Bibarel was not one to be blessed with good offensive stats, but has one saving grace in Super Fang, which allows him to bypass his pathetic offenses. Whittle down the opponent with Super Fang and finish them off with Waterfall. Thunder Wave and Yawn can help to get in a Super Fang and provide support for your team. Swagger is an interesting choice if Unaware is your ability, as it confuses the opponent while ignoring the +2 Attack boost when the opponent tries to attack Bibarel, however, unlucky opponents who attack themselves will still do that off +2 Attack. If you have Simple, then the best idea is to go with Amnesia, which will boost Bibarel's Special Defense by 4 stages because of the doubling boost. If you have Unaware, then Taunt is a much better option as it can allow the beaver to break some walls by nulling recovery or set-up with Taunt, giving him the freedom to chip away health with Super Fang while the opponent is forced to attack. Decent Speed investment is recommended if you use Taunt though. Reaching about 227 Speed is a good idea in OU battles, since then you can Taunt Bulky Gyarados and a no Speed EV Gliscor before they can set up. The Bulky Beaver set should have lots of HP. 216 EVs hits 353 for maximum Leftovers recovery +1, which allows 1 extra chance to come in on Stealth Rock at 12%. Go with an Impish nature and max Defense with the leftover EVs in Attack to let Bibarel take physical hits as well as special hits with Amnesia beefing up Special Defense. If you're using Taunt instead of Amnesia, then go with 232 HP / 80 Def / 80 SpD / 116 Spe with a Jolly nature since those are its best possible defenses while having 227 speed for reasons mentioned in the set.
Bibarel's Attack is on the mediocre side, so slapping a Choice Band on him helps beef up his power. Water and Normal is a good attacking combination, especially with STAB powering them up. Waterfall is the preferred option for Water STAB as it's more accurate and may land a flinch, but for those who fear nothing, go with Aqua Tail for the power boost. Focus Punch or Superpower are mainly for Empoleon, who resists Bibarel's STAB moves. If you're the kind of player that enjoys prediction, then go with Focus Punch, but if you're more cautious, then go with Superpower. Quick Attack helps against Reversal/Flail Pokémon, and may help in a pinch for a revenge-kill against a frail sweeper. Unaware is the preferred ability as it will allow Bibarel to hit through any Defense boosts the opponent may have such as Bulk Up.
Try to paralyze as much of your opponents team as possible with Thunder Wave. When Bibarel is close to death, Endure the hit to receive an Attack boost from Liechi Berry, which will be doubled from +1 to +2 thanks to Simple. Substitute works in place of Endure if you want to protect Bibarel from dangerous status, but as Substitute doesn't get priority like Endure, you'll have to watch out for priority moves, especially in UU, where they're used a lot more.
Bibarel has an awful Special Attack stat, but if you can grab a boost from Charge Beam, he will reach a total of 458 as Simple will double the boost. Surf and Ice Beam provide type coverage for sweeping, while Grass Knot helps against Water/Ground-types—especially Quagsire. If you plan to use Bibarel in OU, then Super Fang is a much better option as it allows you to get around Blissey so that she will not ruin your sweep, slicing 50% of her remaining health per hit. Expert Belt and Life Orb provide extra power and mean you're not entirely reliant on Charge Beam boosts. Other OptionsPluck is usable on the Choice Band set to OHKO Breloom and Heracross, but is inferior to Quick Attack if you plan to use Bibarel in UU. Defense Curl is an option on the Bulky Beaver set, but it is inferior to Amnesia, and is not recommended. Stealth Rock is also an option on the Bulky Beaver set, however, there are much better users of the move. If you're in an environment where evasion moves are allowed, then Double Team is a great option as Simple can double its boost. EVsAdamant nature with max Attack and Speed for the Choice Band and Physical Attacker sets work just fine as Bibarel's max Speed with a neutral nature lets him outspeed +Speed nature base 60s, and is not going to be outspeeding anything significant with a Jolly Nature. Modest nature, max Special Attack and Speed for the Special Attacker for the same reasons as the physical attacker, except different attacking stats. OpinionBibarel's low stats are disappointing, and must be taken into account when considering him for your team, but this does not mean that he cannot be used with great success. The nifty little rodent is usable in all tiers, but OU essentially requires him to use Super Fang, or he will be outclassed. UU allows for more freedom, as the non-Super Fang sets can pack more of a dangerous punch in that tier, though Super Fang is still recommended even there. Super Fang is an amazing move that was truly a present from the sky as a reward for all of Bibarel's hard work as the busiest beaver in today's working world. CountersMost Electric-types work well. Lanturn does a good job here as his high HP helps to take Returns so he can bring down Bibarel with a Thunderbolt. Lanturn does hate Super Fang though, as he has no reliable recovery. Grass-types with in any tier are going to mess up Bibarel quite badly. However, if they rely on Grass Knot as their STAB, they will still have to watch out for the Bulky Beaver if Amnesia's present, as Grass Knot is only 60 base power against Bibarel, and will do very little once he has an Amnesia up. Again, they must still watch out for Super Fang, as most of them don't have good recovery moves, or have none at all. Ghost-types are by far the best switch-in, as they're immune to Super Fang, meaning the most that Bibarel can do is status them. Bibarel is in a lot of trouble if it faces Rotom, as a STAB Thunderbolt is most likely the end for Bibarel. Gengar does the same in OU, except without STAB obviously. |
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