Drifblim (Uber Baton Pass)

Updated again, ready for QC checks



[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move 1: Minimize
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Disable / Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Baton Pass
item: Leftovers / Mental Herb
ability: Aftermath / Unburden
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Why this set deserves to be on-site:
Drifblim holds a niche in ubers as the only Pokémon which can learn the combination of Minimize + Baton Pass. It is therefore useful on full Baton Pass teams, and can also quick-pass evasion boosts to a dangerous recipient.

Once it gets a Minimize boost off, Drifblim is very difficult to take down, especially by a stall team. It can repeatedly use Substitute to prevent the opponent from using Dragon Tail, which will miss often after the boost. Similarly, Whirlwind and Roar will also have a chance of missing, although they will not be blocked by Substitute.

Additional Comments:
The combination of Minimize, Substitute and Baton Pass is the crux of the set and should not be changed.

The remaining move has some different possibilities. Disable is the preferred option, as it allows Drifblim to play around choice-locked moves, especially Thunder. Will-O-Wisp can be used to cripple physical attackers and allow further setup. Shadow Ball is an option to allow Drifblim to do something when Taunted, but Drifblim should generally use a Mental Herb if Taunt is a problem. Stockpile and Calm Mind can be used to pass more boosts, depending on the recipient. Acrobatics can be used with Flying Gem in order to activate Unburden, but it lacks power, and Drifblim has better things to do than fire off weak attacks.

Leftovers is the preferred item, as it allows Drifblim to recover health while setting up. Mental Herb can be used to avoid Taunt, especially from Prankster Pokémon such as Thundurus and Sableye. Mental Herb also holds the bonus of activating Unburden, allowing Drifblim to outspeed fast Pokémon such as Deoxys-S after being Taunted. A Focus Sash + Unburden set can be used for a quick pass, given Drifblim's immunity to common priority. However, Focus Sash is nullified by Substitute, a key move for boosting evasion; in addition, a Focus Sash set is only viable as a lead due to the omnipresence of Stealth Rock. If a Focus Sash is used, a Timid nature along with at least 164 speed EVs is recommended, in order to outspeed Scarf Terrakion after the Unburden boost.

Drifblim should always fully invest in Speed, in order to pass its boosts as reliably as possible. The remainder of EVs are invested into bulk, allowing Drifblim to take a Scarf Kyogre's Water Spout 75% of the time. These EVs in bulk also require Dialga, Palkia and Kyogre to carry a boosting item in order to guarantee a OHKO with Thunder.

Teammates & Counters:

It is important to note that Prankster Taunt users, such as Thundurus and Sableye, shut down Drifblim completely. Keep in mind, however, that Drifblim may be carrying a Mental Herb, allowing it to pass any boosts it already has. A fast Taunt user such as Deoxys-S can also Taunt Drifblim, but must be wary of Shadow Ball, and it will get outsped if Drifblim has an Unburden boost.

If Drifblim is being used on a full Baton Pass team, it should be partnered with Espeon, whose Magic Bounce ability allows it to repel phazing attempts as well as status or Taunt. A bulky electric-resistance is also useful, in order to take perfectly-accurate Thunders aimed at Drifblim. Celebi is a good candidate for this role, as it can learn Baton Pass and can support the team with dual screens or further boosts. Drifblim also appreciates some speed boosts before it starts setting up, so Ninjask is a usable partner.

Groudon is notable for its ability to both switch into a Thunder and reduce the accuracy of further Thunders. However, it does not learn Baton Pass, making it the end of any chain. Latias will take almost no damage from Thunder, but it cannot learn Baton Pass, making it, similarly, the end of a Baton Pass chain.

If Drifblim is used to quick-pass to a teammate, it should be paired with a bulky set-up sweeper, in order to make good use of the evasion boosts. Extreme Killer Arceus is a prime candidate, as it is even more devastating when it can dodge revenge-killing attempts. Calm Mind Kyogre can also be used, but its weakness to Thunder makes it a poorer candidate.

Before Drifblim starts setting up, one should take advantage of Drifblim's mediocre 80 base speed stat, which allows it to be outsped by most offensive Pokemon in the tier. Any powerful STAB move will do significant damage to Drifblim if it does not outright OHKO.
After Drifblim has several evasion boosts, it is significantly more difficult to counter. Kyogre, Palkia and Dialga can all use Thunder with perfect accuracy in the rain; however, none can guarantee a OHKO Drifblim without a boosting item. A choiced user of Thunder is also susceptible to Disable. Lugia can use Whirlwind on Drifblim, but the move can miss after a few evasion boosts.

Edit Log:
Added Disable for third moveslot
Added Focus Sash in AC
Mentioned Groudon
Switched order of Brightpowder and Mental Herb
Edited the EV spread, with the original one now in the set's description
Removed Shadow Ball, Stockpile and Calm mind, mentioned in description
Added Will-O-Wisp
 
Disable should be the primary third move. It allows Drifblim to make Choiced Pokemon struggle and is also generally useful to buy a free turn as the opponent switches.
 

