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-
Minus
- If allied with a Pokémon with Plus, its Special Attack increases 50%.
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Level 100 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
60
|
- |
261 |
324 |
- |
| Atk |
40
|
104 |
116 |
179 |
196 |
| Def |
50
|
122 |
136 |
199 |
218 |
| SpA |
75
|
167 |
186 |
249 |
273 |
| SpD |
85
|
185 |
206 |
269 |
295 |
| Spe |
95
|
203 |
226 |
289 |
317 |
Overview
Minun comes as the third generation's cute Electric-type mouse alongside Plusle. While no one can deny his captivating charm, his stats are unfortunately mediocre, and his movepool is nothing to write home about. Because of this, Minun is often forgotten in favor of other fast, specially-offensive Electric-types such as Raichu and Manectric. Still, Minun's access to the combination of Nasty Plot, Encore, and Baton Pass gives a good reason to use him over his competitors. Minun might not seem too threatening at first glance, but underestimate him at your own peril, as it could result in a Pokemon sweeping through your team with the boosts Minun has passed.
This set utilizes Minun's access to Encore and decent special bulk to make him an effective Nasty Plot Baton Passer. Encore allows Minun to lock Pokemon such as Registeel into a harmless move like Stealth Rock, effectively giving Minun a free turn afterward to set up. Since Minun can't set up on moderately powerful attackers even with a defensive EV spread, Encore is often extremely important to obtain a Nasty Plot boost. Thunderbolt gives Minun a reliable attack, which prevents him from being completely useless if he gets Taunted, and does decent damage after a Nasty Plot, even without Special Attack investment.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
This EV spread is simple, but effective. A Timid nature and 252 Speed EVs are needed to tie with other max Speed base 95 Pokemon such as Houndoom. This can be important, as this gives Minun a 50% chance to Baton Pass the boost in a tight situation against them. 252 HP EVs boost Minun's overall bulk, and allow Minun to switch into a decent amount of weak special attacks. For example, this Minun will never be 2HKOed by 0 Special Attack Milotic's Surf, even after Stealth Rock. A more offensive spread can be used if you wish, but due to Minun's relatively poor defenses, he'll have an even harder time setting up than he does with the above EV spread.
Minun has a couple of other moves that he can use on this set. Agility is always useful to Baton Pass, but Nasty Plot is what makes Minun unique. It can, however, go over Thunderbolt if you wish. Magnet Rise can be an interesting option to Baton Pass, but like Agility, should only go over Thunderbolt. However, replacing Thunderbolt with either Agility or Magnet Rise leaves Minun rendered utterly useless by Taunt, so it isn't recommended. Hidden Power Ice would be a great option to hit Ground-types that Minun can't hit with Thunderbolt, but there is nothing that you can really replace on this set.
As this set's main goal is to Baton Pass Nasty Plot boosts, appropriate Baton Pass recipients are naturally important teammates. If possible, these Baton Pass recipients should also be able to deal with Ground-types. Therefore, Moltres, Mismagius, Rotom, and Sceptile are all excellent partners, as they benefit greatly from a Nasty Plot boost, and are immune or resistant to Ground-type attacks. All of these Pokemon pack incredible powerful after a Nasty Plot boost, and are fast enough to attempt a sweep.
Because both Minun and his Baton Pass recipients are specially-based, dedicated special sponges such as Chansey can pose problems. Even after a Nasty Plot boost, these Baton Pass recipients might still have a chance to be outstalled by Chansey. Dugtrio is a great choice to trap and KO Chansey. U-turn users such as Scyther and Swellow can also help weaken the opposing team, and scout for any Pokemon that may pose a problem to your Baton Pass recipient.
While Minun is generally outclassed by other Electric-types when it comes to sweeping, he can still be a decent Nasty Plot sweeper. Nasty Plot is an excellent boosting move that can quickly boost Minun's sub-par Special Attack to a high level. Encore allows Minun to capitalize on support moves with ease, and it's almost a necessity for Minun to set up, since unlike the last set, there isn't any investment in Minun's defenses. Thunderbolt is Minun's main STAB attack, while Hidden Power Ice provides excellent coverage alongside it. Life Orb is the item of choice, as Minun needs all the power he can get. However, if you choose to invest some EVs into HP, Leftovers can be a viable option as well.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Minun has a couple of other options that he can use with decent results. Hidden Power Fighting can be used to strike Registeel and Steelix for decent damage, while Grass Knot is available to hit Rhyperior and Donphan harder than Hidden Power Ice. However, these attacks have worse overall coverage with Thunderbolt in comparison to Hidden Power Ice. Baton Pass is an option to scout for counters, and possibly Baton Pass a Nasty Plot boost to a partner, but Minun needs all the coverage he can get in order to successfully sweep. You can also transfer some Special Attack EVs to HP to make setting up a Nasty Plot somewhat easier.
Since Minun is offensively weak even after a Nasty Plot boost, massive amounts of support are necessary for Minun to sweep. Omastar is a superb entry hazard supporter that has enough bulk to switch in multiple times during a match to set up entry hazards again if necessary. Qwilfish is also a decent option, as he can quickly set up a layer or two of Spikes before dying. Scyther and Swellow can both slowly weaken opposing walls with U-turn, which will gradually allow Minun to overcome these walls. Dugtrio is also a great teammate to trap and KO Chansey and Registeel, both of which can easily sponge Minun's attacks.
Other Options
Minun's movepool isn't particularly expansive, but he does have a couple of interesting options. Minun has access to Wish and status moves in Sing and Thunder Wave. Since Minun also has access to moves such as Baton Pass and Encore, he can pull off a support set; however, Minun's poor defenses make this a mediocre option. Fake Tears can be used, but for the most part Minun prefers Nasty Plot, since it's Baton Passable. Signal Beam is a special attack that Minun can use, but it has poor coverage alongside Thunderbolt. Minun could also attempt a gimmicky anti-lead set of Counter, Encore, Thunderbolt, and Quick Attack while holding a Focus Sash; Counter can KO physical leads, Encore can lock a lead into Stealth Rock, and Quick Attack can finish Focus Sash leads off, but it's really just that—a gimmick.
Checks and Counters
The main problem with countering Minun is Baton Pass. Baton Pass makes it so that it isn't just about dealing with Minun—it means you have to prevent Minun from passing his boosts to something more deadly, or have the ability to deal with the recipient. Because of this, the best counters to Minun are bulky phazers. Venusaur with Roar can easily take anything Minun throws at it, and can use Roar to phaze Minun. Lanturn, Registeel, and Chansey are also good counters as they all take little damage from Minun's attacks and can paralyze Baton Pass recipients with Thunder Wave. It should be noted that Minun is quite weak on his own, and most of the time, dedicated special sponges aren't really necessary to deal with him.
Faster Pokemon can easily outspeed and KO Minun. Dugtrio is particularly effective since he can trap Minun with Arena Trap and OHKO him with Earthquake. If a faster sweeper isn't available on your team, then priority is also a great way to take down Minun. Minun isn't very bulky, so strong priority attacks should take him down, although some prior damage may need to be done ahead of time. Arcanine's ExtremeSpeed is a great example of this, as it will easily KO any variant of Minun after a little residual damage.
