Butterfree
[Overview]
<p>As she elegantly (Quiver) dances her way into BW, it is easily apparent that Butterfree is significantly better than she was in the old RBY days. No longer is she the standard for terrible Bug-type Pokemon that make six-year-olds cry over how bad they are; rather, Butterfree has finally become a Pokemon worthy of use. With BW's gifts to her in the forms of Tinted Lens and Quiver Dance, Butterfree has found a comfortable place in the NU metagame as the most lethal Quiver Dance sweeper available. The picturesque combination of Sleep Powder, Quiver Dance, and Tinted Lens makes for a lethal combination in NU, and Butterfree's stats are just good enough to utilize these moves perfectly. Butterfree is not just a one-trick pony (err, butterfly) either; she is also capable of firing off Compoundeyes Sleep Powders and Stun Spores if sweeping with Quiver Dance isn't your cup of tea. Despite her mediocre stats, downright awful typing, and various other tiny things that make her a poor Pokemon on paper, Butterfree has proven to be an excellent Pokemon in the NU metagame. After generations of disuse and mockery, you could say that Butterfree has finally evolved into that beautiful butterfly that she had wanted to be for so long.</p>
[SET]
name: Quiver Dance
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Quiver Dance
move 3: Bug Buzz
move 4: Substitute / Hidden Power Ground
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Though her mediocre stats might make this difficult to believe, Butterfree is a fearsome sweeper in the NU metagame, and is arguably the best Quiver Dance sweeper in the tier. Unlike her competitors in Mothim, Masquerain, and even Beautifly and Dustox, Butterfree has access to the combination of Tinted Lens, Sleep Powder, and Quiver Dance, which lets her tear through a wide variety of teams. Sleep Powder can take out one of Butterfree's counters and makes it significantly easier for her to set up, while Tinted Lens and Quiver Dance make Butterfree hard to wall. Additionally, while her stats are mediocre, Butterfree is the only Quiver Dance user in the tier that outspeeds Swellow after a boost, which makes her significantly harder to revenge kill. Furthermore, with Tinted Lens, Butterfree only really needs Bug Buzz to deal damage, which frees up room for Substitute, protecting her from status and priority. With all this in mind, Butterfree can easily sweep the opposing team with just a little bit of support.</p>
<p>Sleep Powder is extremely important for this set's success, as it significantly eases Butterfree's setup. In fact, the mere threat of Sleep Powder will sometimes suffice: as opponents won't risk having a useful Pokemon be put to sleep, they might switch out, giving Butterfree a fantastic opportunity to set up a Quiver Dance or smack the switch-in hard with Bug Buzz. However, note that not all opponents will switch; this is where Substitute comes into play. If you're feeling skittish about your prediction skills, you can simply put up a Substitute against a slower opponent. First of all, this saves Butterfree's Sleep Powder for another opponent and ensures she doesn't use it on a Sleep Talk user. Secondly, it shields Butterfree against status and attacks, which means that if the opponent stays in and attacks, Butterfree will only lose a comparatively small 25%, as opposed to perhaps all her health. Finally, if the opponent does switch, Butterfree is much more free to do what she wants behind the Substitute, and depending on the opponent, she can Bug Buzz for damage, set up a Quiver Dance, or use Sleep Powder to incapacitate a troublesome threat. However, note that spamming Sleep Powder is still an option, as Substitute is not without its costs: while small, the loss of HP if the opponent attacks will add up, and Butterfree might need to put the opponent to sleep to ensure that she can set up safely.</p>
<p>Thanks to Tinted Lens and Quiver Dance, Butterfree only really needs one move to sweep through the opposition: Bug Buzz. After a Quiver Dance boost, few Pokemon can tolerate a STAB Tinted Lens Bug Buzz, and Quiver Dance also guarantees that she is extremely difficult to revenge kill. Additionally, the combination of Substitute and Quiver Dance acts much like the Substitute + Calm Mind strategy, as Butterfree's Substitutes become increasingly sturdy after each Quiver Dance, allowing her to set up on many walls. However, despite all that Quiver Dance and Tinted Lens do for Butterfree, they do not entirely cover her mediocre Special Attack stat, enabling a slew of specially defensive Pokemon to wall her. To deal with this, a coverage move can be used over Substitute. Hidden Power Ground in particular does massive damage to Probopass, who would otherwise wall Butterfree to oblivion, while Hidden Power Rock covers everything else that Bug Buzz misses out on, such as Haunter, Emboar, and Combusken, who still resist Bug Buzz after Tinted Lens. Without the cover of Substitute though, Butterfree becomes more vulnerable to priority, and she might have a more difficult time setting up.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With maximum Speed investment and a Timid nature, Butterfree can outspeed Swellow after a single Quiver Dance, and with maximum Special Attack, can OHKO it in return. Maximum Special Attack investment is usually necessary to make up for Butterfree's average Special Attack; however, as Quiver Dance boosts Butterfree's Special Defense, some Special Attack EVs can be transferred into HP to make Butterfree's Substitutes more hardy, hopefully giving her an easier time setting up. If using Substitute, go with Leftovers, as Life Orb would cause Butterfree to faint way too quickly to accomplish much. If running a coverage move, on the other hand, Life Orb becomes a much better option as Butterfree needs as much power as possible. If you despise how Sleep Powder can miss at important, game-changing moments, you can try using the Compoundeyes ability, but Butterfree really needs Tinted Lens, as otherwise, it becomes much easier to wall.</p>
