Overview
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Mandibuzz's use as a mixed wall is not to be overlooked, as her typing, movepool, and defenses together allow her to solve several problems that stall teams suffer from. Dark / Flying typing, in conjunction with Mandibuzz's solid defenses, allows her to take hits from Pokemon that typically give defensive teams trouble, such as Landorus, Gengar, and Breloom. Her movepool only makes things better, as having access to reliable recovery in Roost, a strong STAB move in Foul Play, and a number of useful support options makes her useful on a wide variety of teams. The popularity of Mega Diancie, Mega Altaria, and Mega Sableye in ORAS makes Mandibuzz a liability at times, as she's incapable of doing anything of note to them. Her weakness to Stealth Rock is also problematic, as she loses a quarter of her HP upon switching into it, making her ability to stop threats such as Mega Metagross and Mega Lopunny much shakier.
Utility Buzzard
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name: Utility Buzzard
move 1: Foul Play
move 2: Roost
move 3: Taunt / Toxic
move 4: Defog / Toxic / Knock Off
ability: Overcoat
item: Leftovers
evs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 108 SpD / 16 Spe
nature: Bold / Impish
Moves
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Foul Play is an especially useful STAB attack for Mandibuzz, allowing her to circumvent her weak Attack stat and use her foe's instead. Roost provides a reliable source of recovery, allowing Mandibuzz to keep her health up throughout the match. Taunt provides the ability to stop enemies from using status moves, preventing them from boosting their stats, setting up hazards, inflicting status, and healing themselves. Toxic provides another form of damage, chipping away at bulky or specially based Pokemon that take little damage from Foul Play, such as Rotom-W. Defog allows Mandibuzz to remove entry hazards from both sides of the field, preventing Mandibuzz and her teammates from being worn down by the omnipresent Stealth Rock. Lastly, Knock Off is useful for removing items from enemies.
Set Details
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248 HP EVs maximize Mandibuzz's health, making her as tanky as possible while allowing her to switch into Stealth Rock four times without fainting. 108 EVs are allocated to Special Defense, preventing Landorus from 2HKOing Mandibuzz with Focus Blast and helping her to better take Sludge Waves from Gengar. 16 Speed EVs allow Mandibuzz to outrun fully invested Adamant Azumarill and hit it with Foul Play after it sets up a Belly Drum. The remaining EVs go into Defense to help with taking physical hits.
Leftovers provides passive health regeneration, which Mandibuzz greatly appreciates. Overcoat provides Mandibuzz with an immunity to sand and the rare hail. It also allows her to switch into powder moves, such as Breloom and Amoonguss's Spore and Mega Venusaur's Sleep Powder, which makes her an excellent check to them. A Bold nature and 0 Attack IVs are used because Foul Play uses the foe's Attack stat instead of Mandibuzz's, so the lower Attack minimizes the amount of damage that confusion and opposing users of Foul Play will do. If you opt to run Knock Off, an Impish nature and 31 Attack IVs maximize the damage it will do.
Usage Tips
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Mandibuzz's bulk and typing allow her to enter the field on resisted or non-threatening attacks, where it can wall and wear down the opposing team. The combination of Taunt and Toxic completely shuts down passive threats such as Chansey, Hippowdon, and Slowbro, but it also can wear down defensive pairings, with one member often being rendered completely useless by Taunt while the other is quickly worn down by Toxic. Alternatively, the combination of Taunt and Defog turns Mandibuzz into a dedicated anti-hazard wall capable of removing hazards and preventing them from being set up again. If the opposing Stealth Rock setter isn't a threat to Mandibuzz, switching in as they set up Stealth Rock will allow Mandibuzz to immediately remove the entry hazard as well as avoid taking damage, which greatly helps in avoiding being 2HKOed by Mega Metagross's Meteor Mash and Mega Lopunny's High Jump Kick.
Team Options
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Being predominantly a physical wall, Mandibuzz enjoys the presence of special walls that can soak up powerful attacks for it. Chansey makes for a good partner, as it can work as a cleric to keep Mandibuzz and the rest of the team free of status. Mandibuzz works well with a reliable Stealth Rock user, such as Hippowdon or Landorus-T, as Defog will remove your own hazards as well as your opponent's. Pokemon that are weak to Stealth Rock, such as Charizard, Volcarona, and Talonflame, all appreciate Mandibuzz's Defogging ability. If Mandibuzz isn't running Defog, it'll need a partner that can remove hazards for it. On defensive teams, Tentacruel and defensive Starmie can provide Rapid Spin support. On offensively based teams, Excadrill or Latios will be more effective. Fairy-types give Mandibuzz a lot of trouble, so a partner that can deal with them is crucial. Heatran, Jirachi, Ferrothorn, and Mega Charizard Y all have good synergy with Mandibuzz while being able to take on Fairy-types thanks to their typing. Other Pokemon such as Toxic Spikes Dragalge or specially defensive Gliscor make for great choices too.
Other Options
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Whirlwind forces the opponent to randomly switch to another Pokemon, which lets Mandibuzz force out boosting sweepers, keep dangerous Pokemon from switching in, and drag the opponent's team through whatever entry hazards are on their side of the field. U-turn is a an option in order to lure in Mandibuzz's checks and counters, as well as bring fast, frail Pokemon in without exposing them to damage. Tailwind doubles the Speed of your team for five turns, which can be priceless for balanced teams that need a quick boost. Brave Bird can be used over Foul Play if your team needs a way to deal with Mega Lopunny, Mega Venusaur, Breloom, or Amoonguss, but it's weaker than Foul Play in most situations. Lastly, Rocky Helmet can provide a way to punish physical attacks, especially U-turn, though the passive recovery that Leftovers brings is very good as well.
Checks & Counters
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**Fairy-types**: Most Fairy-types are able to come in on Mandibuzz for nearly no cost by virtue of their typing. They resist Foul Play, leaving only Toxic as a reliable way to inflict damage. Mega Diancie is particularly threatening, as its Magic Bounce renders Mandibuzz unable to Taunt or Toxic it, leaving it free to set up or fire off powerful Moonblasts.
**Mega Sableye**: Thanks to its typing, Magic Bounce, and movepool, Mega Sableye can switch into Mandibuzz with no fear and proceed to set up with Calm Mind, burn it with Will-O-Wisp, and wear it down. Although the utility set isn't as immediately dangerous to Mandibuzz, Mega Sableye will be able to stall Mandibuzz out the PP of Roost thanks to Will-O-Wisp and Knock Off, while Mandibuzz will not be able to respond.
**Special Attackers**: Despite Mandibuzz being an answer to Landorus and Gengar, it struggles with most special attackers. Pokemon such as Raikou, Thundurus, Keldeo, Mega Charizard Y, and Latios are all capable of severely damaging Mandibuzz, if not OHKOing it.
**Status**: Toxic poison puts a timer on Mandibuzz, preventing it from staying in for extended periods of time. The residual damage a burn deals is less of an issue than poison's, but it halves the damage output of Foul Play, making Mandibuzz unable to deal with threats as easily as before.
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