BDSP OU Suspect Coverage: Manaphy

Art by Zephyri.

Introduction

The Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl OU metagame has been defined by extremely threatening offensive Pokémon from day one, and Manaphy was immediately one of the most dangerous threats that the metagame had to offer. The first week of BDSP saw rain ruining much of the tier, and Manaphy was a big reason for this. However, Manaphy remained a force in the metagame even after Drizzle was banned very early on in the tier's lifespan. Tail Glow, combined with Manaphy's good coverage moves and bulk that lets it find room to set up in many games, made it a terrifying offensive threat that every team must account for.

Sets

• Manaphy @ Leftovers
• Ability: Hydration
• EVs: 112 HP / 252 SpA / 144 Spe
• Timid Nature
• - Tail Glow
• - Surf
• - Ice Beam
• - Energy Ball / Skill Swap

This is the most common set of moves that Manaphy runs. Surf can take care of bulky Pokémon such as Scizor, Heatran, and Jirachi when boosted. Ice Beam and Energy Ball hit everything else in the BDSP metagame besides Shedinja for at least neutral damage, which includes specific targets such as Dragonite, Garchomp, Gastrodon, and Slowbro. Skill Swap over Energy Ball can let Manaphy get past Unaware Clefable. Manaphy's pure Water typing can give it setup opportunities against many teams, taking advantage of common Pokémon like Scizor, Heatran, and Choice-locked Pokémon such as Weavile, Infernape, and Crawdaunt. The given EV spread lets Manaphy outrun max Speed Rotom-W and OHKO it with Energy Ball. Leftovers keeps Manaphy as healthy as possible, letting it make maximum use of its bulk and typing to wallbreak.

• Manaphy @ Salac Berry
• Ability: Hydration
• EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
• Modest Nature
• - Substitute
• - Tail Glow
• - Surf
• - Ice Beam

SubSalac Manaphy threatens to turn the tables on offensive builds by letting it sprint past the many revenge killers that look to take advantage of its lower Speed tier such as Latios, Gengar, Weavile, and Latias. The loss of Energy Ball hurts Manaphy's ability to break past other Water-types, but many of them still take enormous damage. Lacking Skill Swap can prevent Manaphy from getting past Unaware Clefable as well, but this can be remedied by using a teammate such as Lucario. Ice Beam is still supremely important for threats such as Latios, Garchomp, Dragonite, and Latias. Substitute can let Manaphy set up Tail Glows safely and activate Salac Berry. This Manaphy greatly appreciates help from its teammates that can wear down Water-type threats such as Rotom-W, Starmie, and Azumarill. This is especially helpful on "Water spam" hyper offense where this Manaphy can pair with other Water-type sweepers, most notably the very threatening Feraligatr as well as Azumarill and Cloyster, in order to beat down the tier's limited Water-type answers. The given spread allows Manaphy to outrun Choice Scarf Rotom-W and Rotom-C after a boost.

Other Options

Manaphy is capable of running a few different sets in order to change the way that teams deal with it, making it even harder to consistently take on. Wacan Berry can be used to limit revenge killing attempts from Rotom-W, Raikou, and Starmie, leading to Manaphy potentially forcing more KOs against teams that use these Pokémon to beat Manaphy. A mono-attacking set with Rest and Rain Dance can demolish teams that rely on chipping Manaphy down or statusing it; such a set could run Skill Swap to mess with both Unaware Clefable and Mantine, the latter of which is a complete stop otherwise. However, the mono-attacking nature of this set makes it exploitable by teams running bulky and powerful Pokémon that resist Water. Max Speed sets with a Timid nature can also be run to get the jump on many opposing Manaphy sets as well as tying with base 100s like Staraptor, but the Speed tier doesn't offer much overall and Manaphy generally prefers the bulk.

