|
-
Chlorophyll
- Speed doubles in sun.
-
Sap Sipper
- Grants immunity to Grass-type moves and boosts Attack by 1 stage when hit by a Grass-type move.
-
Serene Grace
- This Pokemon's secondary effect chances are doubled.
|
Level 100 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
80
|
- |
301 |
364 |
- |
| Atk |
100
|
212 |
236 |
299 |
328 |
| Def |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
| SpA |
60
|
140 |
156 |
219 |
240 |
| SpD |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
| Spe |
95
|
203 |
226 |
289 |
317 |
Overview
At first glance, Sawsbuck looks underwhelming when compared to the rest of the new threats Black and White have brought; however, Sawsbuck has a few tricks in its fur that some people might not see. First of all, it has a great stat distribution for a physical sweeper, with base 100 Attack and base 95 Speed. In addition, it is blessed with two great abilities, Sap Sipper and Chlorophyll, which can turn it into a complete monster with the proper team support. When you take a look at Sawsbuck, it may seem outclassed by Leafeon, who has the same Speed stat, but also base 110 Attack and much higher Defense. However, Sawsbuck has STAB Return as well as a way to heal itself through its STAB Horn Leech, and access to Nature Power and Jump Kick. Aside from its sweeping capabilities, Sawsbuck has Baton Pass, which allows it to pass boosts from Sap Sipper, Agility, Swords Dance, or Work Up to a partner.
With Chlorophyll boosting its already high Speed to monumental levels, Sawsbuck can become a potent physical sweeper on an offensive sun team. Under the sun, 148 Speed EVs allow Sawsbuck to get the jump on +1 base 108 Speed Pokemon, such as Choice Scarf Terrakion, as well as +2 Naive Cloyster, allowing it to effectively sweep whole teams. Outside of sun, Sawsbuck will still be able to outspeed max Speed Timid Politoed, allowing it to continue its sweep even against some rain teams. After a Swords Dance, Sawsbuck's average Attack stat raises to a great 654, allowing it to take many bulky walls down. Return is the main attacking option, with its high 102 Base Power and good coverage. After a Swords Dance, Return will always OHKO Latios, and will almost always KO max HP Celebi even without Stealth Rock or Spikes. Horn Leech is Sawsbuck's secondary STAB option, allowing Sawsbuck to OHKO frailer opponents or anything it hits super effectively and simultaneously restore health.
There are two options for the last slot. In Wi-Fi and simulator battles, Nature Power will always act as Earthquake, allowing Sawsbuck to hit Steel-type Pokemon for super effective damage. Jump Kick is another option to hit Steel-type Pokemon, but its accuracy is a little lower and it has the nasty side effect of damaging Sawsbuck when it misses. Nature Power is usually the better option due to its ability to hit Chandelure, Jirachi, and Metagross; however, Jump Kick can be used to hit Steel-types that hold Air Balloon, as well as hit Skarmory harder and OHKO Ferrothorn after a Swords Dance boost.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Ninetales is undoubtedly the best partner for Sawsbuck. Apart from bringing sunshine to the battle, Ninetales can switch into Bug-, Ice-, and Fire-type attacks with ease and hit back with Overheat and Hidden Power Ground. Sawsbuck gets multiple opportunities to set up Swords Dance when switching into Ground- and Water-type attacks aimed at Ninetales and scaring foes away with Horn Leech. If you're using Jump Kick, Chandelure will completely wall Sawsbuck. Choice Band Tyranitar with Unnerve can switch into Chandelure's STAB attacks without taking away your sunshine and OHKO it with Pursuit. Gengar can also be a problem, although a +2 Horn Leech has a 72.5% chance to OHKO 4/0 Gengar after Stealth Rock. Spiritomb can switch into a Focus Blast without a sweat and trap Gengar with Pursuit. If you're running Nature Power, Skarmory and Ferrothorn become problems. Ferrothorn can do heavy damage to Sawsbuck after the Chlorophyll boost with Gyro Ball, and Skarmory can OHKO with Brave Bird or Whirlwind away Sawsbuck's boosts. Bulky Ghost-type Pokemon such as Dusclops and Cofagrigus can burn and subsequently wall Sawsbuck. Chandelure's STAB moves can deal with all these problems.
While the limelight is always nice, this set takes a different approach to Sawsbuck, concentrating on its ability to support its team with its immense stat-raising movepool in conjunction with Baton Pass. The first option is Agility. Almost every Pokemon will benefit from having its Speed doubled, as will Sawsbuck itself. The next slot depends solely on what Sawsbuck will pass to. Swords Dance doubles the Attack of any Pokemon that receives the pass. Obviously, the Pokemon who benefit most from this boost are physical sweepers. The next option is Work Up, which raises both Attack and Special Attack by one stage. This is optimally passed to a mixed sweeper.
One might question using Sawsbuck over other Baton Pass users, such as Gliscor, who can pass the same boosts. The main attraction to using Sawsbuck is its ability, Sap Sipper. When switching into a Grass-type attack, Sawsbuck's Attack is raised. The beauty of it is that the Attack boost from Sap Sipper can be Baton Passed, benefiting any physical sweeper. Lastly, Horn Leech is used as Sawsbuck's sole STAB move.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The EVs aim to maximize survivability, while maintaining a high Speed stat. With 116 EVs, Sawsbuck will hit 510 Speed after an Agility, allowing it to outspeed +1 base 105 Speed Pokemon such as Mienshao, which can otherwise cause problems. Feel free to move the 140 Defense EVs into Special Defense and change to a Careful nature if you desire a more specially bulky Sawsbuck. If using Sawsbuck as a lead, Focus Sash is viable in place of Leftovers.
If Sawsbuck is passing Swords Dance, the most ideal recipient is Darmanitan. Darmanitan already has an enormous Attack stat and will benefit greatly from Agility, although it's weak to Stealth Rock. Lucario is a great mixed attacker and will benefit from Work Up. Classic Baton Pass recipients, such as Rhyperior and Marowak, can make use of these boosts too. If you fear being phazed or Taunted, you can use Espeon as a middle man. Espeon can reflect Taunt, Whirlwind, Roar, and even hazards with Magic Mirror, which greatly helps because Sawsbuck's best recipients are weak to Stealth Rock. Espeon can then pass the boosts to your recipient.
Other Options
Wild Charge can be used for Skarmory, but it doesn't really do anything else for it as Horn Leech hits bulky Water-types harder while simultaneously recovering health. Double-Edge can be used over Return, but Return still nabs all the KOs needed without the nasty recoil Double-Edge gives. Substitute can be used somewhere on the Baton Pass set but it's hard to find a slot for it. Sawsbuck also gets Aromatherapy and Thunder Wave, but there are many Grass-types that can run a support set more effectively than Sawsbuck.
Checks and Counters
On the Swords Dance sets, Gengar and Chandelure resist all of Sawsbuck's attacks and can hit back with Focus Blast and Fire Blast, respectively. Skarmory can easily take a +2 Jump Kick and OHKO with Brave Bird or Whirlwind away Sawsbuck's boosts. Bulky Ghost-types such as Dusclops and Cofagrigus can easily take a Horn Leech then burn Sawsbuck with Will-O-Wisp. Whirlwind, Roar, and Taunt all ruin the Baton Pass set. Perish Song is the worst because it can't be avoided without switching and losing any boosts, and can be Baton Passed.
