Miltank is one of the most sturdy Pokémon in existence, and learns plenty of great moves to support her team. Heal Bell is a rare move, and Miltank is one of its bulkiest users, so she has few problems ridding herself and her team of status afflictions. Milk Drink is her signature move, and instant recovery is a massive boost to any defensive Pokemon. Stealth Rock is a fantastic move, although it can be replaced with Hammer Arm or Earthquake if you don't want to invite various Steel and Rock-types to switch in. Body Slam is preferred over Return as it can provide Paralysis support, which is generally more useful than an extra 17 intial base power. The choice of ability is tough. Thick Fat gives you resistances to the common Fire and Ice attacks, but Scrappy is really helpful for Gengar and Mismagius.
While Miltank isn't as great in the Special Defense department as Snorlax, she makes quite a fine Curser, especially if your opponent is willing to take her on with a physical Pokémon. Just don't get yourself hit with Close Combat or Cross Chop. Scrappy is recommended so you can hit Gengar and Mismagius, although without Thick Fat, Heatran has a slim chance to OHKO even a max Special Defense Miltank with a Choice Specs Overheat, and Fire Blast is an easy 2HKO. If you have support from a good Pursuiter to get rid of Ghosts, you can switch to Thick Fat. As for the choice between Hammer Arm and Earthquake, the Fighting attack is a big help against Tyranitar, Bronzong and Magnet Rise Magnezone, while the Ground move makes Metagross and Heatran less of a problem. Skarmory will easily Whirlwind your boosts away regardless, but Hammer Arm makes it easier to beat the metal bird if Miltank is your last Pokemon.
Oh my, what a dilemma? Do I want Curse or do I want Heal Bell? Why, use both! Curse up for some heavy hitting Body Slams, and if Miltank or someone else on your team gets statused, you can use Heal Bell. You really need Scrappy to hit Ghosts now with only Body Slam as your attacking move, but just like the previous set, you can have a team mate chase down Ghosts with Pursuit and switch to Thick Fat.
This is an obligatory "this Pokémon is meant defensively yet she has enough options and Speed to be a Choice item user" set. That about summarizes Choice Band Miltank. You are better off with Tauros, Staraptor, Slaking, or even Snorlax if you want this kind of set, but Scrappy gives Miltank a unique advantage over them. Hammer Arm's side effect means Miltank loses her good Speed, but it is her best attack for Bronzong and Skarmory, and Speed drop is actually helpful against them both. Skarmory can't risk Roost as the now slower Miltank, will hit it for super-effective damage, and Bronzong's Gyro Ball will be weakened every time Miltank attacks. Zen Headbutt is filler, but it will do more to most Fighting-types than Return. You can throw in a support option if you want. First time you send in Miltank, have her set up Stealth Rock or hit walls like Hippowdon with Toxic. Other OptionsCounter is a great move on Miltank. She survives boosted Meteor Mashes, Stone Edges, Earthquakes and all that, easily scores a KO with Counter due to high HP, and is fast enough to Milk Drink it off later. Thunder Wave and Seismic Toss are two moves Miltank can use nicely, but Blissey uses better nearly all the time. Miltank has the full range of elemental punches, with Ice for Garchomp, Gliscor and Salamence; Fire for Skarmory and Bronzong; and Thunder for Gyarados. However, all these come from ADV Move Tutors, so they are illegal with Scrappy for the time being. Thunder hurts Skarmory and Gyarados, but with such a low base Special Attack, you're better off ignoring all the special attacks Miltank has. Everything else, including Reversal and Psych Up, is novelty. EVsWacko Choice sets aside, Miltank is one heck of a wall and should be EVed as such. Max out HP, put some Special Defense if you're using Curse, but mostly focus on Defense with and use an Impish nature. A little bit of Attack is always welcome for some more oomph. 32 Speed can let you outspeed Jolly Tyranitar for all it's worth, so you can get in that Heal Bell, Hammer Arm or whatever you were planning to do before taking a hit or getting Taunted. OpinionLet's properly analyze Miltank's name. "Mil" obviously comes from milk, which is part of the move "Milk Drink". Which, in turn, makes her very, very hard to take down. So she's a tank. Yep, that sums it up. Miltank may not have Blissey's Natural Cure, 714 max HP, or over 300 Special Defense, but she takes physical hits really well and her traits are great to the point where the only reason not to pick one is because you don't want to dismiss the other. One of the troubles with Scrappy is that it makes getting ADV exclusive moves like elemental punches and Counter impossible. However, the addition of the trait itself is a great advantage as you don't want Miltank to give Gengar free turns to do nasty things to you. So basically, you play Miltank like some sort of physical doorstop against all but the most powerful physical attackers (like those who carry Fighting attacks), and make sure you're not using a bad Tauros or Blissey. As Miltank has many useful options to give her advantages over her fellow Normal-types, this isn't not at all difficult. As long as you stay to that rule, she will be utterly (or should I say udderly) tough to faint. CountersMiltank generally has little offense to offer, but it can be a pain to pierce her sturdiness, especially since her Special Defense (her less amazing defense) isn't so amazingly bad that you can say "any special attack is a counter". Toxic and Will-O-Wisp are both viable inflictions for dealing with Miltank since she has no Natural Cure to fix it and Heal Bell has very limited PP. If you are afraid of Miltank's attacking powers running you over, there's plenty of Normal resistances in the game to take her out. Ghosts are not the best choice as Miltank counters as Scrappy allows her to hit them, but if she has Thick Fat it's likely she can't touch them (unless she's facing Gengar and using Zen Headbutt). Skarmory, Bronzong, Scizor, and Forretress are the best Steels to send in against a Miltank that packs Earthquake, whereas Magnezone, Empoleon, Heatran, Metagross, Jirachi, and most other Steels will do fine if Miltank doesn't have that. Fire Punch and Hammer Arm might hurt a tad on a couple of these, but in no way is it threatening enough without a couple of Curses. If you do face a Cursing version Hippowdon, Weezing, and Suicune can help you to get rid of these. Regirock, Rhyperior, and most other Rock-types not named Aerodactyl take very little damage from Miltank's assaults. |
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