Team Example

A classic example of "Water spam" hyper offense, this team (built by Lalaya) looks to use one of Cloyster or Manaphy to beat down the tier's Water switch-ins in order to clear the way for the other. This also benefits offensive Scizor, which appreciates the removal of Water-types such as Rotom-W and opposing Manaphy in order to support its own sweeping efforts. Extreme Speed Lucario piles on the offense as a good emergency speed control option that is very capable of sweeping on its own. Espeon is one of the tier's screen setters and a good partner for Cloyster in order to mitigate the entry hazard damage it takes. Finally, Lum Berry Garchomp sets Stealth Rock while using its Swords Dance-boosted attacks to force KOs against many teams; Lum Berry also helps it dodge burns from the likes of Rotom-W as well as other miscellaneous status effects such as Scald burns from Slowbro and sleep from Tangrowth.

Pro-Ban Arguments

One of the main arguments in favor of a ban of Manaphy is how it is unhealthy to the tier at large and is a major contributor to the heavily offense-skewed BDSP metagame. Stall and bulky offense are both viable playstyles, but offense still reigns supreme in BDSP thanks in large part due to its ability to limit Manaphy's setup opportunities while also being good against the other offensive powerhouses in the tier, such as Latios, Gengar, Garchomp, and Alakazam. Additionally, balance is absolutely nowhere to be seen in the tier. Manaphy is not the sole culprit for this, but its combination of bulk and power makes it a major contributor to the fact that many see balance as an outright unviable playstyle. Manaphy can even find solid setup opportunities against common Pokémon found on offenses and bulky offenses such as Scizor and Heatran, as well as Choice-locked Pokémon such as Infernape, Crawdaunt, Latios, and Latias. Additionally, Manaphy is hard to take out from full health; Choice Specs Latios's Draco Meteor is just a roll to KO, for reference, and other revenge killers such as Rotom-W, Garchomp, and Starmie fail to as well. The fact that Manaphy can run sets that boost Speed or mitigate damage through Rest, Rain Dance, or resist Berries makes it consistent in its threat level and gives it a level of depth to its game that is often very difficult to predict from Team Preview. All this makes Calm Mind Blissey essentially the only surefire counter to every Manaphy set. This is not unique to Manaphy as a whole, but Manaphy's relative consistency in this role, as well as its stranglehold on much of the bulky meta, makes it unhealthy in the eyes of much of the playerbase.

Anti-Ban Arguments

Manaphy is, quite frankly, in a fairly bizarre place viabilitywise in the current BDSP OU metagame. Two of the most common playstyles at the moment in BDSP OU are offense and stall. Manaphy is, unlike in other tiers, a poor stallbreaker in BDSP OU; the presence of Calm Mind Blissey means that stall is often naturally prepared for Manaphy. Structures that also feature Unaware Clefable in addition to Blissey completely stop Manaphy, and even builds with just Unaware Clefable severely irritate variants without Skill Swap. Additionally, offense can often limit Manaphy's setup opportunities via sheer offensive pressure. Manaphy can usually pick up a KO against these teams, but this is far from a unique trait in the BDSP OU metagame, where Pokémon such as Gengar, Alakazam, Garchomp, Starmie, and Crawdaunt can also force KOs with similar efficacy against many teams. The array of Choice Scarf users that can revenge kill Manaphy and are effective in their own right, such as Rotom-W, Rotom-C, and Garchomp, also serves to hinder Manaphy's overall effectiveness in the tier. Additionally, Manaphy is just not that strong unboosted, which makes pressuring it with offensive threats a safe bet in many situations. It is certainly difficult to KO Manaphy from full, but many faster Pokémon can heavily dent it as it sets up, therefore limiting what it can do for the rest of the game. This has led Manaphy to not be overbearing in the eyes of many, who believe that other threats, such as Latios and Gengar, are significantly more dangerous overall.

Results

Manaphy was banned from the BDSP OU meta after an exceptionally close vote. Manaphy's ban was expected to increase the viability of bulky offense and balance, although many didn't expect an immediate change, as these bulkier playstyles are still heavily pressured by other offensive threats in the metagame, such as Latios, Gengar, Alakazam, and Starmie. As a result, the BDSP OU council immediately initiated a suspect for Gengar after the result was announced, as Gengar is considered by many to be even worse than Manaphy was in terms of overall metagame health. This ended up being reflected in the voting result, as Gengar was banned in a vote that was nowhere near as close as Manaphy's. It is hoped that this action on both Gengar and Manaphy together will help to decrease the dominence of offense as a playstyle here in the early stages of the metagame.