[Overview]
<p>Without a doubt, Cubone is valued almost entirely for a single trait: access to Thick Club. This unique item doubles its Attack stat with no penalty, making it an extremely dangerous force in the Little Cup metagame. In fact, with its signature item, Cubone can reach an Attack stat as high as 30, easily overpowering all Pokemon without a Choice Band. Cubone is not a one-trick pony either, as its phenomenal base Defense stat of 95 allows it to switch into physical attacks and even wall some attackers, although its typing isn't helping it much in that regard.</p>
<p>Cubone also has some other attributes that make it a great choice, such as its very impressive movepool and good offensive typing. Cubone's Ground typing does, however, leave it with three common weaknesses and few resistances. Overall, Cubone is usually a huge asset to any team that it works well on despite its minor restrictions.</p>
[SET]
name: Baton Pass Receiver
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Swords Dance
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: Double-Edge
item: Thick Club
nature: Adamant
ability: Rock Head
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Baton Pass receiving is Cubone's trademark talent, and there is a reason behind this. 30 Attack gives Cubone a chance to sweep, and its only problem is a lack of Speed; however, using the utility of Baton Pass, Cubone's objective becomes a lot easier. With an Agility or Rock Polish boost, Cubone will outspeed and defeat many common threats who would normally defeat it, such as Carvanha, Staryu, and Choice Scarf Snover. Cubone's great bulk means it can receive boosts very well from common Baton Pass users such as Deerling and Venonat who both have good synergy with it. The aforementioned Pokemon also have unique traits which make them great for passing to Cubone, namely Sleep Powder and Sap Sipper.</p>
<p>While Cubone's Attack is already very high, Swords Dance makes Cubone's life much easier. The best strategy is to pass to Cubone while facing a Pokemon who is easily scared by it. Fire- and Rock-type Pokemon are great examples because it is almost guaranteed that they will switch to an opponent ready to take Earthquake, such as Gastly. Cubone can then use Swords Dance and sweep. With such high Attack and perfect coverage, nothing is stopping Cubone any time soon once it sets up.</p>
<p>Earthquake is the crux of Cubone's sweep. Any Pokemon that is hit at least neutrally with Earthquake will probably die, and its coverage with Fire Punch is excellent, hitting all but Mantyke, Ducklett, and Wingull for neutral damage. Swords Dance comes into play to raise Cubone's Attack to high levels, which can go up to 60 after one use. Double-Edge is considered a filler, but it is the best filler Cubone can possibly have as it completes the the coverage chart and does good damage to physically defensive Pokemon.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Buizel, Deerling, and Venonat are all excellent choices for Baton Pass users. Buizel can pass Agility and Bulk Up to Cubone, aiding it in Attack and Speed, which are both necessary to sweep, as well as giving it a nice boost in Defense. While they share a Grass-type weakness, Buizel can Baton Pass to Cubone to avoid Electric-type attacks, and people won't aim Water- or Ice-type attacks at Buizel, so Cubone won't come in being hit by a super effective attack other than Grass-type moves. An option to avoid Grass-type attacks is to pass to Deerling. Deerling's unique ability, Sap Sipper, will generate an Attack boost when hit by Grass-type moves, and this boost can be passed to Cubone. Deerling can also pass Work Up, Swords Dance, and Agility to Cubone to aid a mixed or physical sweep, and it can set up Light Screen to make Cubone very sturdy. Venonat can come in on a Grass-type move and use Agility on the switch. Then, it can move first and put the opponent to sleep using Sleep Powder, and Baton Pass to Cubone or another Pokemon to create a chain that will end up with Cubone.</p>
<p>Lastly, ThunderPunch can be used in the last slot if desired. It has the same minimum damage as Earthquake against Slowpoke, but its range is bigger than Earthquake's, meaning it can do more damage with a bit of luck.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>The Baton Pass set can be used in Trick Room too. An identical moveset with an EV spread of 196 HP / 196 Atk / 76 Def / 36 SpD and a Brave nature is ideal for a Trick Room sweep. Solosis and Bronzor are both sturdy and powerful teammates who can set up Trick Room for Cubone. An all-out attacker set with Earthquake, Fire Punch, Double-Edge, and ThunderPunch is viable. Bulldoze is also an option on any set if you want Cubone to outspeed the opponent without Speed boosts. Cubone's support arsenal is pretty wide as it has access to Stealth Rock, Knock Off, Perish Song, and some other helpful moves such as Toxic and Detect. 30 Defense with an Impish nature and Eviolite is possible, making Cubone actually play a good support role, although the lack of recovery makes this a bad choice. Additionally, you may use random filler options such as Substitute if you like their utility.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Cubone is obviously best in a Baton Pass chain, and users of Taunt can disrupt the it. Since there isn't much to stop Taunt due to Natu, the only Pokemon in LC with Magic Bounce, not being able use Baton Pass legally with it, it is important to have Taunt on your team to stop Baton Pass. While they are very obscure, Baton Pass chains can score some easy KOs on your team. Wooper is a great Cubone check as its ability, Unaware, ignores any boosts to Cubone's Attack. On top of this, it can hit it with super effective STAB Waterfall, which will 2HKO it. Unaware doesn't, however, ignore Thick Club's boost, so there is no full stop to Cubone.</p>
<p>With a bit of prediction, you can switch in Staryu or Shellder into Cubone without any Speed boosts and easily OHKO it. This is usually the best way to defeat Cubone itself because the sheer force of its attacks will not have to be faced. Lastly, priority in the form of Ice Shard and Aqua Jet can defeat a weakened Cubone, although they are both physical.</p>
