This set's purpose is to wall the majority of the special side of the UU metagame, especially in combination with Pokemon that resist Electric and can handle either Grass or Ice attacks. It will also help absorb status, as Rotom, Butterfree, and Venomoth all can occasionally annoy a team with a well placed Will-o-wisp or Sleep Powder. Surf + Toxic is not effective on Toxicroak, Qwilfish and the Grass / Poison Pokemon of UU, however, Mantine will have a field day being able to absorb nearly any special attack while slowly whittling away the foe's HP with Toxic + Rest + Sleep Talk. Mantine is also one of the few counters in UU to the Nasty Plot Toxicroak set, but obviously requires HP Flying to be a true counter. This also is a very effective counter to the special side of UU Rain Dance teams, as Gorebyss and Omastar most frequently carry Hidden Power Grass, not Hidden Power Electric. Note however, that some Omastar now carry AncientPower, which, with either a stat boost or Stealth Rock damage, will 2HKO Mantine.
Unlike the previous set, this set aims to take advantage of all four of Mantine's moveslots without having to relegate two of them Rest and Sleep Talk. Mantine has rather poor Special Attack, so Toxic is often his best chance to hurt something, albeit very slowly. Hidden Power Flying covers Toxicroak and Poliwrath, although the latter can be hit with Toxic. HP Flying hits almost every Grass-type in UU harder than Ice Beam, but the Ice attack makes Mantine one of the best counters for a Specs Altaria. It also nails a few Flying-types, like Dodrio. If you're happy with the coverage of Water/Ice or Water/Flying, you can use another support option. Confuse Ray can work alongside Toxic to aid Mantine in stalling out a poisoned foe. Protect also helps Toxic works its magic, while providing some healing from Leftovers.
You trade the useful healing ability that Water Absorb provides for getting a Speed boost in the Rain here. Hydro Pump is recommended to help compensate for Mantine's low Special Attack, although Surf is fine if you're worried about accuracy. Hidden Power Grass and Electric both cover his fellow Water-types, Grass is mostly for Quagsire and Lanturn, while Electric is for other Mantine and Pelipper. Toxic is generally a better choice though, as it wears down Water-types and special walls, like Hypno. The Speed EVs allow Mantine to beat max Speed Electrode with Rain Dance up. Other OptionsHe's not much of a Hazer, so you'll only be using Haze against something like Suicune or Manaphy, neither of which Mantine should be going up against in the first place. The most likely scenario is he'll be using it in is against something like a Calm Minding Golduck. Mirror Coat might KO an attacker throwing a weak Thunderbolt at Mantine. Aqua Ring provides a little extra healing. Signal Beam doesn't offer particularly useful type coverage for Mantine, but it does a little more than Surf to Grumpig and Hypno. EVsFocus on HP and Special Defense. Plenty of Special Attack and some Speed for Rain Dance sets. OpinionMantine is a decidedly average Pokémon. While his stats suggest he should be a special wall, his 4x weakness to a common special attack—Thunderbolt—mean he can't fill this role as effectively as he would like to. Still, he can be useful in UU, where he forms a good defensive base alongside the likes of Aggron or Golem. CountersLanturn walks all over Mantine as even Hidden Power Grass barely scratches him. Other Electrics like Luxray, Manectric and Ampharos destroy him and are capable of taking an unboosted hit from Surf. Tentacruel and Qwilfish can set up Swords Dances on him and hit his weak physical Defense with Poison Jab. Stone Edge Quagsire works well if Mantine lacks Hidden Power Grass. Without Hidden Power Flying, Toxicroak gets in for free and batters Mantine with Stone Edge. |
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