, Rock Slide, Smack Down)
The Water Keeper moveset is focused on Water-type and Rock-type moves. Rain dance is a particularly important move because although it isn't the strongest attack in the franchise, it is perfect for a Water-type Pokemon that competes in double battles with other Water-type allies.
Rock Slide is a powerful Rock-type attack, and you can use hydro cannon to defeat Fire, Rock, and Ground-type enemies.
4 Handsome Kecleon (Gunk Shot, Rock Slide, Low Kick, U-Turn)
This set focuses on Greninja's secret hidden ability, Protean. It essentially lets Greninja take on the typing of whatever move it uses, meaning it can change its resistances and give a boost to any attacks it's about to use. As a result, you don't need a single Dark or Water-type move for Greninja to be an unstoppable force.
This set features Poison, Rock, Fighting, and Bug-type moves to hit nearly every type of Pokemon in the game, with U-Turn being a great emergency move against any unexpected foe to swap into something better. Nearly any move can work in this set as this ability is quite famously overpowered, according to many fans, but always make sure to have a wide variety if you're running a Protean Greninja.
3 The Versatile Ninja (Extrasensory, Hydro Cannon, Blizzard, Giga Impact)
One of the best ways to use a Pokemon's moveset is by adding a ton of diverse attacks to their roster. The Versatile Ninja is the perfect example of this by giving your Greninja access to a Psychic, Normal, Water, and Ice-type move all in one moveset.
This moveset ensures that regardless of which type of Pokemon you run into, you will very likely have an attack that is super effective against them.
2 Battle Bond Beater (Water Shuriken, Extrasensory, Ice Beam, Dark Pulse)
Greninja has one more hidden ability that was only available as part of a few rare events, meant to imitate the Battle Bond that Ash Ketchum has with his own Greninja. With the similarly titled Battle Bond ability, Greninja will transform to have a huge offensive and speed stat boost as soon as it eliminates an opponent.
Activating this can seem hard, but enough variety in its attacks can usually get the job done through super-effective attacks. These include wide-coverage attacks like Ice Beam, Extrasensory, and Dark Pulse, with an added Water Shuriken to quickly hit down your opponent's weaker foes to turn Greninja into an absolute menace.
1 The Dark Psychic (Thief, Extrasensory, Dark Pulse, Hydro Cannon)
Dark and Psychic-type Pokemon are some of the most fascinating creatures in the franchise. These Pokemon can use a variety of different attacks to defeat their opponent; however, Dark and Psychic-type attacks often have a secondary effect that is useful as well.
For example, in this moveset, the attack "thief" allows you to steal your opponent's item, which is incredibly useful depending on what item the enemy Pokemon is holding. This is most useful during NPC battles. The other attacks in this moveset are heavy hitters, including extrasensory and dark pulse. Hydro Cannon is also included in this set in case a Water-type attack is needed.