Sawsbuck

[Destiny Warrior]

Sawsbuck
​

[B]#586 Sawsbuck[/B]
Typing: Normal/Grass

Ability 1: Chlorophyll
[INDENT]Speed doubles in the sun.[/INDENT]
Ability 2: Sap Sipper
[INDENT]Attack raised when hit with a Grass-type attack.[/INDENT]
Ability 3 (Dream World): Serene Grace
[INDENT]Chance of secondary effects occurring is doubled.[/INDENT]


HP: 80
Atk: 100
Def: 70
SpA: 60
SpD: 70
Spe: 95

Evolutionary Chain:
Deerling --> (lv34) Sawsbuck

[B]Level-Up Moves[/B] 
Lv1: Megahorn
Lv1: Tackle
Lv1: Camouflage
Lv1: Growl
Lv1: Sand-Attack
Lv4: Growl
Lv7: Sand-Attack
Lv10: Double Kick
Lv13: Leech Seed
Lv16: Faint Attack
Lv20: Take Down
Lv24: Jump Kick
Lv28: Aromatherapy
Lv32: Energy Ball
Lv36: Charm
Lv37: Horn Leech
Lv44: Nature Power
Lv52: Double-Edge
Lv60: Solarbeam

[I][B]Horn Leech[/B]: Physical Grass PP: 10 Power: 75 / Accuracy: 100 
Effect: If this attack is successful, user gains half of HP lost by opponent due to this attack.[/I]

[I][B]Jump Kick:[/B] Physical Fighting PP: 10 Power: 100 / Accuracy: 95 
Effect: If this attack misses or becomes ineffective, user loses half of the damage the attack would have dealt.[/I]

[B]TMs / HMs[/B]
TM06 - Toxic
TM10 - Hidden Power
TM11 - Sunny Day
TM15 - Hyper Beam
TM16 - Light Screen
TM17 - Protect
TM18 - Rain Dance
TM20 - Safeguard
TM21 - Frustration
TM22 - Solar Beam
TM27 - Return
TM30 - Shadow Ball
TM32 - Double Team
TM42 - Facade
TM44 - Rest
TM45 - Attract
TM48 - Troll
TM49 - Echo Voice
TM53 - Energy Ball
TM67 - Get Even
TM68 - Giga Impact
TM70 - Flash
TM73 - Thunder Wave
TM75 - Swords Dance
TM83 - Cheer Up
TM86 - Grass Knot
TM87 - Swagger
TM90 - Substitute
TM93 - Wild Bolt
TM94 - Rock Smash
HM01 - Cut

[I][B]Wild Charge:[/B]  Physical Electric PP: Physical Electric PP: 15 Power: 90 / Accuracy: 100 
Effect: Returns to user 1/4 of HP lost by opponent due to this attack.[/I]

[B]Egg Moves[/B]
Fake Tears
Natural Gift
Synthesis
Worry Seed
Odor Sleuth
Agility
Sleep Talk
Baton Pass
GrassWhistle

Sawsbuck looks like one of the bigger threats in the metagame. With Drought Vulpix available, Sawsbuck can shoot to 600+ speed after Chlorophyll is factored in. It also has very usable 100 base Attack, backed by Swords Dance and pretty good coverage between its STABs and Jump Kick. Sadly, this lacks a way to get around Dusclops(+2 Horn Leech doing something in the 30-35% range), but this is compensated by being able to heal itself in the middle of a sweep, taking advantage of bulky Waters like Suicune etc. I see the standard set being:-

Sawsbuck @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Horn Leech
- Nature Power

Discuss.

 

[Engineer Pikachu]

I actually don't find Jump Kick to be very useful on Mebukujika / Sawsbuck. While 100 Power is pretty decent, the only thing it hits super-effectively in the top 20 in terms of OU usage is Zoroark, who'd die from everything else. I can foresee Intimidate Arcanine being a nuisance to this set, which is why I'd suggest Nature Power over Return. In PO, Nature Power turns into Earthquake... :D

 

[SgtWoodsy]

as the head of the sawsbuck fan club i feel obligated to post about him.

sd / horn leech / nature power / return sounds like a good set, as engineer pikachu mentioned, since there are a lot more pokemon weak to ground than there are to fighting in the top 20. however, i feel return should stay in order to hit those flying-types like zapdos hard, who would otherwise have a field day.