<p>As Butterfree's debilitating weakness to Stealth Rock is a major thorn in her side, Rapid Spin supporters are necessary to help alleviate this issue. Cryogonal, Armaldo, Wartortle, and Torkoal are decent choices for this job; they also each have unique characteristics that can help out your team. While Torkoal and Armaldo can set up Stealth Rock, Wartortle has access to Foresight, which almost guarantees that he will be able to successfully Rapid Spin. On a more offensive team, Magic Bounce Natu becomes a decent choice as well, as it both prevents entry hazards from being set up and supplies Butterfree with entry hazards, which helps her beat the likes of Magmortar and Rotom-S more easily. However, Natu is generally an unreliable choice as he cannot comfortably switch into most Stealth Rock users. Golem, Torterra, and Regirock make excellent users of Stealth Rock, and complement Butterfree nicely by taking on troublesome threats such as Choice Scarf Braviary, while Cacturne and Garbodor are the best choices to lay Spikes.</p>
<p>As hard to resist as Bug Buzz might be, Butterfree can still be walled by specially defensive bulwarks, of which NU does have its fair share. Lickilicky, Regice, Cryogonal, Regirock, Altaria, Camerupt, Probopass, and similar Pokemon pose huge obstacles to Butterfree. Though Butterfree has Sleep Powder, some teams contain several of these Pokemon, and a smart opponent might be able to sacrifice another Pokemon to keep these walls awake and able to deal with Butterfree effectively. Strong physical attackers are the best options here; Sawk and Absol make particularly fantastic partners, as they can hit many of these Pokemon super effectively and either KO or leave a sizable dent in them, allowing Butterfree to gracefully swoop down and clean up the mess. However, some offensive Pokemon can still take boosted Bug Buzzes, so you might have to weaken the opponent's team a bit before being able to successfully sweep. Moves such as U-turn and Volt Switch do a good job of this by leaving tiny dents in the opposing team, which can be just enough to clear Butterfree's path, while simultaneously making it that much easier to get Butterfree into the match.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Stun Spore
move 3: Bug Buzz
move 4: U-turn
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Compoundeyes
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Despite Compoundeyes boosting the accuracy of Butterfree's status moves, her mediocre Speed and wet paper-bag defenses often make it difficult for her to successfully pull off a Sleep Powder or Stun Spore. Butterfree therefore has the option of utilizing a Choice Scarf to outspeed most NU Pokemon and inflict them with status. The main draw of this set is that it is almost guaranteed to put one opponent to sleep; this is a huge advantage in many games, as many NU teams cannot afford to have one Pokemon incapacitated for most of the match. However, note that Butterfree will be locked into whatever move she uses, which means that she can be played around much more easily. Still, if you're looking for a fast, reliable status spreader, then Choice Scarf Butterfree might be a perfect fit for your team.</p>
<p>As always, Sleep Powder is the key move here, as the ability to completely incapacitate a foe for most of the match is very appealing. While you can throw it out to cripple the switch-in and gain momentum, you might wish to save it to incapacitate a more problematic foe. U-turn works well in this situation, as it allows Butterfree to scout for sleep absorbers and can help swing momentum in your team's favor. The last two moves both serve important purposes: Stun Spore allows Butterfree to check speedy threats such as Cinccino, and while it will probably faint in the process, it will likely be a worthy trade. Bug Buzz is a not a particularly powerful move due to the lack of Tinted Lens, but it does allow Butterfree to revenge kill frailer opponents, such as Kadabra, Serperior, and Cinccino.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With maximum Speed investment and a Timid nature, Butterfree outspeeds the entire unboosted NU metagame bar Electrode and Ninjask. The remaining EVs go into Special Attack to boost the power of Bug Buzz, allowing it to hit frail opponents for respectable damage. Alternatively, those EVs can go in HP to give Butterfree some extra bulk. However, note that doing so will make Bug Buzz do pathetic damage against anything with a reasonable Special Defense stat, so it might be better replaced with a support move such as Toxic or Roost. You can also elect to use Butterfree more offensively by using Tinted Lens over Compoundeyes and a coverage move over Stun Spore; this makes her a decent revenge killer that can put troublesome opponents to sleep. However, Butterfree is not that strong without a Special Attack boost, and in the end, Butterfree's main niche lies in her accurate status moves, so Tinted Lens is the inferior option.</p>