Mr. Uncompetitive

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I've never actually faced Drifblim (let alone used it) but wouldn't Focus Sash be a possible option for at least AC? If you are brought down to your Sash and avoid residual damage you're pretty much guaranteed to pull off the Baton Pass thanks to Unburden. Unless of course you wish to pass boosts outside of Minimize in which case you're better off with Leftovers or something.
 

Focus

Ubers Tester Extraordinaire
I think Brightpowder only deserves an AC mention at best, because Leftovers is generally much better. Drifblim seriously appreciates the recovery as it fishes for misses with Substitute, and Brightpowder is only useful in a desperation situation while you hope your opponent's attack will miss while you get your first Minimize in. Smeargle should probably be mentioned as a teammate because it is a great Ubers BP user overall. Maybe even mention Groudon as well because its Drought kills the accuracy of Thunder.
 
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Keep in mind that while I've used this set, I haven't used every single varient (items/ability/movepool) and therefore I don't have a perfect idea of which aspects are better than others.
 

Theorymon

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I am gonna have to think about this for a while honestly. While Driftblim was actually one of the few Pokemon that could take advantage of Evasion, it still can be really inconsistent because Evasion can be more unreliable than you expect... I can say that Brightpowder wasn't really good at all, I wouldn't even mention it. Also, I tended to prefer Aftermath. On non BP teams, Aftermath was pretty much always better because it at least let Drifblim do SOMETHING when it died, plus you cant baton pass unburden boosts anyways.

Again, very unsure if I'm going to approve this yet. I'll get Furai to post his thoughts too since he actually used it on a Baton Pass team often (I mostly used it stand alone). I'll post an update when I decide!
 
Just as a nitpick, because Drifblim does not have an analysis in Ubers, there needs to be an Overview, Other Options, and Checks and Counters section most likely.
 
Just as a nitpick, because Drifblim does not have an analysis in Ubers, there needs to be an Overview, Other Options, and Checks and Counters section most likely.
I noticed that. I'm willing to write that at some point, though my spring break ends soon and I may be busy.
 

Furai

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Here are my thoughts. Something to take Thunders is a must; Celebi is a great example because it can also pass boosts and Baton Pass as well. Something to boost up your speed is MANDATORY as well. Ninjask is iffy and gets wrecked by Tina-O but can work effectively if luck is with you.

Set should look as following:
[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move 1: Minimize
move 2: Baton Pass
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Disable / Will-O-Wisp
item: Leftovers
ability: Aftermath
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

AC: Protect, Mental Herb, Stockpile, Calm Mind, Acrobatics + Flying Gem

You want to be as fast as possible and not tank hits. Rather, you want to get the boosts fast and disable troublesome moves. Disable makes Choiced Thunders, Darkrai, and Arceus completely useless. Once the troublesome move is disabled you can freely setup Minimize and Baton Pass. Will-O-Wisp can be used to weaken physical Pokemon such as Arceus and Rayquaza which can be proven troublesome.

Prankster Taunt from Sableye, Thundurus-I, and Tornadus-I shred this set. Mention that Mental Herb helps with this. Protect to outstall moves and get Leftovers recovery for more Substitutes. Aftermath is more useful because Unburden doesn't go through Baton Pass. Drifblim probably won't have the time to setup Stockpile or Calm Mind but they deserve to be in AC because they might work. Acrobatics + Flying Gem w/ Unburden can work if you want to get the Speed fast without a Speedy Baton Passer.

I'm not going to QC this set yet because it pretty much locks you to Baton Pass, which is a very shaky strategy. I want to see Theorymon's standalone set first and then we'll see if we can combine the two.
 

tehy

Banned deucer.
Rayquaza, think about what you just said. Your receiver has to stay in for 2 turns and use Double Team, and waste a moveslot on it. That's really risky.

Theoretically this is more for BP chains than for the recipient;a minimize or two can lower the chance of your recipients getting trashed by something, taunted, phased, etc.
 
Here are my thoughts. Something to take Thunders is a must; Celebi is a great example because it can also pass boosts and Baton Pass as well. Something to boost up your speed is MANDATORY as well. Ninjask is iffy and gets wrecked by Tina-O but can work effectively if luck is with you.

Set should look as following:
[SET]
name: Baton Pass
move 1: Minimize
move 2: Baton Pass
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Disable / Will-O-Wisp
item: Leftovers
ability: Aftermath
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

AC: Protect, Mental Herb, Stockpile, Calm Mind, Acrobatics + Flying Gem

You want to be as fast as possible and not tank hits. Rather, you want to get the boosts fast and disable troublesome moves. Disable makes Choiced Thunders, Darkrai, and Arceus completely useless. Once the troublesome move is disabled you can freely setup Minimize and Baton Pass. Will-O-Wisp can be used to weaken physical Pokemon such as Arceus and Rayquaza which can be proven troublesome.

