GatoDelFuego

[Overview]

<p>Mantyke is a rather unique Pokemon in Little Cup. It is one of the few Water-types that can take on Grass-types thanks to its secondary Flying- typing. This also makes it a good check to Fighting-types and Ground-types. However, its Flying- typing works as a double-edged sword as it gives it a crippling 4x Electric weakness and a weakness to Stealth Rock. Don't let this putsteer you offfrom using Mantyke, though, as it does have a few more things going for it. It has the best Special Defense in Little Cup by far and it haposesses two great abilities, allowing it to be both a Ddefensive and Ooffensive threat.</p>

[SET]
name: RestTalk
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Air Slash
move 4: Scald / Toxic
item: Eviolite
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Bold
evs: 156 HP / 196 Def / 36 SpA / 116 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Thanks to its great defenses, Mantyke is a good candidate for a RestTalk set. With the given EVs and an Eviolite, Mantyke reaches a Special Defense stat of 30, (AC) allowing it to take on many Sspecial Aattackers such as Snover and Misdreavus. Thanks to the dDefense investment and its secondary Flying-type, it can also take on many Fighting-types such as Timburr, Croagunk and Mienfoo, although, (AC) it must watch out for the occasional Stone Edge from the latter. The various Grass-types of the tier, (AC) such as Shroomish and Foongus, (AC) also fear this set, (AC) since Mantyke shrugs off the status moves that they commonly carry with Rest.</p>

<p>Rest and Sleep Talk are the obviousmandatory moves; Rest is Mantyke's only form of recovery and it removes status likesuch as Toxic, which would otherwise cripple it severely, whilst Sleep Talk stops Mantyke from being dead weight after it has rused Rested. Air Slash is Mantyke's most reliable STAB move, (AC) and it allows it to take on the aforementioned Fighting- and Grass-types. The last moveslot is a toss-up between Scald and Toxic. Scald is a decent secondary STAB and it deals large damage to Rock-, Ground- and Fire-types. The 30% burn chance is also appreciated which can help against Pphysical attackers. Toxic, however, is great for crippling bulky pPokemon like Lileep, Porygon, (AC) and Frillish, (AC) which would otherwise shrug off Mantyke's weak attacks. Toxic and Scald can be used in conjunction, but this is generally not recommended as Mantyke will then be walled by Croagunk, Shroomish, (AC) and Foongus.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>156 HP EVs give Mantyke an HP stat of 23 which is a Stealth Rock number, allowing Mantyke to take 5 HP damage instead 6 HP upon switching in. Maxed out Defense and a Bold nature are also chosen to boost Mantyke's lower defensive stat as much as possible. The remaining EVs are put into Special Defense and Special Attack. Water Absorb is the ability of choice, but do not expect it to see too much use, (AC) as many Water-types carry moves that hit Mantyke super effectively, such as Electric-type moves from Staryu and Chinchou, (AC) or Rock-type moves from Tirtouga. There is a not a lot of other options to use in the final slot. Hidden Power Fire could be used to hit Ferroseed, (AC) but this is far too situational as Air Slash and Scald are superior in almost all other situations.</p>

<p>Due to Mantyke's Stealth Rock weakness, it needs to be paired with a Rapid Spinner. Drilbur can Sspin and also absorb Electric-type attacks aimed at Mantyke. Staryu is another option for a Rapid Spinner, but it adds to Mantyke's Electric-type weakness. Mantyke appreciates a partner that can take on Electric-types like, (AC) such as Chinchou and Magnemite. A Chinchou of your own is a great choice to wall these Pokemon, whilst Mantyke can beat Grass-types that counter it. Lileep and Porygon are alsother good Pokemon that can beat Chinchou, whilst Mantyke can handle the Fighting-types that threaten them. Finally, (AC) Croagunk can take on many of Mantyke's counters such as Chinchou, Magnemite, Lileep, (AC) and Ferroseed.</p>

[SET]
name: Swift Swim Sweeper
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Hydro Pump
move 3: Ice Beam / Substitute
move 4: Air Slash / Substitute
item: Life Orb / Eviolite
ability: Swift Swim
nature: Modest
evs: 36 Def / 196 SpA / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
ivs: 0 HP

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Mantyke can also take a more offensive approach with a Rain Dance set. Under rain, it gets a boost to its STAB Water-type moves as well as doubled speed thanks to Swift Swim. With the prevalence of Sand teams in the metagame, Mantyke has a great niche in disrupting the weather. The idea of this set is simple;: Mantyke should set up Rain Dance against something that can't do muchlittle to it, such as Hippopotas or Croagunk, and proceed to tear through the opposing team with its powerful Hydro Pump. Ice Beam is the main coverage move of choice as it can 2HKO Lileep with a Life Orb, allowing Mantyke to break through one of its main counters. Air Slash is a good secondary STAB move, hitting Snover and Croagunk for super effective damage. Substitute is another option which can be used over Air Slash or Ice Beam. This helps Mantyke avoid a Sucker Punch from Murkrow or Pawniard, but Croagunk will be an issue if it goes over Air Slash, (AC) and Lileep will wall you if it goes over Ice Beam.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The choice between Eviolite and Life Orb is a tough one. Whilst the power difference is noticeable if you don't have Life Orb, Eviolite will give Mantyke a much easier time setting up. If Life Orb is your item of choice, make sure you change the HP IVs to 0, which will give Mantyke only 1 HP recoil. Timid is an alternative option for the nature, (AC) which avoids the speed tie with Choice Scarf Misdreavus and Choice Scarf Murkrow, but these situations are rare so Modest is the recommended ability. As for possible changes to the move set, Hidden Power Grass can be used to hit Chinchou on the switch in as it 2HKOs the standard RestTalk set with a Life Orb.</p>

<p>Mantyke appreciates certain Pokemon removed before it sweeps, such as Chinchou, Staryu, Lileep, (AC) and Ferroseed. Croagunk has the ability to beat all of these Pokemon and also lures out Hippopotas and Bronzor which Mantyke can set up on. Croagunk's ability Dry Skin also benefits from the rain. Diglett can switch in on a predicted Electric move and trap and kill Chinchou, but it must be wary of switching into Hydro Pump or Scald. Lileep beats Chinchou and Staryu and can also set up Stealth Rock which can help Mantyke get some KOs. In fact, most Grass-types can handle Chinchou and Staryu, making them great partners for Mantyke.</p>