<p>Butterfree is extremely weak to Stealth Rock, and this set will likely have to switch in and out of the match throughout the battle; these factors make Rapid Spin support absolutely mandatory. Cryogonal, Wartortle, Torkoal, and Armaldo are excellent choices in this role. While each of these Pokemon unfortunately lacks the typing necessary to cover Butterfree's slew of weaknesses, they each have their own unique assets: excellent Special Defense and reliable recovery, access to Foresight, and the ability to lay Stealth Rock, respectively. Thanks to Magic Bounce, Natu can prevent Stealth Rock from being set up entirely, and is arguably a better fit on offensive teams due to his access to U-turn. However, do note that as Natu is so frail and the premier Stealth Rock users in the tier have a Rock typing, you shouldn't rely wholly on Natu to keep Stealth Rock off the field.</p>
<p>This set works particularly well with Pokemon that can make use of a single free turn to wreak havoc; with Sleep Powder and U-turn, Butterfree can frequently force a switch and get a teammate in safely. This makes Pokemon such as Swellow, Gorebyss, Absol, and Ursaring excellent partners; Swellow and Ursaring only need one free switch-in to activate their status Orbs and start dishing out huge amounts of damage, while Gorebyss and Absol can utilize that one free turn to set up a Shell Smash or Swords Dance and sweep. In the end, the most important thing to remember about this Butterfree is that it excels on offensive teams, where one free turn can make or break a match.</p>
[SET]
name: Double Powder
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Stun Spore
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Bug Buzz
item: Leftovers
ability: Compoundeyes
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Reminiscent of the days of old where Butterfree did not have boons such as Choice Scarf and Quiver Dance to assist her, this set utilizes the age-old double status strategy to cripple the opposing team. This strategy is simple: Sleep Powder something, and then Stun Spore the probable switch-in. With proper prediction, Butterfree will be able to cripple a third of the opposing team. It is important to note that this set particularly excels at spreading paralysis; between the switches forced from Substitute and Sleep Powder, Butterfree can easily paralyze several opponents. Unfortunately, Butterfree does not have outstanding Speed, which means that you must switch her into a slower Pokemon to get the most mileage out of her.</p>
<p>As always, Sleep Powder is the most essential move on this set, and with Compoundeyes boosting its accuracy, it immediately presents a huge threat to the opponent. Stun Spore, while not nearly as useful as Sleep Powder, gives Butterfree another way to cripple offensive threats. Substitute is an interesting move for this set, and it serves a myriad of purposes. First of all, it eases the prediction needed to effectively pull off the double powder strategy. Instead of having to blindly pick Stun Spore and hope the opponent switches, Substitute guarantees that a turn will not be wasted. It also gives Butterfree a form of protection: if the opponent switches, Butterfree can use Stun Spore on the switch-in as it breaks her Substitute, and if it doesn't, Butterfree can just hammer away at it with Bug Buzz next. Secondly, Substitute can bluff a Quiver Dance set, luring out offensive counters that will despise being paralyzed. Finally, Substitute also protects Butterfree if the opponent should only sleep for a single turn and manage to attack her. Bug Buzz rounds off this set nicely and allows Butterfree to deal some damage if she has the opportunity to attack or is Taunted, and it can break Substitutes from Pokemon such as Jynx and Mesprit which would otherwise stop Butterfree from spreading status.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Due to Butterfree's lackluster bulk, the best way to utilize this set is to invest in Speed as heavily as possible, allowing Butterfree to outspeed as many foes as possible and status them. Maximum Special Attack makes Butterfree's Bug Buzz decently strong, helping it break Substitutes. If you find that Bug Buzz isn't particularly useful, though, you can invest those EVs in HP instead to increase Butterfree's bulk. Note that Bug Buzz will become pitifully weak, so an alternative support move, such as Roost or Toxic, might be useful. Tinted Lens can also be used to ensure that opponents that resist Bug Buzz, such as Garbodor and Haunter, do not set up on her. However, Butterfree's main niche lies in her accurate status moves, so Compoundeyes is usually the preferred ability.</p>
<p>While Team Preview makes most dedicated leads unnecessary, Sleep Powder means Butterfree is an exception to this rule. If you intend to lead with this Butterfree, make sure to use Focus Sash, as well as U-turn and Tailwind instead of Bug Buzz and Substitute. Though Butterfree does not have outstanding Speed, she is usually just fast enough to outspeed common lead Stealth Rock users, such as Golem and Regirock, enabling her to put them to sleep. From there, Butterfree can U-turn out to keep momentum, or use Stun Spore on the switch-in. Tailwind actually works very well on such a set; Butterfree can survive a hit thanks to Focus Sash, paralyze the Pokemon that attacked her, then use Tailwind as she faints to give your team a useful three turns of boosted Speed.</p>