 

[Destiny Warrior]

That's a good point, and Zoroark and Sawsbuck die to +2 return in any case. I am changing the set.

 

[Son_of_Shadoo]

Why Nature Power, of all things, rather than the likes of Megahorn?

I'd advocate Megahorn as a good option with the likes of Mew and Celebi now running around UU...

 

[SunshineCat]

Nature Power turns into Earthquake in a Wi-Fi environment.

 

[Destiny Warrior]

+2 Return also OHKOes Offensive Mew and Celebi. As for Defensive variants, that's where team support comes in, and Sawsbucks houldn't be getting OHKOed by defensive variants, meaning it can 2hko, and even heal itself off Mew a lot of the time.

 

[TEA_DEMON]

this thing is honestly quite scary in sun. the healing from horn leech means that not even a burn is a good way to deal with it quite often, and it's bulky enough to take most priority attacks.

 

[PlatinumDude]

IIRC, Deerling evolves into Sawsbuck at level 37, not 34. If Sawsbuck is somehow used outside of Chlorophyll, then you can use Sap Sipper to switch into Grass attacks for a free Attack boost. A bit situational at best, I know.

 

[Destiny Warrior]

I wouldn't really use Sap Sipper Sawsbuck. Reason? Cobalion, Mew and a whole host of other things that are in the 100 Speed Tier and high. They seem common, and they can very easily force regular switches out of Sawsbuck. WHat's the point of getting +1 Atk when you have to switch out immediately? Unlike with Chlorophyll, SDing on the switch =/= ready for sweep.

 

[Virizion]

I love this Pokemon. I used it on my playthrough of the game, so I looked hard for a good one to EV. I use a Jolly Chlorophyll SD'er or a Bander, they both work well alongside my other Sun team members. My favorite thing about Sawsbuck is how bad it beats Rotom-W (Bar HP-Fire which I've not seen yet) as a Banded Horn Leech kills easily. I also enjoy Horn Leeching things like Vaporeon (Random Matchup) for tons of HP.

I'm glad Game Freak didn't mess up on this Poke, the only thing I dislike about it is its Japanese name (Mebukijika sounds stupid IMO).

 

[Destiny Warrior]

That's significant to show it can work in OU, but Rotom-W and Vaporeon are OU, not UU....(n/o intended).

Also, I don't think a Chocie Band is really sufficient for a sweep. Swords Dance + Life Orb seems to be the bare minimum for getting the needed KOes imo.

 

[Virizion]

That's significant to show it can work in OU, but Rotom-W and Vaporeon are OU, not UU....(n/o intended).

Also, I don't think a Chocie Band is really sufficient for a sweep. Swords Dance + Life Orb seems to be the bare minimum for getting the needed KOes imo.

I play Random Matchup in-game, there are no tiers in that format.

Also, I like Band more than SD + LO because the opposing Pokemon would likely kill him while he's setting up.

 

[Wrave]

Back before the OU was defined, I used Sap Sipper Sawsbuck on a rain team. Switch in on Serperior or any grass move, KO with Megahorn.

Sawsbuck @ Life Orb
Sap Sipper
252 Atk/128 Sp/128 HP
Megahorn
Return
Jump Kick
Horn Leech

This thing made mince meat of any Grass Type after a boost. Ferothorn gets OHKO'd by Jump Kick. Return and Horn Leech are for STAB, Megahorn deals with those pesky Grass Types, Jump Kick KO's steels.

 

[Destiny Warrior]

@Virizion: Not necessarily. There a lot of Pokemon Sawsbuck can tank a hit from, and then proceed to SD. Besides, Horn Leech plays a large role in its survivability.

 

[Benlisted]

I'm very unsure why you'd want NP over Jump Kick in this tier, since Chansey is so prevalent, Gengar, Skarm and Chandelure who wall you are absent, and Tran who is the main reason to use NP is also gone.