Prankster Taunt from Sableye, Thundurus-I, and Tornadus-I shred this set. Mention that Mental Herb helps with this. Protect to outstall moves and get Leftovers recovery for more Substitutes. Aftermath is more useful because Unburden doesn't go through Baton Pass. Drifblim probably won't have the time to setup Stockpile or Calm Mind but they deserve to be in AC because they might work. Acrobatics + Flying Gem w/ Unburden can work if you want to get the Speed fast without a Speedy Baton Passer.

I'm not going to QC this set yet because it pretty much locks you to Baton Pass, which is a very shaky strategy. I want to see Theorymon's standalone set first and then we'll see if we can combine the two.
I edited most of this into the OP. I think that Mental Herb+Unburden is quite viable; it allows Drifblim to pass on the boosts it already has against a Sableye/Tornadus. In addition, even if the speed boost doesn't get passed, it still allows Drifblim to outspeed Deoxys-S after getting taunted, allowing it to set up Minimize one more time even after Deoxys-S switches in.
 
I'm using Drifblim since a while and think it's best partner is max hp/max sDef+ Sableye with Swagger/Foulplay/Substitute/Recover combo. It is nearly impossible to kill it with 2 boosts passed. Use Sub until evasion works or simply use Swagger on Thunder users.

Can't remember having lost a single match after passing 2 minimize to it. Confusion/Evade combo is not more then 25% chance to hit and you nearly can't be killed by anything one-hitted.

But it is a bit hard to pull the switches off always. Herb is nice against taunt. Sash is nice against heavy attacking. But also Sitrus Berry is very nice, as I figured out. Unburden is a must. :)
 
Drifblim? I've faced one, yeah, but it didnt really put much of a fight. Scarfed Ogre, arguably the most commonly used form of Kyogre in the Uber Metagame, can easily outspeed and OHKO if it isnt running Focus Sash. Evasion wont do anything if Ogre chooses to use Thunder, and Drifblim would be dead weight if that happens. However, Drifblim CAN possibly set up in Deo-S' face with White Herb, and that can change the game in your favor. Overall, I don't think Drifblim is suited to the Uber Metagame even with Evasion.
 
While Drifblim can't come in on Scarf Kyogre, Kyogre is also not a safe switch-in. If Drifblim gets a Substitute up, it can use Disable to force Kyogre to switch, thus giving it an opportunity to set up another sub/more evasion boosts.

On a more general note, will there be a verdict on this any time soon? Even if the set gets rejected, I'd at least like to know rather then simply having the thread remain inactive.
 
While Drifblim can't come in on Scarf Kyogre, Kyogre is also not a safe switch-in. If Drifblim gets a Substitute up, it can use Disable to force Kyogre to switch, thus giving it an opportunity to set up another sub/more evasion boosts.

On a more general note, will there be a verdict on this any time soon? Even if the set gets rejected, I'd at least like to know rather then simply having the thread remain inactive.
I'm going to bump this again; as before, if you find the set inadequate, please reject it rather than ignoring it. It's a bit irritating to keep having to check the thread, only to find nothing has happened.
 

Furai

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You have to realise that this is a very mediocre Pokemon in Ubers after all. We, as the Quality Control team, must make sure that everything that goes on site is qualified enough. Drifblim is NO standalone Pokemon, and the fact that Baton Pass is such a risky teambuild, we absolutely must take our time.


And I say this as one with experience of using Drifblim.
 
You have to realise that this is a very mediocre Pokemon in Ubers after all. We, as the Quality Control team, must make sure that everything that goes on site is qualified enough. Drifblim is NO standalone Pokemon, and the fact that Baton Pass is such a risky teambuild, we absolutely must take our time.


And I say this as one with experience of using Drifblim.
Yes, I understand that, and I know that you're (understandably) not going to put something on-site without fully verifying its quality. However, with absolutely no discussion or activity in the thread for almost a month, it hardly seems condemnable to have made sure the task was still going on.
 
qc rejected

No shaky things will be approved. You are not like Smeargle either because Smash Pass will work most of the time as long as you play smart.
 
Hey guys.
Not trying to be annoying or a smartass or anything, but I would cut OP some slack:
I am pretty sure that a Thunder in the rain has 100% accuracy like Thunderbolt, not perfect accuracy like Shockwave.
So even Drifblim could potentially dodge a Thunder in the rain. Not that it is smart or a reliable strategy at all, but I'm just saying.
 

Furai

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Hey guys.
Not trying to be annoying or a smartass or anything, but I would cut OP some slack:
I am pretty sure that a Thunder in the rain has 100% accuracy like Thunderbolt, not perfect accuracy like Shockwave.
So even Drifblim could potentially dodge a Thunder in the rain. Not that it is smart or a reliable strategy at all, but I'm just saying.
It is perfect in rain, so it works much like Aerial Ace, Shock Wave, and Aura Sphere.

Not rejecting this yet, although I am on the fence.
 

Furai

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QC Rejected 3/3

Don't get me wrong; this set can be EXTREMELY DEADLY, but it's too team support reliant to function, thus I reject it.

let's make OO of analyses y/y
 

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