<p>Butterfree's massive weakness to Stealth Rock is compounded by the fact that she might have to switch in numerous times; Rapid Spin users are therefore necessary teammates. Unfortunately, due to NU's lack of good spinners, almost all of the available ones share weaknesses with Butterfree. Nonetheless, Cryogonal, Armaldo, Torkoal, and Wartortle are perhaps the best spinners to pair with Butterfree, and they each have distinguishing factors that make them particularly good. For example, despite being weak to Stealth Rock themselves, Armaldo and Torkoal can both set up Stealth Rock, while Wartortle is not weak to Stealth Rock and can use Foresight to guarantee a spin. Though Cryogonal cannot boast either of these traits, it is the only spinner that can successfully beat Misdreavus one-on-one, which makes it arguably the most reliable spinner.</p>
<p>As previously mentioned, this variant of Butterfree spreads paralysis very well. Slow, powerful sweepers such as Marowak, Rampardos, Emboar, Absol, and Exeggutor hence make fantastic partners, as the paralysis support she provides greatly increases their sweeping capabilities. Furthermore, Butterfree can also incapacitate a potential threat with Sleep Powder, which further increases the aforementioned sweepers' ability to smash through the opposition. Additionally, as these Pokemon are so powerful, they can often force out or KO a sleeping Pokemon, allowing Butterfree to keep a Pokemon incapacitated for the match.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Though Butterfree has multiple viable sets, if you look closely, you'll notice that most of them consist of similar moves. This is because Butterfree actually has a very, very tiny movepool that lacks solid competitive options aside from those listed. However, Butterfree does have a few extra tricks she can pull off with reasonable success. Butterfree has access to some excellent support moves in Roost, Whirlwind, and Toxic; unfortunately, Butterfree's frailty makes them more often than not wasted moveslots. Butterfree has alternative special attacks in Giga Drain, Psychic, Shadow Ball, and various Hidden Power types, which can be useful in assorted circumstances, but Tinted Lens usually renders most of these moves unnecessary, and if running Compoundeyes, Butterfree would much rather make use of her otherwise inaccurate status moves. Finally, Butterfree has the option of using the field support moves Rain Dance, Sunny Day, and Tailwind, but she is often too frail and slow to use them effectively, though Sleep Powder is definitely helpful on such a set.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Though Butterfree can be a fearsome sweeper or reliable status spreader, one thing that will forever remain a thorn in her side is Stealth Rock. As long as Stealth Rock is on the field, Butterfree will be heavily crippled; losing 50% of her HP is extremely detrimental for her as she often needs as much of her HP as possible to survive even light attacks. Keeping Stealth Rock on the field is therefore one of the best ways to clip Butterfree's wings and prevent her from sweeping your team.</p>
<p>That said, Butterfree is still not completely dead weight even if you do manage to keep Stealth Rock up; Sleep Powder is as deadly as ever, so if Butterfree switches in successfully, she's almost guaranteed to incapacitate one of your Pokemon. A Sleep Talk user such as Lickilicky or Musharna is ideal in this role, as they can absorb the sleep without fear. However, Butterfree will be able to set up on them if they lack a phazing move or get poor Sleep Talk rolls, making an additional phazer or hazer an excellent idea. Altaria, Wartortle, Cryogonal, and Camerupt are excellent choices for this job due to their nice special bulk. If you do not wish to use a Sleep Talk user, it is also possible to simply sacrifice a Pokemon to sleep and have another counter to Butterfree. Make sure that the Pokemon you sacrifice to sleep can still hurt Butterfree though; otherwise, you might find that Butterfree will set up in its face with startling ease.</p>
<p>Once the threat of sleep has been removed from the equation, Butterfree really isn't difficult to deal with. Even after a Quiver Dance boost, the likes of Cryogonal, Quagsire, Altaria, Lickilicky, and Probopass will still wall her, while Choice Scarf Rotom-S, Magmortar, and Braviary will still outspeed her. Furthermore, Butterfree is neither overly powerful nor fast, meaning that quite a few Pokemon can take her attacks and KO in return. Priority attacks will also take a heavy toll on her due to her physical frailty. While Butterfree can circumvent both of these issues with Substitute, plenty of Pokemon can beat Substitute variants as well; Cinccino, Golem, and Armaldo are just some of the Pokemon that have access to a strong multi-hit move that will break Butterfree's frail Substitutes and hit her for massive damage. In the end, the key to beating Butterfree is to play around Sleep Powder and make sure she does not set up, as if she cripples her main counter and obtains a Quiver Dance and Substitute, you will have a monstrosity on your hands.</p>