Sawsbuck looks hellishly good in UU if I'm honest. The above walls it faces are gone, as are many of the prevalent mach punchers who also give it a lot of issues. Can probably drop a tad of speed as well since there isn't the odd Scarf Latios to revenge like in OU, giving it even more reasonable bulk.

 

[Choice Socks]

Double edge > Return
Sure recoil is a bitch, but he has recovery in horn leach.

 

[Venser]

In my experience, +2 Return gets the KOs you need it to. If you want to be risky you can use Double-Edge, but the recoil is usually too much (especially as Sawsbuck is a status magnet).

 

[Shroomisaur]

I agree with Destiny Warrior and Venser here, Sawsbuck has decent bulk and can usually pull off a Swords Dance, but Double Edge recoil on top of LO is too much residual damage when +2 Return does the job just as well.

 

[Sceats]

Oh man, love sawsbuck and have been using his since last september :]

Unfortunately he doesent have much room for versatility aside from megahorn for big bad psychics like cresselia and deoxys-d, however the set listed in the op is amazing and doesent need to change. People talk about double edge as if using it combined with lo is a smart idea when it has a stab move stronger than earthquake at its disposal with no drawbacks. Horn leech in no way heals fast enough to recover the recoil and will generally garner little return from the risk, especially if you managed a sd.

Similarly, essentially the only reason jump kick was used in ou was due to ferrothorn and wierd annoying stuff like balloon heatran. There is no reason for jump kick in this environment apart from maybe maybe kyurem. Otherwise your just setting yourself up for an unneccesary risk, remember that theres a 1/20 chance that everytime you click jump kick you will die from the combination of recoil and being hit.

 

[Oni Spumoni]

Is it completely crazy to want to make some kind of Physical Wall Sawsbuck? Something like:


Nawsbuck:

Sawsbuck @ Big Root
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Camouflage / Swords Dance / Toxic
- Synthesis / Swords Dance / Toxic
- Horn Leech
- Leech Seed

I put Camouflage in there just so when you're playing a match in a room with someone else, you can just Camo and turn yourself into Normal and eliminate almost all it's weaknesses. I can't really decide on a move set for this goof troop. Also maybe Sub could go in here for some Subseed action?

Also, came up with another goofy move set:

Staggerbuck

Sawsbuck @ Big Root
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Swagger
- Thunder Wave
- Horn Leech
- Leech Seed / Jump Kick / Swords Dance

These are strictly to make people wat out, but they seem semi legit. Thoughts?

 

[Plausiblegrunt]

go jolly nature eves 252 in atk and speed

moves
Horn leech
jump-kick
double edge
swords dance

 

[Oni Spumoni]

go jolly nature eves 252 in atk and speed

moves
Horn leech
jump-kick
double edge
swords dance

Nah.

 

[elchupo]

Is it completely crazy to want to make some kind of Physical Wall Sawsbuck? Something like:


Nawsbuck:

Sawsbuck @ Big Root
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Camouflage / Swords Dance / Toxic
- Synthesis / Swords Dance / Toxic
- Horn Leech
- Leech Seed

I put Camouflage in there just so when you're playing a match in a room with someone else, you can just Camo and turn yourself into Normal and eliminate almost all it's weaknesses. I can't really decide on a move set for this goof troop. Also maybe Sub could go in here for some Subseed action?

Also, came up with another goofy move set:

Staggerbuck

Sawsbuck @ Big Root
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Swagger
- Thunder Wave
- Horn Leech
- Leech Seed / Jump Kick / Swords Dance

These are strictly to make people wat out, but they seem semi legit. Thoughts?

Yeah. The only thing Sawsbuck should be doing is hitting things hard under sunlight. The second set is also outclassed by various other things with Prankster.

As far as the coverage debate is concerned, I checked it out way back and Wild Bolt gives better coverage w/ Sawsbucks STAB's than Jump Kick, at least in the lower tiers, but JK hits more things super effectively. I guess the choice ultimately would come down to what your team has trouble with.

 

[JockeMS]

IIRC, Deerling evolves into Sawsbuck at level 37, not 34.

WROOOONG! Na, but seriously, Deerling does evolve into Sawsbuck at lv. 34. I've evolved plenty of them so I know.